My 7.62x39 Redding die seat had two neck sizer balls one for .308 and one for .310/.312. A phone call to Redding should get you what you need. As always your reloading journeys are instructive and great fun, Well done! Thanks, Lou
One of my favorite handloads for 7.62x39 is a Berry's Bullets 71gr .32 ACP bullet on top of H110. Light recoil and way more accurate than it has any right to be.
Been reloading for many years but just now getting into reloading 7.62x39 for my AK. Thank you for allowing me to learn from you. Best regards from Germany
Sure glad you're doing this series of loading. I started with SKS and then build 2 AR 47s that i love and enjoy. The first was a journey to figure out. then done the second with knowledge and absolute success. One heck of a all a round work horse on the farm. Ive got everything to reload except the bullet, but yet to load the first shell. Your timing is right on time. AR15 in 30 cal is the stuff.
Minute of paper plate..thats what they are designed for..I shot some tight groups with factory 154 gr. Tula..I have no expectations out of an SKS other than they are reliable and do what they do..love em!
I have never seen anyone bench rest an SKS that said everyone I have shot or seen shot the shot dispersion like what you are seeing is fairly normal. I regret selling my brand new Yugo SKS that had maybe 300 rounds down it before I sold it to a friend. It was a great deer rifle and fantastic for racoons and other short range varmints. Back then I lived on a working farm and it was handy for getting rid of random varmints at close range.
Sir, I've greatly improved my loading skills thanks to your videos. I've been following you for just about a year now and I thank you for your service to us reloaders. Wonder if removing the pig sticker and the cleaning rod may help a bit!!!
Wow I wasn't aware of that model of rifle. That's a cool one and I'm instantly interested in getting one. Looks like they're fairly sought after and worth a good amount.
A couple of my SKS rifles with excellent bores, slugged at .312" they actually shot the .310" Hornady FMJ, SP and V-Max jacketed bullets best in all my SKS rifles, .311" dia. bullets shot good, but the groups opened up a bit. With cast lead bullets, the Lee .312" 160 gr. TL and Lee .312" 185 gr. RN powder coated, gas checked and sized to .314" shoots as good or better than any steel case ammo. Reloader #7 or 1680 are excellent powders for the jacketed bullets, but the Reloader #7 works well with cast lead, although I like 2400 for cast lead as well. As far as brass some rifles will tare up the brass but none of my SKS rifles from three different countries hurts the brass as all as I have over ten reloads on some of it.
Had to check the comments after I realized you were doing 100 yards with irons, damn good groups for no magnification! Ps still hoping for more 22-250 videos if you ever get back into that
My observations through time is that S&B brass, in general, is very hard and brittle (no matter what caliber). The same goes for the primer pockets being tight and shallow, no matter if it's a 38special or 30-06, they all tend to be like that. Annealing the cases should take care of most of the problems with split cases. Using S&B primers usually negates the need to size the primer pockets as they usually go in a little easier.
Same When I'm sorting brass Anything S&B gets tossed Into the 5 gallon bucket I have now a few buckets full I'll probably never use them I gotta stop hoarding this crap
What a great idea, I can't wait to watch your new reloading adventure. Bore is usually 311 at least it's what CZ wrote on their barrels, however if memory serve me well, Ruger bore diameter is 310 and Hornady die is for 308 bore...the plot thickens ;) Fast powder work like AR2205 (magnum pistol 44mag...) is ideal for the 123/125 class bullet in 16 to 18 inch barrel With slightly longer barrel slower powder like the RL7 and the AR2207 is optimum in my experience. Happy you mention the Hornady 150/312, with RL7 or AR2207 it shoots absolutly great out of my 17.5 inch CZ carabine, it is my pet load for the underwood I have a good node at 2240fps... I tryed the hotcore 311 it is working progress but the bullet might be à bit to hard for the velocity I work with. With a good chamber, a 20 inch barrel and the right powder you should match or outclass the venerable 30-30. It could be an interesting challenged?
I’ve had a Chinese SKS for 30 years never had a slam fire. Mine is in good shape, I clean it well after shooting and I probably have only 5000 rounds through it, but it seems like that firing pin has to be really gummed up to cause that. I’ve heard it’s common and maybe I’m just lucky, but slam fire seems like a maintenance issue to me. There are spring firing pin kits to eliminate that too.
Hey Johnny I think it’s brownbear that has a subsonic load for 7.62x39 with a 180gr fmj. I also have found that the tulammo 154gr sp is a good expanding bullet against hogs, deer not so much. I also might have a interesting idea for ya. After I saw your ultrasonic cleaning video I also watch one where the guy filled his cleaner with water, the used cleaned out plastic peanut butter jars filled with his solution and the item to be cleaned. His whole point was using the jars you don’t have the clean the ultrasonic cleaner, which we both know is a pain in the royal, you know. To hear the excitement in your voice when I opened the video made me excited to watch the video. As always I absolutely love every vid. Your the best. Stay safe stay healthy.
I owned a new unissued Yugo SKS and my friend a Chinese SKS brand new. Using factory ammo and shooting standing, squatting, prone with sling at 100 yards the best we could ever get was groups that could be covered with the palm of your hand. I did Palma and High Power X-Course, Silhouette, and Bullseye 22 rim fire pistol. Since those days I still do Silhouette and F-Open and T/R. That was Russian, Yugoslavian, and domestic made ammo. I owned a Ruger Mini-30 at the same time and it was only a little more accurate. Back then it was hard to find 7,62x39 brass and light weight .312 bullets so I did not reload for it. Back then the best way to find quality brass case ammo was actually at gun shows. The Ruger Mini-30 was around mid 1990's and the SKS was 2001-2003.
I'm excited for this new series! Perfect timing for me as I recently got into 7.62x39 for the AR platform. I have a 16" upper and a 10.5" upper. Decided to get into this caliber purely for cheaper ammo availability and more options in this ammo shortage/crisis thing we have going on. Then hear about the Russian ammo ban uggg.... But I plan on eventually hand loading this caliber as well. Thanks for the great videos!
I have an SKS that I bought at a pawn shop. I didn't check the numbers and when I took it apart to clean it, and tried putting it back together, it wouldn't fit. Then I noticed it had been put together from 2-rifles. I hand fit everything back together, and then found the barrel had a small bow. I was hating this SKS, but stayed with it. The crown had been opened up too much and I also mounted a scope mount. It now shoots in line at 100, 200, and 300 yards.
I have a PSA 7.62x39 upper that I have had for several years. It’s a .310 diameter barrel. Shoots great with reloaded and factory loads brass and steel cases. Around 3/4 to 1 inch groups with most at 100 yards. Thanks for the video went and checked 1 1/2 with the steel case was the best.
I’ve got a Savage 11F in 7.62x 39. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen, it was listed in the Savage catalog for a while. I’ve taken deer with that Savage. Recipe was Sierra 125g SP’s behind max load of Alliant 1200R. I’m actually about 1 gr above max listed, but I only shoot this load in a Bolt action and not an SKS. Hornady and Sierra make 125gr bullets in .311 and .312. I use both RCBS and Hornady dies
I have a Ruger American Ranch in X39 and I am shooting sub MOA groups. I would love to see a lot more on larger grain bullets. Data on anything over 150 grains is very hard to find.
JRB glad you are loading the M43, alloy me to past on what I’ve learned from working with it, along with my AKM for the past 17 years. By it being a tapered case it’s internal case capacity is limited, so bullets weighting more than 123 Grs are longer and must be seated deeper, which results in less room for powder. The 150’s -174’s are used with brass which has great powder capacity IE 7.62x54R .
My sks do some making on brass case head. I found some sellier and bellot round 2 years ago and I will use the brass to break in the barrel of my 6.5 Grendel. They all had the kind of marking you have.
That is decent shooting for 100yrds with open sights. That is not easy to do, this is gonna be a fun series. Now it’s time to bubba that rifle with a chassis and a scope mount. :)
I had 4 of these sks… all in cosmilen as well, Chinese 56 spike bayonet All 4 were very good shooters, Chambers and bores were very clean too 3 of them were 311 bore/ 1 was 312
What a timely series. I found that my in my sks it didn't matter, steel case rusky, brass case reloads, they all shot around 2-3 moa. But now that uncle tickle kids is putting the squeeze on imports it might not matter.
S & B have shallow pockets. I did 440 9mm case on a trim mate. Pre 2020 I would have tossed them in the recycle box. They make their own primers and haven't measured them. I still have 50 small pistol. Might be a today project.
An AR 7.62x39 was my second rifle after the SKS. (Late bloomer and non deer hunter) It's In the M4 "old school and uber cool" format. I added Lee 7.62x39 dies and mold to my toy box.
@@JohnnysReloadingBench My Chinese SKS will cycle that load using a powder coated gas checked Lee 160 gr. TL bullet all day long. It will actually cycle a lighter load, but I bought the rifle new in the box, so it pretty tight as far as the gas system goes.
@@papawed489 I liked 1680 with jacketed bullets, but it disappeared around here many years ago and just never came back around, so I just switched to Reloader #7 for jacketed bullet and never looked back, I have some CFE Black to try out at some point as well. I like 2400 and IMR or H 4895 for cast lead.
Really looking forward to this because I’ve been trying to get into reloading commie 7.62 since the fun started last year. Finally found some primers recently. Really hoping you go into subsonic loads too.
What I would find interesting is this cartridge compared to the .300 HAM'R. Similar size bullets and powders. Which one does better at what? That sort of thing.
I prefer 7.62x39 to .300BO for subsonic loads. The greater case capacity of the Russian cartridge gives more flexibility in working up a load and has no possibility of being loaded in a .223/5.56 chamber.
I'm still not reloading but I really enjoy your videos! I will say I miss the paper targets but I think it's just because everything is slowly venturing to electronics.
21st century has the windowed expander die body now (904-GX)... takes the guess work out of your die seating depth, as you can see inside the die and can visually check the mandrel depth. Picked one up a couple of months ago. Pretty slick option.
I have 2 CZ 527s. A 7.62x39mm cabine and a 6.5 Grendel American. Im new to reloading. My rifle bore is .311. I found a great deal on a bunch of Hornady at .310. This shouldn't be a problem? They are soft points, I want to use for deer and maybe hogs.
Some parts that would help out for the accuracy test would be a scope mount that a couple companies make that get connected to the rear site and rear takedown pin and gives you a picatiny rail that runs down the whole receiver of the rifle. Murray makes a polished sear and hammer to help with the heavy trigger pull. Also, wolff has a reduced power mag release spring that will lighten up the 33lb trigger pull as the mag spring also doubles as the sear spring.
I use the Lee .312 155gr cast bullet in my SKS and AK rifles. I powder coat them and then run them thru a .314 sizer. They shoot great. I've never bothered reloading jacketed bullets for them.
@@509Gman 1800fps is anemic out of an sks. I wonder if the groups will open up at velocities comparable to wolf steel, 2300 or so FPS. Also extraction at higher pressures. The Steel won't expand and they are designed to shoot steel case, I wonder if the brass expansion will cause issue, especially with the pits in that chamber. Never tried steel in an sks myself. Look forward to the next video.
I Picked up the Lee 3 die set w/factory crimp ,it Also comes with 2 Different Expanding Rods.I am just starting to play with these and Absolutley want to load 220gr for some SHHHH loads!
Does not take long before the barrel heats up and grooping gets larger. J Is there an SKS that is accurate? Is there a load that could be accurate? 42:12
I am surprised that you didn't decide to anneal the brass after seeing that split neck the first time. It might not need it, but it couldn't hurt either.
That's precisely why I NEVER use spray lube !! Been using RCBS case lube for decades with no issues. Other than that I love your VERY educational videos. I've saved/downloaded many for reference use. That is definitely NOT your grab and go weapon. Would make a great bat !!! LOL
I've just started developing some loads for my 16" AK. Is hard to find modern load data so this is what I've gotten so far. This is with with 123gr .310 hornady SSt, new starline brass and Winchester large rifle primers. No significant pressure signs. Cfe Blk 28.6-30.4gr in 0.2gr Increments 2376-2518fps SW Blackout 28.0-28.8 in 0.2gr Increments 2324-2467fps
I'm wondering if I got lucky with my Yugo SKS? Perfect bore and chamber when I got it almost 20 years ago. I have no trouble keeping a 2 MOA group with my 123gr FMJ .310" bullets. My biggest problem is keeping sight/target alignment. But the older I get, the harder it becomes to see those dots at 100 yards. 🤪 Looking forward to more SKS videos 👍🇺🇸
I have a 7.62x39 upper on an AR lower, and the PPU 123 grain soft points are pretty much my most accurate round out of the 13 rifles I have, and I have some pretty darn accurate rifles.
I bought the Dillon 7.62x39 dies when they used to make them and I love loading the 7.62x39, I have a lot of old Norma 130 gr. 303 bullets loaded into IMI brass and a lot of PPV bullets loaded and a lot of once fired Lapua brass. I find my hand loads are much more accurate than factory ammo I do want some Lapua tips for the 7.62x39.
After watching the brass inspection part of the video, those marks on the brass are pretty normal, on some SKS rifles, it's less noticeable too none at all but I haven't found it to be an issue either way.
Have you tried PPU AMMO. THEY HAVE ROUND NOSE THAT SHOOTS REAL WELL IN MY AR BUT IT CHEWS UP THE POINT A LITTLE .THAT SHOUDNT BE AN ISSUE WITH A BOLT GUN.THEY ALSO HAVE A SOFT POINT BUT I HAVEN'T TRIED IT YET.
@@papawed489 I tried the Hornady black it has the sst projectile. I shot a doe at 40 yards. She was perfectly broadside and it was a good shot right behind the leg. She only ran about 50 yards which’s good. The bullet did not exit though and there was not one single drop of blood. I hunt really thick woods so I got really lucky finding her. I knew I made a good shot so I just searched until I found her. I need something with a little more penetration so I get an exit wound. I later found out that the Hornady black is designed not to exit. It is a self defense round. I also have some federal fusion but I haven’t tried it yet.
Please consider the “TC Compass” of the AR upper world and try a Bear Creek Arsenal upper. Or something budget friendly and not all custom components. Something is regular dudes have access too. Love your vids. I have not blown my face off because of you!
My BCA works purty good.. only just three loads at it not really doing load workup. Shoots under 2” easily and couple good loads was 1.25-1.50” but fun gun.
I use Lee dies. The Pace Setter dies have both a .307 and .310 expander. (User controlled.) Results are what I consider proper. The information for the 174 grrain bullets I though ascribed to a reloader in a comment. I am looking for similar information. Any further details, like maximum allowed and such? @ 16:2 - S&B brass, shallow primer pockets. I had the same problem with fired S&W brass fir the same cartridge, 7.62x39mm. Except I loaded several, then noticed them. Using either CCI or Winchester LR primers, (I have both, so it was one or the other). The primers seated fully were a bit proud of the base of the head. Just a little. The cases would chamber, but the bolt would not close (I shoot this in a CZ gun). I went back and did what you did with the primer pocket cutter and decided I would not use S&B for this particular caartridge again. Loaded S&B ammo in other calibers seem to operate normally. One notes when viewing the test firing, the speaker gives seemingly different information regarding average velocity than the upper right hand informational screen. Which is correct and why are there two different stories being told?
I am getting really good results with CFE BLK powder in this cartridge, using Barnes and Hornady SST 123 gr bullets. Plenty of sub-MOA recipes in a bolt gun. Despite its name, CFE BLK lags a bit in .300 Blackout supersonic behind other powders like 296/H110. I stick to subsonics when using it in .300 BLK. But it is a top tier 7.62x39 powder. 1680 is very good too. However, I find it noticeably flashier than CFE BLK in low light.
I've had decent results with 150-grain Hornady fmjbt .308 and H4895. 2.5 moa at 100, 50% hit rate on a 28" round plate at 600. I'm using the Lee Pacesetter die set with a .308 expander. hth and Thanks for the load info👍🇺🇸
@@ericwilson5453 nice. Suppressed sks is my current project just waiting on receiver/barrel swap from gunsmith who’s gonna end up taking a year. Cut and recrown sounds nice. Tons of CFE blk on hand
The single greatest problem w/ reloading for the skS is that it is going to beat the heck out of your brass. All in all, outside of ammo droughts like this one brought on by COVID and the Obummer years, cheap steelcase is the way to go...
the problem with metalic sights on the sks is that the rear blade notch is too short and too narrow. remember they are 3-4 moa guns at 100 meters. if you get any groups smaller than that it is a plus.
Nice review about the sks, but this rifle has a defect that the trigger is not smooth, it is of course heavy, and this is one of the reasons for the inaccuracy in the rifle
Looking forward to how this all works out. Honestly like 7.62x39, made a rifle for my wife (bubba'd carcano rebarrelled with an AR 7.62x39 barrel, still need to do some extractor work) and it shoots very well. Want to work up some good target load for giggles since I have issues. She took her first deer last year with a 124gn copper bullet and Jagemann brass. Tried to get everything together when the shortage hit hard, so I had to pull powder from crap Wolf ammo. Several grain variation, so I just averaged and guessed a lot. Probably horrible idea, but I had to. FINALLY got some powder on the way to do it properly.
So far works great, the only issue is that the extractor is a bit cranky. I think the original ammo had a bevel on the base or something, I dunno. More filing time. I probably did everything wrong, ended up keeping the stub of the barrel in the receiver and lopping it off a little bit ahead of the receiver so that I had some meat to cut the AR threads into and so it would headspace right. I only did it that way because for some reason I had the barrel knocking around. I don't even own a freaking AR, no idea. I imagine that doing it like someone with a brain and directly cutting threads on a blank properly would work much better. With a cheap red dot on it it held okay ar fifty yards and was good enough to harvest a deer, but I have since put a proper scope on, so we'll be able to see how well it really works. Next step is a proper magazine, so far made an insert ramp for single loading, but I really want a few rounds for followups.
You should definitely look into a Ruger American in 7.62x39, mine is a tack driver. I've been running IMI brass and Win LRM primers (all I could find during pandemic) and 31.7gr CFE BLK with a Hornady 123 SST running an average velocity of 2621 with an extreme spread of 7 and zero pressure signs.
My 7.62x39 Redding die seat had two neck sizer balls one for .308 and one for .310/.312. A phone call to Redding should get you what you need.
As always your reloading journeys are instructive and great fun, Well done!
Thanks, Lou
As did mine, I won’t buy any other dies anymore. It’s Redding or custom dies.
Same with Lee dies
For some reason I'm more excited to see what this surplus sks can do more than a high end bolt gun lol
Hell yeah brother! Went out and bought me a beverage and some chips and guacamole for the luxury JRB viewing experience!
One of my favorite handloads for 7.62x39 is a Berry's Bullets 71gr .32 ACP bullet on top of H110. Light recoil and way more accurate than it has any right to be.
Been reloading for many years but just now getting into reloading 7.62x39 for my AK. Thank you for allowing me to learn from you. Best regards from Germany
Looks like it's going to be a great series!
Sure glad you're doing this series of loading. I started with SKS and then build 2 AR 47s that i love and enjoy. The first was a journey to figure out. then done the second with knowledge and absolute success. One heck of a all a round work horse on the farm. Ive got everything to reload except the bullet, but yet to load the first shell. Your timing is right on time. AR15 in 30 cal is the stuff.
Minute of paper plate..thats what they are designed for..I shot some tight groups with factory 154 gr. Tula..I have no expectations out of an SKS other than they are reliable and do what they do..love em!
Man I love these reloading videos.. so relaxing and interesting to watch. I couldn’t care less what cal or gun it is!
Glad to see you getting to this cartridge. Now if I can only find primers.
I have never seen anyone bench rest an SKS that said everyone I have shot or seen shot the shot dispersion like what you are seeing is fairly normal. I regret selling my brand new Yugo SKS that had maybe 300 rounds down it before I sold it to a friend. It was a great deer rifle and fantastic for racoons and other short range varmints. Back then I lived on a working farm and it was handy for getting rid of random varmints at close range.
Sir, I've greatly improved my loading skills thanks to your videos. I've been following you for just about a year now and I thank you for your service to us reloaders.
Wonder if removing the pig sticker and the cleaning rod may help a bit!!!
I would’ve tried to anneal those cases the first time. Awesome series you started. I want to build an upper in x39 as well...
Be interesting to see you work up a subsonic load. My CZ 527 shoots the 196gr Barnaul and 182gr PPU very well.
Wow I wasn't aware of that model of rifle. That's a cool one and I'm instantly interested in getting one. Looks like they're fairly sought after and worth a good amount.
A couple of my SKS rifles with excellent bores, slugged at .312" they actually shot the .310" Hornady FMJ, SP and V-Max jacketed bullets best in all my SKS rifles, .311" dia. bullets shot good, but the groups opened up a bit. With cast lead bullets, the Lee .312" 160 gr. TL and Lee .312" 185 gr. RN powder coated, gas checked and sized to .314" shoots as good or better than any steel case ammo. Reloader #7 or 1680 are excellent powders for the jacketed bullets, but the Reloader #7 works well with cast lead, although I like 2400 for cast lead as well. As far as brass some rifles will tare up the brass but none of my SKS rifles from three different countries hurts the brass as all as I have over ten reloads on some of it.
Had to check the comments after I realized you were doing 100 yards with irons, damn good groups for no magnification!
Ps still hoping for more 22-250 videos if you ever get back into that
My observations through time is that S&B brass, in general, is very hard and brittle (no matter what caliber). The same goes for the primer pockets being tight and shallow, no matter if it's a 38special or 30-06, they all tend to be like that. Annealing the cases should take care of most of the problems with split cases. Using S&B primers usually negates the need to size the primer pockets as they usually go in a little easier.
Same
When I'm sorting brass
Anything S&B gets tossed
Into the 5 gallon bucket
I have now a few buckets full
I'll probably never use them
I gotta stop hoarding this crap
What a great idea, I can't wait to watch your new reloading adventure.
Bore is usually 311 at least it's what CZ wrote on their barrels, however if memory serve me well, Ruger bore diameter is 310 and Hornady die is for 308 bore...the plot thickens ;)
Fast powder work like AR2205 (magnum pistol 44mag...) is ideal for the 123/125 class bullet in 16 to 18 inch barrel
With slightly longer barrel slower powder like the RL7 and the AR2207 is optimum in my experience.
Happy you mention the Hornady 150/312, with RL7 or AR2207 it shoots absolutly great out of my 17.5 inch CZ carabine, it is my pet load for the underwood I have a good node at 2240fps... I tryed the hotcore 311 it is working progress but the bullet might be à bit to hard for the velocity I work with.
With a good chamber, a 20 inch barrel and the right powder you should match or outclass the venerable 30-30. It could be an interesting challenged?
Another possibility for testing this cartridge is the CZ 527. You know, if you need help spending your money. Thanks for the in depth work you do!
What a fun gun! I love mine even though it didn't come with the scope rings it was advertised with.
They sure are nice rifles! Did you contact CZ about getting rings sent to you?
I’ve had a Chinese SKS for 30 years never had a slam fire. Mine is in good shape, I clean it well after shooting and I probably have only 5000 rounds through it, but it seems like that firing pin has to be really gummed up to cause that. I’ve heard it’s common and maybe I’m just lucky, but slam fire seems like a maintenance issue to me. There are spring firing pin kits to eliminate that too.
Yep. 99% of the time its from tons of carbon build up, aka not cleaning your gun
Yep my first sks was a 68 and it shot ok the one I have now is a 70s model also never had a slam fire cosmoline seems to be the usual blame
I had one slam in 12,000-ish rounds, clogged firing pin channel(from the red sealant around the primer). Keep em clean
@tom allenyugo firing pins are so hard to find nowadays
If you put the firing pin in incorrectly it will also slam fire.
Hey Johnny I think it’s brownbear that has a subsonic load for 7.62x39 with a 180gr fmj. I also have found that the tulammo 154gr sp is a good expanding bullet against hogs, deer not so much.
I also might have a interesting idea for ya. After I saw your ultrasonic cleaning video I also watch one where the guy filled his cleaner with water, the used cleaned out plastic peanut butter jars filled with his solution and the item to be cleaned. His whole point was using the jars you don’t have the clean the ultrasonic cleaner, which we both know is a pain in the royal, you know.
To hear the excitement in your voice when I opened the video made me excited to watch the video.
As always I absolutely love every vid. Your the best. Stay safe stay healthy.
I owned a new unissued Yugo SKS and my friend a Chinese SKS brand new. Using factory ammo and shooting standing, squatting, prone with sling at 100 yards the best we could ever get was groups that could be covered with the palm of your hand. I did Palma and High Power X-Course, Silhouette, and Bullseye 22 rim fire pistol. Since those days I still do Silhouette and F-Open and T/R. That was Russian, Yugoslavian, and domestic made ammo. I owned a Ruger Mini-30 at the same time and it was only a little more accurate. Back then it was hard to find 7,62x39 brass and light weight .312 bullets so I did not reload for it. Back then the best way to find quality brass case ammo was actually at gun shows. The Ruger Mini-30 was around mid 1990's and the SKS was 2001-2003.
I'm excited for this new series! Perfect timing for me as I recently got into 7.62x39 for the AR platform. I have a 16" upper and a 10.5" upper. Decided to get into this caliber purely for cheaper ammo availability and more options in this ammo shortage/crisis thing we have going on. Then hear about the Russian ammo ban uggg.... But I plan on eventually hand loading this caliber as well. Thanks for the great videos!
I have an SKS that I bought at a pawn shop. I didn't check the numbers and when I took it apart to clean it, and tried putting it back together, it wouldn't fit. Then I noticed it had been put together from 2-rifles. I hand fit everything back together, and then found the barrel had a small bow. I was hating this SKS, but stayed with it. The crown had been opened up too much and I also mounted a scope mount. It now shoots in line at 100, 200, and 300 yards.
I have a PSA 7.62x39 upper that I have had for several years. It’s a .310 diameter barrel. Shoots great with reloaded and factory loads brass and steel cases. Around 3/4 to 1 inch groups with most at 100 yards. Thanks for the video went and checked 1 1/2 with the steel case was the best.
I’ve got a Savage 11F in 7.62x 39. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen, it was listed in the Savage catalog for a while.
I’ve taken deer with that Savage. Recipe was Sierra 125g SP’s behind max load of Alliant 1200R. I’m actually about 1 gr above max listed, but I only shoot this load in a Bolt action and not an SKS. Hornady and Sierra make 125gr bullets in .311 and .312. I use both RCBS and Hornady dies
S&B brass always has the tightest primer pockets I have found, regardless of caliber on pistol brass, so not surprised also rifle
I have a Ruger American Ranch in X39 and I am shooting sub MOA groups. I would love to see a lot more on larger grain bullets. Data on anything over 150 grains is very hard to find.
Glad to see more videos coming out keep up the good work.
You are a man of your word ! Thank you so much !!!
Love hunting with the 7.62x39. Hornady SST, PPU brass, reloader 7
Hornady SST are the cat's meow in the AK and SKS!
JRB glad you are loading the M43, alloy me to past on what I’ve learned from working with it, along with my AKM for the past 17 years. By it being a tapered case it’s internal case capacity is limited, so bullets weighting more than 123 Grs are longer and must be seated deeper, which results in less room for powder.
The 150’s -174’s are used with brass which has great powder capacity IE 7.62x54R .
My sks do some making on brass case head. I found some sellier and bellot round 2 years ago and I will use the brass to break in the barrel of my 6.5 Grendel. They all had the kind of marking you have.
That is decent shooting for 100yrds with open sights. That is not easy to do, this is gonna be a fun series. Now it’s time to bubba that rifle with a chassis and a scope mount. :)
Amazing concept for a video. Can’t wait to see the next installment.
I love the channel I also live in Kentucky. Can't wait to see some hunting videos with some high-quality ammo in the SKS
I had 4 of these sks… all in cosmilen as well, Chinese 56 spike bayonet
All 4 were very good shooters, Chambers and bores were very clean too
3 of them were 311 bore/ 1 was 312
Wow, the CZ-USA 527 Carbine in 7.62x39 is on my "Next gun" short list. . . . guess I'll be taking notes on this series!!! 👍
Love mine, even though it didn't come with the scope rings it was advertised with. Aftermarket 1913 rail got it sorted out.
What a timely series. I found that my in my sks it didn't matter, steel case rusky, brass case reloads, they all shot around 2-3 moa. But now that uncle tickle kids is putting the squeeze on imports it might not matter.
I need a comittment to the the K31 reloading segment. JK, I would like to see some more on that.
Looking forward to the next installment. Reloaded some 7.62x39 a year ago but haven't made it to the range to see how it shoots yet.
Ruger American ranch, or CZ 527 both come in 7.62x39
CZ 527 with it's set trigger is a beauty...but pricy.
S & B have shallow pockets. I did 440 9mm case on a trim mate. Pre 2020 I would have tossed them in the recycle box. They make their own primers and haven't measured them. I still have 50 small pistol. Might be a today project.
An AR 7.62x39 was my second rifle after the SKS. (Late bloomer and non deer hunter) It's In the M4 "old school and uber cool" format. I added Lee 7.62x39 dies and mold to my toy box.
SKS sights you did great.
really like the 15.5gr of 2400 with a cast bullet - Ed Harris load data
Does it cycle?
@@JohnnysReloadingBench My Chinese SKS will cycle that load using a powder coated gas checked Lee 160 gr. TL bullet all day long. It will actually cycle a lighter load, but I bought the rifle new in the box, so it pretty tight as far as the gas system goes.
I load some cast and had my best luck with2230 .The cast flat out didn't like 1680 which shoots great with jacketed
@@papawed489 I liked 1680 with jacketed bullets, but it disappeared around here many years ago and just never came back around, so I just switched to Reloader #7 for jacketed bullet and never looked back, I have some CFE Black to try out at some point as well. I like 2400 and IMR or H 4895 for cast lead.
@@reloader7sixtwo 1680 is in stock direct from Hornady, right at this moment.
Been loading 7.62x39 for many years. Love the Speer GD with AA2200. My Lee die set came with the .308 & .310 expander.
@Joe Chance Yes Hornady 123 & Speer GD 123. I load .312 100gr Hornady XTP's subsonic for quiet pest control too, non cycling.
This would've been really interesting series if a M59/66 rifle was used with the gas block bypassed to get the true velocities.
Really looking forward to this because I’ve been trying to get into reloading commie 7.62 since the fun started last year. Finally found some primers recently. Really hoping you go into subsonic loads too.
What I would find interesting is this cartridge compared to the .300 HAM'R. Similar size bullets and powders. Which one does better at what? That sort of thing.
Oh and BTW, I've been watching for years, can't get enough.
I prefer 7.62x39 to .300BO for subsonic loads. The greater case capacity of the Russian cartridge gives more flexibility in working up a load and has no possibility of being loaded in a .223/5.56 chamber.
@@dbmail545 Just FYI I didn't mention 300BO I was talking about the .300 Ham'R round by Wilson Combat. It doesn't do subsonic loads.
I'm still not reloading but I really enjoy your videos! I will say I miss the paper targets but I think it's just because everything is slowly venturing to electronics.
You need to make some "Don't blow your face off!" t-shirts
21st century has the windowed expander die body now (904-GX)... takes the guess work out of your die seating depth, as you can see inside the die and can visually check the mandrel depth. Picked one up a couple of months ago. Pretty slick option.
I have 2 CZ 527s. A 7.62x39mm cabine and a 6.5 Grendel American. Im new to reloading. My rifle bore is .311. I found a great deal on a bunch of Hornady at .310. This shouldn't be a problem? They are soft points, I want to use for deer and maybe hogs.
The Hornady at .310 will run great.
Man, I'm excited!
If you can find any, I highly recommend the 110gr .312 Hornady XTP, they feed and shoot a pretty decent group out of my Ruski SKS.
Some parts that would help out for the accuracy test would be a scope mount that a couple companies make that get connected to the rear site and rear takedown pin and gives you a picatiny rail that runs down the whole receiver of the rifle. Murray makes a polished sear and hammer to help with the heavy trigger pull. Also, wolff has a reduced power mag release spring that will lighten up the 33lb trigger pull as the mag spring also doubles as the sear spring.
I use the Lee .312 155gr cast bullet in my SKS and AK rifles. I powder coat them and then run them thru a .314 sizer. They shoot great. I've never bothered reloading jacketed bullets for them.
I'd like to see how that compares to some steel cased ammo as far as group size.
Every rifle is different, but my rifle’s best steel case groups look like the worst ones he just got.
@@509Gman 1800fps is anemic out of an sks. I wonder if the groups will open up at velocities comparable to wolf steel, 2300 or so FPS. Also extraction at higher pressures. The Steel won't expand and they are designed to shoot steel case, I wonder if the brass expansion will cause issue, especially with the pits in that chamber. Never tried steel in an sks myself. Look forward to the next video.
I Picked up the Lee 3 die set w/factory crimp ,it Also comes with 2 Different Expanding Rods.I am just starting to play with these and Absolutley want to load 220gr for some SHHHH loads!
Does not take long before the barrel heats up and grooping gets larger. J
Is there an SKS that is accurate?
Is there a load that could be accurate? 42:12
I am surprised that you didn't decide to anneal the brass after seeing that split neck the first time. It might not need it, but it couldn't hurt either.
I've had excellent results from CFE-BLK and 125 grain SST's in my Ruger American 7.62x39mm.
A1680 is great with my rifle at 24.8 gr my Chinese sks really surprised me not just with my reloads but factory tula ammo. Great accuracy
That's precisely why I NEVER use spray lube !! Been using RCBS case lube for decades with no issues. Other than that I love your VERY educational videos. I've saved/downloaded many for reference use.
That is definitely NOT your grab and go weapon. Would make a great bat !!! LOL
I've just started developing some loads for my 16" AK. Is hard to find modern load data so this is what I've gotten so far. This is with with 123gr .310 hornady SSt, new starline brass and Winchester large rifle primers. No significant pressure signs.
Cfe Blk 28.6-30.4gr in 0.2gr Increments 2376-2518fps
SW Blackout 28.0-28.8 in 0.2gr Increments 2324-2467fps
How do those projos group? Anything subjective that would make you choose one powder over the other?
@@09cjonescj I haven't had the chance to start group testing yet. I was just trying to get a base line for velocity and SD
I'm wondering if I got lucky with my Yugo SKS? Perfect bore and chamber when I got it almost 20 years ago.
I have no trouble keeping a 2 MOA group with my 123gr FMJ .310" bullets. My biggest problem is keeping sight/target alignment. But the older I get, the harder it becomes to see those dots at 100 yards. 🤪
Looking forward to more SKS videos 👍🇺🇸
I have a 7.62x39 upper on an AR lower, and the PPU 123 grain soft points are pretty much my most accurate round out of the 13 rifles I have, and I have some pretty darn accurate rifles.
Get your self a cz527 in 7.62x39 if you want to do hand loads.. in that caliber. It already shoots 1.5-2 MOA with Tula ammo.
I bought the Dillon 7.62x39 dies when they used to make them and I love loading the 7.62x39, I have a lot of old Norma 130 gr. 303 bullets loaded into IMI brass and a lot of PPV bullets loaded and a lot of once fired Lapua brass. I find my hand loads are much more accurate than factory ammo I do want some Lapua tips for the 7.62x39.
The Redding T-7 is back!!! Wahooo!!! Accuracy here we come!!!
This will be so much fun.
After watching the brass inspection part of the video, those marks on the brass are pretty normal, on some SKS rifles, it's less noticeable too none at all but I haven't found it to be an issue either way.
My BCA At upper marked brass really bad till I ran some steel case through it… took gouges out of Winchester brass
I’m very interested in this. I hunt with a Ruger ranch bolt action 7.62x39 and the factory hunting ammo choices aren’t very good.
Have you tried PPU AMMO. THEY HAVE ROUND NOSE THAT SHOOTS REAL WELL IN MY AR BUT IT CHEWS UP THE POINT A LITTLE .THAT SHOUDNT BE AN ISSUE WITH A BOLT GUN.THEY ALSO HAVE A SOFT POINT BUT I HAVEN'T TRIED IT YET.
The honady SST works real well if you can find them
@@papawed489 I tried the Hornady black it has the sst projectile. I shot a doe at 40 yards. She was perfectly broadside and it was a good shot right behind the leg. She only ran about 50 yards which’s good. The bullet did not exit though and there was not one single drop of blood. I hunt really thick woods so I got really lucky finding her. I knew I made a good shot so I just searched until I found her. I need something with a little more penetration so I get an exit wound. I later found out that the Hornady black is designed not to exit. It is a self defense round. I also have some federal fusion but I haven’t tried it yet.
@@kfranklin308 sounds like the gold dots might be a good option for you. Made to expand, but stay together and penetrate.
It helps for S&B brass, because of tight primer pockets.
I too would also like to see an AR upper with either a Green mountain or faxon barrel in 762
I'd be more curious about how the Ruger American Ranch in 7.62x39 shoots reloads.
I havent ran many reloads to speak of, but my ranch is sub moa with steel case ammo.. I would hope its a tack driver with some tuning.
If I can get the money together that will be my next rifle.
Wish I would have known. I've got some lapua x39 brass from the range.
Please consider the “TC Compass” of the AR upper world and try a Bear Creek Arsenal upper. Or something budget friendly and not all custom components. Something is regular dudes have access too. Love your vids. I have not blown my face off because of you!
My BCA works purty good.. only just three loads at it not really doing load workup. Shoots under 2” easily and couple good loads was 1.25-1.50” but fun gun.
I use Lee dies. The Pace Setter dies have both a .307 and .310 expander. (User controlled.) Results are what I consider proper.
The information for the 174 grrain bullets I though ascribed to a reloader in a comment. I am looking for similar information. Any further details, like maximum allowed and such?
@ 16:2 - S&B brass, shallow primer pockets. I had the same problem with fired S&W brass fir the same cartridge, 7.62x39mm. Except I loaded several, then noticed them. Using either CCI or Winchester LR primers, (I have both, so it was one or the other). The primers seated fully were a bit proud of the base of the head. Just a little. The cases would chamber, but the bolt would not close (I shoot this in a CZ gun). I went back and did what you did with the primer pocket cutter and decided I would not use S&B for this particular caartridge again. Loaded S&B ammo in other calibers seem to operate normally.
One notes when viewing the test firing, the speaker gives seemingly different information regarding average velocity than the upper right hand informational screen. Which is correct and why are there two different stories being told?
I am getting really good results with CFE BLK powder in this cartridge, using Barnes and Hornady SST 123 gr bullets. Plenty of sub-MOA recipes in a bolt gun.
Despite its name, CFE BLK lags a bit in .300 Blackout supersonic behind other powders like 296/H110. I stick to subsonics when using it in .300 BLK. But it is a top tier 7.62x39 powder.
1680 is very good too. However, I find it noticeably flashier than CFE BLK in low light.
I've had decent results with 150-grain Hornady fmjbt .308 and H4895. 2.5 moa at 100, 50% hit rate on a 28" round plate at 600. I'm using the Lee Pacesetter die set with a .308 expander. hth and Thanks for the load info👍🇺🇸
I've had my eye on a palmetto state KS47 for some time
Great content. I have a PSA KS-47 for hog hunting. Love the 6.5 Grendel vids too.
Try painting the front sight post.that helped me
What is the difference between SD and extreme spread?
Standard Deviation is a statistical quantity that has to be computed from as many data points as possible. Extreme Spread is simple MV recording.
Subsonic 7.62x39 would be very interesting to see you tackle
I'll just say this. A norinco sks that's been bullpup'd and 16" barrel WILL cycle a sub load with 200 gr bullets... with a little extra backpressure😉
@@ericwilson5453 was it a 16” or did you get it chopped when you got it threaded?
@@09cjonescj cut and recrowned at 16 1/4, then used a clamp on thread adapter. Works really well.
@@ericwilson5453 nice. Suppressed sks is my current project just waiting on receiver/barrel swap from gunsmith who’s gonna end up taking a year. Cut and recrown sounds nice. Tons of CFE blk on hand
The single greatest problem w/ reloading for the skS is that it is going to beat the heck out of your brass. All in all, outside of ammo droughts like this one brought on by COVID and the Obummer years, cheap steelcase is the way to go...
I can't think of AK ammo as coming from anywhere but a large green spam can!
Thank you for sharing..
the problem with metalic sights on the sks is that the rear blade notch is too short and too narrow. remember they are 3-4 moa guns at 100 meters. if you get any groups smaller than that it is a plus.
Nice review about the sks, but this rifle has a defect that the trigger is not smooth, it is of course heavy, and this is one of the reasons for the inaccuracy in the rifle
Looking forward to how this all works out. Honestly like 7.62x39, made a rifle for my wife (bubba'd carcano rebarrelled with an AR 7.62x39 barrel, still need to do some extractor work) and it shoots very well. Want to work up some good target load for giggles since I have issues. She took her first deer last year with a 124gn copper bullet and Jagemann brass. Tried to get everything together when the shortage hit hard, so I had to pull powder from crap Wolf ammo. Several grain variation, so I just averaged and guessed a lot. Probably horrible idea, but I had to. FINALLY got some powder on the way to do it properly.
Awesome.. my plan was to rebarrel a carcano until the ruger ranch came along, now the carcano is in limbo😅
So far works great, the only issue is that the extractor is a bit cranky. I think the original ammo had a bevel on the base or something, I dunno. More filing time. I probably did everything wrong, ended up keeping the stub of the barrel in the receiver and lopping it off a little bit ahead of the receiver so that I had some meat to cut the AR threads into and so it would headspace right. I only did it that way because for some reason I had the barrel knocking around. I don't even own a freaking AR, no idea. I imagine that doing it like someone with a brain and directly cutting threads on a blank properly would work much better. With a cheap red dot on it it held okay ar fifty yards and was good enough to harvest a deer, but I have since put a proper scope on, so we'll be able to see how well it really works. Next step is a proper magazine, so far made an insert ramp for single loading, but I really want a few rounds for followups.
Might want to go ahead and anneal the brass if you’re gonna be using the .308 expander ball. Awesome video.
I run Bca uppers in 39
They are 1 to 1 1/2 groups with Wolf or Tula
Better with Brass cased ammo
Definitely worth every penny
7.62 Russian is typically .311 which helps when you reload for .303 British and surplus Russian ammo is available
Does not take long before the barrel heats up and dropping gets larger.
Is there an SKS that is accurate?
Is there a load that could be accurate?
brunos shhoters supply has cci #41 bricks and cci 7.62 bricks right now. go get em JRB Gang
What kind of rig was that throwing powder
That looked like the Lee powder measure.
You should definitely look into a Ruger American in 7.62x39, mine is a tack driver. I've been running IMI brass and Win LRM primers (all I could find during pandemic) and 31.7gr CFE BLK with a Hornady 123 SST running an average velocity of 2621 with an extreme spread of 7 and zero pressure signs.