SKS - a Start

Canuck44

Canuck44

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Terrace, B.C.
Chinese SKS struts....sort of.


Well I had my SKS out yesterday. Loaded with 15 gr. of 2400 under a 311291 bullet GC. Weather was about 2C with a cool wind blowing with rain and snow mix. Shot a ragged hole in the target at 25 yards (we have a ton of snow on the range and there was no way I was going to walk out to 50/100 yds to set targets. Gun just might be a shooter. Will post again next week with results using bullets from my new Lee mold if it ever gets here. Weather is supposed to warm up to around 5C.

Take Care

Bob
 
Good stuff Bob,
When the snow clears (or gets plowed) you can shoot the SKS match and knock me off my throne ;)
I should bring my SKS up when I meet up with you for the IDPA stuff this spring too.

Cheers
 
No I just shoot the green crate surplus Czech stuff for now, not enough time to reload for another calibre....yet...I want to start playing with reloads one day.
Cheers
 
I'm planning on using some cast this summer in my SKS's .

I have the Lee C312-155-2R that I'm going to use ( in my Mosin too) over some IMR4227.

Craig
 
Craig67

I was out today. 15 gr of 2400 seems to have the edge so far. 4227 was eratic with a very high extreme stread over my Chrono at 17 gr. I intend to go to 18 grains opn Saturday and will test 16 grain s of 2400 as well. Surples WC735 shows promise at the higher end of velocity. Will post more when I get more data. The Lee bullet appears to have the potential to be a tac driver.

Take Care

Bob
 
Grrrrr..... that's not good. I don't have a local supplier for 2400.

WC-735 is not a problem, I can get that. Its going to require larger charges though, I was hoping to stay around 16 grains ( Just 'cause I'm cheap , lol).

I'll be watching for your post Bob.

Thanks :)

Craig
 
Well I have some reports on my shooting over the past couple of days. A couple of things you have to bear in mind. First my goal was to determine how three powders perform over my Chrony. I had some handgun targets I used set at 50 yards to do some rudementry accuracy tests.

Bullet type was the Lee 312-155 lubed with Felix Lube (A Softe HOmemade Lube). Bullets were GC'd. OAL was 2.151. Brass was mixed. Winchester LRP. Flyers+ Known Pulled Shots

25 Gr. WC 735

HIgh 1860
Low 1775
Avg 1839
Ext. Spread 85
Standard Deviation 19

Flyers discarded Group 3.55"

26 Gr. WC 735

High 1949
Low 1872
Avg 1906
Ext. Spread 77
Standard Deviation 12

Flyers Discarded Group 2.79"

Will move up one more grain. SD at 12 is very good and accuracy should improve with a better target. Will go up one more grain then move back to 100 yds.

15 Gr. 2400

High 1738
Low 1684
Avg 1710
Ext. Spread 54
Standard Deviation 10

Flyer discarded Group 1.990

16 Gr. 2400

High 1895
Low 1752
Avg 1805
Ext, Spread 143
Standard Deviation 33

Flyer Discarded Group 1.626

2400 is a great powder in Military Guns using cast. I intend to go back to 15 gr. and run off another test for accuracy. For my gun this may be a "Standard" load.

17 Gr. IMR 4227

High 1792
Low 1549
Avg 1649
Ext. Spread 243
Standard Deviation 81

Flyer Discarded Group 3.203

18 Gr IMR 4227

High 1835
Low 1717
Avg 1779
Ext. Spread 118
Standard Deviation 37

Flyer Discarded Group 2.597

Will move up one more grain. This powder is often recommended as a substitute for 2400 using cast bullets. While it works quite well in .303 Brit. with heavier bullets this does not seem to be the case with the 7.62x39MM. I haven't given up on this powder yet and will see what one more grain brings. Using a different target for accuracy shooting should result n much better groups. Would be nice of my eyes would focus on at least one of the three objects I am looking at: ie Rear, Front sight and target. :D

WC735 is showing some promise and I hope I can imprve on the results to date. Powder is cheap enough and should work well in this size of case. all I have to do is find the right combo and that will come. Downside is loads will be pushing 2,000fps which is OK except the brass goes al over the county. With the other two powders the brass just drops at your feet.

Ardent is sending me up a Monte Carlo stock which should improve accuracy. In addition I intend to pick up a scope and mount for the gun. I know the receiver cover mounts arn't the best but will be better than my eyes over open sights.

Next series of test will be done with the new stock on my gun.

Take Care

Bob
 
Bob,

that's excellent info, thank you.

The 4227 dosen't look anywhere as good as the 2400 :(

Might have to make a road trip to get some 2400 in the spring.

Regards,

Craig
 
Well spent the day testing my two of my loads. 15 gr of 2400 and 17 gr of 4227 under my Lee312-155 bullet. Groups at 50 yards were:

15 Gr 2400 Best five shot group was 1.899" @ 50 yds.

17 Gr 4227 Best five shot group was 1.112" @ 50 yds.

I then shot five rds of Czech Surplus ammo. Resultswere:

Best Five shot group 5.888" @ 50 yds.

The surplus ammo may be good for making a noise in my rifle but anything beyond 25 yards and you might as well throw rocks.

I have been sizing my bullets .313. I am going to run them through a .314 die and see if that effects accuracy. I will also load some WC735 and do some more testing with that powder at 50 yards. Snow is going so I should be able to wonder back to 100 yards in a week or so.

Note 2400 has tighter extreme spreads over the Chrono but shows no significant difference in accuracy then the wider ES experienced by 4227. Hope this holds true out to 100 yards.

Take Care

Bob
 
The accuracy looks good for the 4227. I think I'll take a chance and get a pound.

What size are the boolits before sizing ? I'm planning on getting the .311 size/lube kit (mostly for my Mosin) but I wonder if a .314 would even touch the boolit ?

I noticed your thread over at cast boolits, I'll keep an eye out there too.

Thanks for the info,

Craig
 
sizing cast bullets from 312 to 313?

Hello. I noticed that you are sizing the bulets cast from your Lee 312-155 die to .313 diameter. I am a new to shooting cast bullets and have a question. Are the bulllets coming out of the mold actually larger than .312 diameter thus allowing them to be sized down with a die or are you "bumping" the bullets up? I have heard of this procedure and I am curious as to how it is done...

Thanks. Steve

P.S 1 hole groups at 50 Meters with my P-14 using the Lee 312-185 mold.
and 8 grains of CIL C300 powder
 
stevejones

My 312-155 mold drops my WW alloy bullets out at .313 - .314. I size my bullets .313 to ensure a solid barrel seal.

Beagling is the term I think you are referring to and can be accomplished by placing a thin piece of tinfoil between the two halves of your mold to achieve a fatter bullet.

Glad to hear you have had sucess with this bullet in your .303. I intend to try some through my Longbranch.

I was surprised how poorly the factory ammo performed in my gun. I intend to slug my bore later next week. I suspect the factory jacketed bullets are to small in diameter for the bore in my rifle. If not I will chalk it up to just bad ammo.

Take Care

Bob
ps Try 314299 Lyman bullets in your P-14. Great bore riding bullet that shoots good in my Longbranch. Another project I have yet to finish!
 
Craig67

Craig size your bullets .314, Even if all you do is put the lube on them, your rifle will look after the downsizing. Fatter is always better than to slim. Check out the Felix Lube sticky on the cast bullet forum as well.

I think 2400 is a better performer than 4227 overall in this case but as you say the accuracy using 4227 at least to 50 yards is certainly not all that bad. Remember my eyes I got are 63 years old and open military sights were designed for the 20 year old sets. Unfortunately there is no return policy.

Take Care

Bob
 
Well I just got back from the range. Here are results using WC735 Surplus powder available via Higginson's.

Brass R-P
Primers WLR
Bullets: Water quenched from mold -Lee 312-155 - GC
OAL 2.151
Sized .313
High Vel - 1951
Low Vel - 1885
Avg Vel - 1912
Ext Sp - 66
SD - 12
Best 10 Shot Group 3"
Best five shot group 1.722"
Best three shot group .56"

Younger eyes would have shot a half inch group with this load. I intend to shot a fair amount of rifle this year so I am off to the optpomitrist to get a prescription that will have my best focus at about 22" - 28". Waiting for a scope which shuld solve most of the problem but I prefer iron sights.

This powder does well in .223 and 30-30 so it is not surprise it is doing well here. Will slug my bore over the weekend and start loading cartridges out to the rifling once I get the chamber measurements. Will also go to neck sizing to preserve brass once I get a spring loaded firing pin up from the states.

If you have trouble getting decent accuracy using the cheap Czech/Chinese ammo in your SKS consider casting for the cartrige. Cheap surplus ammo is ok if it is accurate in your rifle. If not the stuff becomes expensive firecrackers.

I have decided to settle on three loadings for this cartridge:

17 Gr 4227
15 Gr 2400
26 GR WC735

All loaded to OAL of 2.151
Regular Large Rifle Primers to be used.

Take Care

Bob
 
I was using 15 gr of 2400 under the same cast ( Wheel Weight ) bullets lubex with Alox back in the UK fired from my Saiga AK104, never had a problem and shot good groups.

Will use the same formula when my "SIR" SKS arrives.
 
Canuck44 said:
I then shot five rds of Czech Surplus ammo. Resultswere:

Best Five shot group 5.888" @ 50 yds.

The surplus ammo may be good for making a noise in my rifle but anything beyond 25 yards and you might as well throw rocks.


Bob
Click to expand...

Wow I'm surprised,
My Norinco shoots Czech ball into 2" at 50yds with open sights in a snowstorm
Without even trying.


Great info Awesome thread
keep up the good work

Sam
 
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