Yippee Cast bullets work in an SKS

JBD

JBD

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Northern New Brunswick
I started casting about a year ago for my 45 and I finally decided to take the plunge with my rifles. The sks clearances are generous to the say the least and it is a good candidate for cast. Unfortunately my first attempt was awful. Bullets spraying everywhere. I casted my bore and it was 313 and my bullets were coming out at 312. With a little instruction off the net I was able to cast larger bullets and size them to 314 with a lee mould.

Eureeka. The carbine was grouping under an inch with all bullets touching at 25 yards. Much better than check surplus which I am able to gat 4 inches at 100 yards. Looking forward to doing some load developement to see how this will work out.

I went down this path because the cheap surplus seems to be drying up but it seems to be paying off in accuracy. Cleaning is pretty much a wash. No rush as with the corrosive but it does make a mess on the Gas piston.

Price per bullet

Gas check 3.7 cents
Powder 3.5 cents
Primer 3 cents

10.2 cents per round thousand rounds would be 102.00
 
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So technically you could make hollow points?
:)
 
I don't think its possible to foul the Gas ports its built like a tank. Very very large opening. With the improper sized bullets I was getting lots of lead accumulating on the piston head. With the larger 314 bullets there is very little leading on the Gas Piston. As for the weight of the bullets. I don't know the mold started out as a lee 160 C.E. Harris type however my wife beagled the mold. Laid aluminum strips on both sides of the mold halves to keep it open slightly upon filling. The bullets were coming out 315 or so and sized to 314.
 
I have shot hundreds of cast through sks and vz. have tried different powders and bullet diameters. Have yet to find a load that shot well at 100. most groups average 6". Have not seen any evidence of leading anywhere on the guns. All surpluss ammo and jacked bullet handloads well outshot my cast bullet attempt's.
 
brass was bought here on the exchange I paid 70 bucks for 500 casings. As to how they last I don't know. I've just started reloading for them so I have no Idea. The casings are still in great shape after 3 firings so far.
 
You could also just lap the Lee mold out a bit to get you to the .314 you are looking for. Have you checked out Cast boolits DOT com? there are a few nice articles about the 7.62x39mm on the site. There is a note from C.E. Harris about loading the sks with cast bullets. I have the 155 grain lee mold and just love it. Both my Sks's like it along with my bush ranger.

The worst part about reloading the 7.62x39mm is finding bulk (100-1000) brass. I still can't seem to find it in bulk.
 
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