Surplus 7.62x51 for plinking (in a bolt action)

Travis Bickle said:
I used to shoot 7.62mm NATO surplus out of my Rem 700 in ".308 Win"
Also used to shoot 5.56mm FMJ Green Tips out of my later owned Rem 700 in .223 Rem.
Accuracy was not stellar. I could put 5 rounds in a 2" circle all day with both rifles and surplus at 100 meters with a 3-9 power.
It's perfectly accurate for popping beer cans full of water at 100 to 200 meters for sure.
Never had any signs of the dreaded internet scare of "high pressure spikes" in any of the cart cases after hundreds of rounds lol Blast away! :rockOn:
You can't always shoot match/handloads, even in a bolt action.
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what kind of surplus were you using?
 
I have been reading up on Mexican match ammo, would I be able to accomplish this with a portable lee hand reloader easily? It's cheap and then I can pull the bullets and just press in a 150 grain match bullet. Thoughts on this?
 
Easily done, I use a RCBS Kinetic Bullet puller and a Lee Hand Press to seat a soft point bullet. I would advise against using a bullet heavier than the removed FMJ bullet with the same powder charge.
 
Slamfire said:
Easily done, I use a RCBS Kinetic Bullet puller and a Lee Hand Press to seat a soft point bullet. I would advise against using a bullet heavier than the removed FMJ bullet with the same powder charge.
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I would try to get the same grain, which is 145 grain, I don't know much about reloading, would going to 150 grain be a bad thing?
 
In accordance with generally accepted safe handloading practices and procedures - that's a BAD IDEA! Even a bullet of the same weight as or less weight than the removed bullet could produce unsafe pressures with re-use of the same powder charge from the surplus round. Safety first!
 
grimalkin said:
I have been reading up on Mexican match ammo, would I be able to accomplish this with a portable lee hand reloader easily? It's cheap and then I can pull the bullets and just press in a 150 grain match bullet. Thoughts on this?
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Pull the bullet.
Dump the powder.
Resize the neck.
Recharge the powder, with a load that is safe with the bullet you are substituting. i.e. work up the load.
Seat the new bullet.
For example, I have assembled excellent target loads in .223 by following those steps. 5.56 greentip ammunition uses a 62 grain bullet. Drop the powder charge by 1/2 grain, and use the excellent 69gr Sierra Matchking. The Sierra will shoot smaller groups than the original bullet. This has worked for me; you are on your own if you decide to try it.

Years ago, the US NRA tested .30-06 M-2 ball (150gr) ammunition rebulleted with various 150gr commercial bullets; no change in the powder charge. In every case pressures increased. Increases ranged from slight to noteworthy. None of the higher pressures were in the unsafe range.

Changing fmj bullets for softpoints is a common practice. But the person doing this needs to be aware that making changes can change pressures.
 
grimalkin said:
what kind of surplus were you using?
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A lot of old 70's stamped IVI as well as the South African stuff that was floating around years ago.
I also put some Norc 7.62mm through the 700 which again was making 2-3" groups at 100m
Had a bunch of LC stamped green tips from a bulk buy years back as well with some cheap bulk Federal Eagle FMJ 5.56mm "green tips" load through the Rem 700 in .223

I will say the 7.62mm shot more accurately out of the .308 Rem than the 5.56mm FMJ shot out of the .223 Rem rifle but not by much.
I never had so much as a flattened primer or even a ridge inside one of the casings. No signs of overpressure and I could explode beer cans at 100 meters a lot cheaper than commercial loaded ammo when I wasn't shooting for precision.

I always only owned a few guns and spent money on stocking up on ammo instead whenever there was a good deal :D
 
Unless you fluke out and find a surplus ammo that actually shoots decently I think it is a waste of time. If it doesn't print decent groups what are you practicing doing? Pulling the trigger? Without the results downrange how would you know if you are missing because of the ammo or your marksmanship?
To me surplus is for blasting away in a beater semi auto not wasting barrel life in a precision rifle. Remember that your barrel only has a limited lifespan before accuracy starts decreasing no matter what ammo you feed it and if you use stuff that has a bimetal bullet jacket you will accelerate the wear on your barrel shortening it's lifespan even more. If you want to run cheap surplus at least make sure it actually has copper jacketed projectiles and not just copper washed metal projectiles.
In the end it's up to you to do what you want with your rifle but I personally won't buy any rifle off of someone if I know they have shot Norinco through it.


Travis Bickle said:
You can't always shoot match/handloads, even in a bolt action.
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Why not?
I have rifles for blasting and simply making noise with cheap ammo and my precision rifles are for shooting small groups not wasting barrel life just to make noise and ring a gong at 300 yards with a rifle that can ring the same gong at 500 yards with good ammo.


tiriaq said:
Pull the bullet.
Dump the powder.
Resize the neck.
Recharge the powder, with a load that is safe with the bullet you are substituting. i.e. work up the load.
Seat the new bullet.
For example, I have assembled excellent target loads in .223 by following those steps. 5.56 greentip ammunition uses a 62 grain bullet. Drop the powder charge by 1/2 grain, and use the excellent 69gr Sierra Matchking. The Sierra will shoot smaller groups than the original bullet. This has worked for me; you are on your own if you decide to try it.

Years ago, the US NRA tested .30-06 M-2 ball (150gr) ammunition rebulleted with various 150gr commercial bullets; no change in the powder charge. In every case pressures increased. Increases ranged from slight to noteworthy. None of the higher pressures were in the unsafe range.

Changing fmj bullets for softpoints is a common practice. But the person doing this needs to be aware that making changes can change pressures.
Click to expand...


That sounds like an awful lot of work, why not just shoot that crap and reload the brass?
My time is worth something to me so I try to do things to speed up reloading, not take perfectly good plinking ammo and make it into half-assed accurate ammo
 
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Hey guys, I ended up ordering some of that Hirtenberger 7.62, In case I decide to start re-loading I have that option (boxer primed). I also found this video by chance of a guy testing that ammo from the Remington 700 .308 (looks like the exact gun I bought, SPS 20" tactical). 4 shot group under an inch at 100 yards it looks like (not counting the first shot after cleaning). I am pretty happy with that kind of performance from that ammo.

 
grimalkin said:
Thanks for all the posts, has anyone reloaded that hirtenberger? Is it worth the premium for me to collect the brass?
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The Hirtenberger I run is reloadable-- just make sure to decrimp the military primer pockets. If some lots are berdan primed I haven't run into any.
Excellent "tough" brass As well.

For accuracy handloading is the way to get it.
 
cr5 said:
Unless you fluke out and find a surplus ammo that actually shoots decently I think it is a waste of time. If it doesn't print decent groups what are you practicing doing? Pulling the trigger? Without the results downrange how would you know if you are missing because of the ammo or your marksmanship?
To me surplus is for blasting away in a beater semi auto not wasting barrel life in a precision rifle. Remember that your barrel only has a limited lifespan before accuracy starts decreasing no matter what ammo you feed it and if you use stuff that has a bimetal bullet jacket you will accelerate the wear on your barrel shortening it's lifespan even more. If you want to run cheap surplus at least make sure it actually has copper jacketed projectiles and not just copper washed metal projectiles.
In the end it's up to you to do what you want with your rifle but I personally won't buy any rifle off of someone if I know they have shot Norinco through it.




Why not?
I have rifles for blasting and simply making noise with cheap ammo and my precision rifles are for shooting small groups not wasting barrel life just to make noise and ring a gong at 300 yards with a rifle that can ring the same gong at 500 yards with good ammo.





That sounds like an awful lot of work, why not just shoot that crap and reload the brass?
My time is worth something to me so I try to do things to speed up reloading, not take perfectly good plinking ammo and make it into half-assed accurate ammo
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A BIG PLUS is you have the start of a custom precision load as the milsurp rounds are fired those cases will be fireformed matched to the chamber.
 
Nobody is right, nobody is wrong when it comes to this bulk stuff because it mostly comes down to a question of personal preferences. There are lots of super-experienced shooters here, but the first question I would ask the posters before selecting ammo based on comments alone is "How many rounds of each have you fired?"

Again, I am certain there are lots of guys who have shot more than I have. That said, I would urge some caution regarding Hirtenberger. I have shot enough of this make to realize that it really runs hot and cold in terms of accuracy. Same results with different rifles. It can be "on" or it can be way "off" with consistency. I haven't suffered with Norinco or other brands to the same extent. The OP specifically referenced experiences with bolt action rifles. Me, too.

Ya pays yer money, ya takes yer chances with bulk (or other ammo for that matter). I won't be looking at Hirtenberger next time.
 
The HB 83 boxer primed rounds are decent. Some are stained and stinky out of the case but clean up fine. The biggest issue that affects accuracy is the variability in neck tension. I use a lee crimp die on them with a light crimp, and from my testing, groups shrunk significantly.
I'm not that concerned about the metal bullets and barrel life.
The brass is soft. Doesn't like heavy loads, lots of stretch, and trimming. But is reloadable...
 
The HB ammo I have is 1980 dated and boxer primed
I just reloaded 200 rounds using my loadmaster press and it removed and installed the primers just fine without having to decrimp the brass
I did use a lee primer pocket reamer tool at first to debur a few of the crimps but found it wasn't neesasary so reloaded the rest without deburing.
 
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