Is a 200gr supersonic 7.62x39 possible?

[rsilvers]

QuickLoad says that for a D166 at 2.205 OAL, 24.5 grains of H335 is the answer. 1858 fps in a 16 inch barrel.

I would start with 23 grains and work up.

[AH-1]

for the 185 gr GC bullet I have on hand.
RL-7,AA2015,2400 & IMR 4198 any of these work?.
thanks
pete

[txljb]

Greetings!

New to 1/4Bore

Are any of you using .308" bullets in .310" barrels?

I put my 300/221 on hold for a while and am pursuing the 7.62x39 subsonic in my 16" AR-15 with .310" bore and 1x10 twist.

I love my psuedo whisper but case forming and annealing are quite time consuming and I'd rather be shooting.

I would like to use some of the .308 slugs I have in the 150 to 180 gr range.

Any info would be appreciated.

Larry

[ToxicSports]

Mr. Silvers,

do you knnow by chance if the quoted load is compressed? Did you get a 20" bbl velocity?

Pete,
please let us know what you find out. Obviously, we'll find out here but if you get some info off site.

Larry,

I shoot .308 bullets with my x39's. These are: surplus150Gr fmj 30-06 bullets, Hornady 220gr round nose and Lapua 200gr "subsonic".

I can say that at subsonic velocitites they hit nose first out of my SKS and REM 799. Obviously, my SKS is a single shot but it was pre- 799 so it's back to shooting WOLF ammo once again.

I'm having a custom x39 rifle built this year that will have a .308 bore dueto the larger number of bullet choices.

Scott

[txljb]

Scott,

Thanks for input. I have some 147 gr FMJ BT .308" I'll try.

I have had very consistent subsonic velocities (1038 fps average with 14.45 SD) and 1.2" to 1.5" groups @ 100 yards using modified Russian 123 gr steel cased hollow point ammo. I pull the bullet using an RCBS collet bullet puller, dump the powder and replace it with 5.5 grains of Trail Boss, start to seat the bullet while it is still in the collet and finish seating in a 7.62x39 die set for 2.145" OAL.

These loads do not cycle my AR but do function and feed from C-Products x39 mags using the charging handle to cycle the bolt (a single shot automatic). This is a plus becaue you don't get any noise out of the ejection port.

Barrel is a DPMS 16" carbine length gas system with 1x10 twist. These loads were fired through a GemTech HVT suppressor.

My next experiment will be with Russian 154 gr Soft Point converted in the same manner.

Larry

[Titleiiredneck]

Originally Posted by ToxicSports

I'm having a custom x39 rifle built this year that will have a .308 bore dueto the larger number of bullet choices.

Scott

Thinking of the same but with a ruger 77 action, they have a lightweight model in 7.62x39 with a 1-10 twist and a .308 bore. Once I find one for sale locally or on the net at a decent price the project shold be off the ground and completed with just a rebarrel job.

[ToxicSports]

Larry,

funny that you tinker with Factory Russian ammo since I started doing the same thing and was wondering how many others do.

I have loaded Hornady 150gr SST's (.310) over 23gr of WOLF powder. It still cycles the action of my SKS and Mak-90 and the bullet should do some nasty stuff to vermin.

Then again, there's the 71gr 32acp and 85gr S&W bullets that I tested with 5-8gr of Trailboss. I think I might be able to go down to 3gr but that's a future test.

Titleiiredneck,

I have seen Ruger's rifle and I do like the feel of it. It might still be in my safe in the near future.

I talked to a gunsmith and we are throwing around the idea of a FNH/Winchester receiver and Rock Creek barrel. Since my 1-9.5" twist seem to work so far I'm thinking about keeping it for the new rifle. Granted, Rock Creek can make twists as fast as 1-5" and as slow as 1-35"+ so I'm not hurting when it comes to finding a custom twist barrel.

Then again, the number of Remington 700 footprint receivers on the market are making it hard for me to not like the idea of a Accuracy international copy in x39. DAMN THIS HOBBY!!!!!!

As for my testing, I had a chance to get to the farm once again today. I tested the D166 over the 18gr of 1680. The result was IDENTICAL to the .308 "subsonic" bullet over the same charge. The primer backed out just enough that I can catch the edge with my fingernail. The edges are still round and smooth and no indications of primer flow. I just need to get the chrony and targets out to get velocities and accuracy now.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with a supersonic 200gr 7.62x39 so it might just become another one of my "I found out that it can be done so now it's going to be filed away" projects.

More to come

Scott

[AH-1]

first thanks guys for all the info.right now I have some rem and winchester brass to work with.I am a avid bullet caster so most of my time will be spent on cast loads.I can see I am going to have "wing it" on some loads but if I can find some loads that work in the ruger I will post them up.
again thanks.
pete

[ToxicSports]

Pete,

If you don't mind me asking which bullet mold/s are you going to use for your x39 loads? I'm really thinking about getting one or two molds and trying my hand at another one of my projects. I'm hoping to try my hand at casting lead free bullets. Can't really say what the material is just yet since I'm still researching and talking to the maker but I can say that it will be another fun project.

As for the current 200gr load I can't say what it does just yet. I havn't gotten to shoot over the chrono. Dang weather isn't the problem it's the drifting snow that is on the shooting lane at the farm.

Scott

[AH-1]

I have 2 molds I want to try first.
160gr spitzer and a 185 gr rn both are gas check type molds.
I also got in a 128 gr gc mold for some zippy loads