This started out as a test to see what the accuracy of different factory loads and reloads was in my Norinco SKS rifle that I bought in the mid 90’s. I replaced the stock with an ATI Draganov stock and scoped the rifle with a 4 power Bushnell Scope. I added a front sling swivel and attached a Harris Bipod to it for the shooting trials.
For reloads – I basically wanted to try 3 different bullet weights – 100 grain, 123 grain and 150 grain in .308, .310, .311 and .312 diameters (see attached chart). I used three different powders for each bullet type – Reloader 7, BL-C (2) and Hodgdons H322, as these were the ones that I had on hand for the project.
All powder weights were measured on a PACT electronic scale and loaded with Lee dies and factory crimp die. I used loads from various manuals, and they worked fine for me (see subsequent note re: slam fires), but I will give the standard warning that everyone gives: These loads were safe for use in my rifle, however, I assume no responsibility if they cause damage or injury for anyone else using these loads.
All brass was trimmed with a Lee hand trimmer. I did not have enough Remington brass to load 5 rounds of each sample, so I used Winchester brass for the three 100 grain Hornaday XTP bullets. I usually load with Winchester brass as they take large rifle primers. I started running into problems with my SKS doubling when I started using the Remington brass that uses small rifle primers. I stopped the test and cleaned the firing pin and firing pin orifice in the bolt, but I had another slam fire. The bottom line is that the Winchester small rifle primers were too soft and I ended up loading each round singly into the rifle after this happened (I did not let the bolt slam home, I closed it slowly and pushed it forward till it locked up). I now have some CCI small rifle primers that are supposed to be harder. I have never had a slam fire using factory ammo or reloads with large rifle primers in my rifle. All loads that doubled were reshot the following day after had loaded some more up so that all of the results would be comparable.
I also tested 4 factory loads that I had on hand – Norinco “silver box” 123 grain FMJ purchased about 10 years ago, Wolf 122 grain FMJHP, Brown Bear 123 grain FMJ and Silver Bear “Match Ammo” with a 124 grain FMJ bullet.
My daughter and I headed to the range in August 2005 and set up a Chrony chronograph approximately 10 feet in front of the shooting bench. She recorded the velocities for each 5 shot string. After each 5 shot string, I would clean the barrel to again keep all results similar. Temperature was in the mid 80’s and there was no wind – perfect for shooting. All targets were shot at 100 yards.
The SKS is not a benchrest rifle nor am I a benchrest shooter, so I was not sure what to expect. As the following table shows, some loads could possibly go 1.5 MOA, and some could go 10.5 MOA! Some shot to the point of aim that the rifle was zeroed to (load # 4), some shot 6” high and some shot 8 “ low. My rifle clearly likes the larger bullet diameters – the .308 caliber bullets didn’t fair too well as far as accuracy goes.
7.62 x 39 Reloading Experiment
No matter what I try - cant get the text to go into columns or increase the space between text - if you know how, PM me and I will fix
Case Primer Powder Charge (gr) Bullet Av. Velocity Group Size (in)
1 Win. Norma LRP RL 7 26.5 Horn .312 HP XTP100 gr. 2490 5.13
2 Win. Norma LRP BL-C (2) 31.5 Horn. 312 HP XTP100 gr. 2228 4.25(4 shots into 2”)
3 Win. Norma LRP H322 29.0 Horn. .312 HP XTP100 gr. 2415 3.38
4 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 25.5 Hornaday .310 SP123 gr. 2332 3.56 (4 shots into 2”)
5 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 31.5 Hornaday .310 SP123 gr. 2218 5.56
6 Rem. Win.SRP H322 29.0 Hornaday .310 SP123 gr. 2299 5.44
7 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 25.5 Winchester.311 PP123 gr. 2175 4.63
8 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 31.5 Winchester.311 PP123 gr. 2143 7.63
9 Rem. Win.SRP H322 29.0 Winchester.311 PP123 gr. 2239 5.38
10 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 24.8 .308 FMJBT147 gr. 2096 6.38
11 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 29.5 .308 FMJBT147 gr. 2002 4.75
12 Rem. Win.SRP H322 28.5 .308 FMJBT147 gr. 2273 5.13
13 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 24.8 Rem .308 PSP CL150 gr. 2112 4.44
14 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 29.5 Rem .308 PSP CL150 gr. 1957 10.19
15 Rem. Win.SRP H322 28.5 Rem .308 PSP CL150 gr. 2215 6.75
16 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 24.8 Speer .311 Spitzer150 gr. 2113 5.38 (4 shots into 3”)
17 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 29.5 Speer .311 Spitzer150 gr. 2019 4.31
18 Rem. Win.SRP H322 28.5 Speer .311 Spitzer150 gr. 2195 2.75 (4 shots into 1.5”)
19 Norinco Factory Ammunition Silver Box FMJ 123 grains 2368 3.44
20 Wolf Performance Ammunition FMJ HP122 grains 2454 6.00 (4 shots into 3”)
21 Brown Bear Ammo FMJ 123 grains 2468 5.75
22 Silver Bear Match Ammunition FMJ 8M1 “Effect”124 grain 2439 4.50
I was pleasantly surprised with three loads, as they show real potential in my rifle, remembering once again that it is a SKS and not a target rifle! The 100 grain Hornaday .312 XTP load # 2 clustered 4 shots into 2” with one flier opening the group into 4.25 “. More importantly, it shot to the same point of impact as load # 4 using 123 grain Hornaday .310 bullets, which is the load I have always prepared for hunting. Load # 2 also clustered 4 shots into 2” with one flier opening the group into 3.56”. Load # 18 placed 150 grain Speer .311 bullets approximately 1” above the point of aim. Four shots clustered into an impressive 1.5”, with one flier opening up to 2.75” – still the most accurate load of all tested.
As far as factory ammo went, the Wolf 122 grain FMJHP ammo clustered 4 shots into 3” and one flier that opened the group to 6 “, but overall – the old Norinco “silver box” ammo was the most accurate.
As far as powders went, the BL-C (2) produced the lowest velocity in each of the different bullet tests. With the 123 grain and 150 grain bullets, H322 produced the highest velocities in all but one replication (Hornaday .310 123 grain SP). The highest velocity of the 100 grain Hornaday XTP loads was achieved with Reloader 7. In the 123 and 150 grain bullets, BL-C (2) loads most often had the largest group sizes, however, the BL-C (2) load produced the smallest group with the 100 grain Hornaday XTP’s.
What I am hoping to do this summer is retest the three best loads from this experiment and replicate using Winchester brass with large rifle primers, and Remington brass with the CCI primers. It was a fun project and my daughter and I enjoyed putting it together. I hope you find some value in our work.
For reloads – I basically wanted to try 3 different bullet weights – 100 grain, 123 grain and 150 grain in .308, .310, .311 and .312 diameters (see attached chart). I used three different powders for each bullet type – Reloader 7, BL-C (2) and Hodgdons H322, as these were the ones that I had on hand for the project.
All powder weights were measured on a PACT electronic scale and loaded with Lee dies and factory crimp die. I used loads from various manuals, and they worked fine for me (see subsequent note re: slam fires), but I will give the standard warning that everyone gives: These loads were safe for use in my rifle, however, I assume no responsibility if they cause damage or injury for anyone else using these loads.
All brass was trimmed with a Lee hand trimmer. I did not have enough Remington brass to load 5 rounds of each sample, so I used Winchester brass for the three 100 grain Hornaday XTP bullets. I usually load with Winchester brass as they take large rifle primers. I started running into problems with my SKS doubling when I started using the Remington brass that uses small rifle primers. I stopped the test and cleaned the firing pin and firing pin orifice in the bolt, but I had another slam fire. The bottom line is that the Winchester small rifle primers were too soft and I ended up loading each round singly into the rifle after this happened (I did not let the bolt slam home, I closed it slowly and pushed it forward till it locked up). I now have some CCI small rifle primers that are supposed to be harder. I have never had a slam fire using factory ammo or reloads with large rifle primers in my rifle. All loads that doubled were reshot the following day after had loaded some more up so that all of the results would be comparable.
I also tested 4 factory loads that I had on hand – Norinco “silver box” 123 grain FMJ purchased about 10 years ago, Wolf 122 grain FMJHP, Brown Bear 123 grain FMJ and Silver Bear “Match Ammo” with a 124 grain FMJ bullet.
My daughter and I headed to the range in August 2005 and set up a Chrony chronograph approximately 10 feet in front of the shooting bench. She recorded the velocities for each 5 shot string. After each 5 shot string, I would clean the barrel to again keep all results similar. Temperature was in the mid 80’s and there was no wind – perfect for shooting. All targets were shot at 100 yards.
The SKS is not a benchrest rifle nor am I a benchrest shooter, so I was not sure what to expect. As the following table shows, some loads could possibly go 1.5 MOA, and some could go 10.5 MOA! Some shot to the point of aim that the rifle was zeroed to (load # 4), some shot 6” high and some shot 8 “ low. My rifle clearly likes the larger bullet diameters – the .308 caliber bullets didn’t fair too well as far as accuracy goes.
7.62 x 39 Reloading Experiment
No matter what I try - cant get the text to go into columns or increase the space between text - if you know how, PM me and I will fix
Case Primer Powder Charge (gr) Bullet Av. Velocity Group Size (in)
1 Win. Norma LRP RL 7 26.5 Horn .312 HP XTP100 gr. 2490 5.13
2 Win. Norma LRP BL-C (2) 31.5 Horn. 312 HP XTP100 gr. 2228 4.25(4 shots into 2”)
3 Win. Norma LRP H322 29.0 Horn. .312 HP XTP100 gr. 2415 3.38
4 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 25.5 Hornaday .310 SP123 gr. 2332 3.56 (4 shots into 2”)
5 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 31.5 Hornaday .310 SP123 gr. 2218 5.56
6 Rem. Win.SRP H322 29.0 Hornaday .310 SP123 gr. 2299 5.44
7 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 25.5 Winchester.311 PP123 gr. 2175 4.63
8 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 31.5 Winchester.311 PP123 gr. 2143 7.63
9 Rem. Win.SRP H322 29.0 Winchester.311 PP123 gr. 2239 5.38
10 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 24.8 .308 FMJBT147 gr. 2096 6.38
11 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 29.5 .308 FMJBT147 gr. 2002 4.75
12 Rem. Win.SRP H322 28.5 .308 FMJBT147 gr. 2273 5.13
13 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 24.8 Rem .308 PSP CL150 gr. 2112 4.44
14 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 29.5 Rem .308 PSP CL150 gr. 1957 10.19
15 Rem. Win.SRP H322 28.5 Rem .308 PSP CL150 gr. 2215 6.75
16 Rem. Win.SRP RL 7 24.8 Speer .311 Spitzer150 gr. 2113 5.38 (4 shots into 3”)
17 Rem. Win.SRP BL-C (2) 29.5 Speer .311 Spitzer150 gr. 2019 4.31
18 Rem. Win.SRP H322 28.5 Speer .311 Spitzer150 gr. 2195 2.75 (4 shots into 1.5”)
19 Norinco Factory Ammunition Silver Box FMJ 123 grains 2368 3.44
20 Wolf Performance Ammunition FMJ HP122 grains 2454 6.00 (4 shots into 3”)
21 Brown Bear Ammo FMJ 123 grains 2468 5.75
22 Silver Bear Match Ammunition FMJ 8M1 “Effect”124 grain 2439 4.50
I was pleasantly surprised with three loads, as they show real potential in my rifle, remembering once again that it is a SKS and not a target rifle! The 100 grain Hornaday .312 XTP load # 2 clustered 4 shots into 2” with one flier opening the group into 4.25 “. More importantly, it shot to the same point of impact as load # 4 using 123 grain Hornaday .310 bullets, which is the load I have always prepared for hunting. Load # 2 also clustered 4 shots into 2” with one flier opening the group into 3.56”. Load # 18 placed 150 grain Speer .311 bullets approximately 1” above the point of aim. Four shots clustered into an impressive 1.5”, with one flier opening up to 2.75” – still the most accurate load of all tested.
As far as factory ammo went, the Wolf 122 grain FMJHP ammo clustered 4 shots into 3” and one flier that opened the group to 6 “, but overall – the old Norinco “silver box” ammo was the most accurate.
As far as powders went, the BL-C (2) produced the lowest velocity in each of the different bullet tests. With the 123 grain and 150 grain bullets, H322 produced the highest velocities in all but one replication (Hornaday .310 123 grain SP). The highest velocity of the 100 grain Hornaday XTP loads was achieved with Reloader 7. In the 123 and 150 grain bullets, BL-C (2) loads most often had the largest group sizes, however, the BL-C (2) load produced the smallest group with the 100 grain Hornaday XTP’s.
What I am hoping to do this summer is retest the three best loads from this experiment and replicate using Winchester brass with large rifle primers, and Remington brass with the CCI primers. It was a fun project and my daughter and I enjoyed putting it together. I hope you find some value in our work.
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