Right now I'm set up to reload 9mm, 40sw, .223, and .30 carbine. I will be getting an AK soon and was curious to see if anyone reloads 7.62 x 39. I've been checking prices on brass and bullets an it doesn't seem like reloading this caliber would be cost effective... Any thoughts or suggestions on this?
Reloading 7.62 x 39?
- Thread starter Sixer
- Start date
i reload for a 39, but its not a ak or sk. these guns are not that accurate
for reloading..... don't get me wrong!!!! there flawless shooters for large centers of mass. they were made for one thing.....
milsurp ammo will be your best bet.
now if you got a performance 39, thats a different story....
milsurp ammo will not perform up to the guns ability, much less ignite
due to hard berdan primers. and cannot be reloaded, maybe some of you can do it, but not me
also i do own an sks or 2, and there fun shooters. i've even took a few hogs
with'um.
good shoot'n
for reloading..... don't get me wrong!!!! there flawless shooters for large centers of mass. they were made for one thing.....
milsurp ammo will be your best bet.
now if you got a performance 39, thats a different story....
milsurp ammo will not perform up to the guns ability, much less ignite
due to hard berdan primers. and cannot be reloaded, maybe some of you can do it, but not me
also i do own an sks or 2, and there fun shooters. i've even took a few hogs
with'um.
good shoot'n
okiefarmer
New member
If you are going to be shooting them in an AK, your best round is milsurp steelcase. AKs are a very violent ejector/extractor, and brass cases will normally not last very long. It pulls little chunks out of the rim base. I have a boatload of X39 brass and the RCBS Special .312 spire mold if we are ever unable to get steelcase, but it will stay in storage until that point. That point may be closer than we want to think if we keep the libs in office long, but I truly feel this hoarding things is about over, and we will once again be back to semi-normalcy soon.
I'm prayin' for it anyway.
I'm prayin' for it anyway.
I came across a bunch of once fired 7.62 x 39 once fired brass awhile back so I picked up the dies and worked up some reloads that shoot pretty good from my AK. I don't normally use them as my main ammo for shooting but did earlier this year when the Russian stuff was AWOL. Now that the Russian stuff is showing up again and the prices seem to be coming down again I have backed off reloading for it for the time being.
VL
VL
I snagged about 10K pieces of 7.62x39 commercial reloadable brass...
Over the decade or so of my range officer experiences. That alone amortized a lot of the cost of reloading. The biggest problem I've noticed when reloading 7.62x39 on my Dillon 550 is making sure to separate the Remington brass from the Winchester/Federal/Lapua stuff, because Remington uses Small Rifle Primers.
Neither my 3 AKs nor my 2 SKS rifles get fed steel-cased surplus crap. They each got a sampling, and accuracy was horrible, to say the least.
I have no problems getting 2MOA out of my SLR-95, and 2.5MOA out of my SAR-1 using my handloads. There's no way on Gawd's Green Earth could I do that with steel-cased surplus. Since ammo prices have gone sky-high, I have no qualms reloading for the round. (Not that I had any problems doing so before the current ammo panic...)
Accurate Arms 1680 is the powder you're looking for in the 7.62x39. It's very clean-burning, and produces the best accuracy and velocities for that round. Of course, it's made in Czechoslovakia specifically for the 7.62x39 round, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Over the decade or so of my range officer experiences. That alone amortized a lot of the cost of reloading. The biggest problem I've noticed when reloading 7.62x39 on my Dillon 550 is making sure to separate the Remington brass from the Winchester/Federal/Lapua stuff, because Remington uses Small Rifle Primers.
Neither my 3 AKs nor my 2 SKS rifles get fed steel-cased surplus crap. They each got a sampling, and accuracy was horrible, to say the least.
I have no problems getting 2MOA out of my SLR-95, and 2.5MOA out of my SAR-1 using my handloads. There's no way on Gawd's Green Earth could I do that with steel-cased surplus. Since ammo prices have gone sky-high, I have no qualms reloading for the round. (Not that I had any problems doing so before the current ammo panic...)
Accurate Arms 1680 is the powder you're looking for in the 7.62x39. It's very clean-burning, and produces the best accuracy and velocities for that round. Of course, it's made in Czechoslovakia specifically for the 7.62x39 round, so maybe that has something to do with it.
armoredman
New member
I've been reloading this cartidge for some time. I had ammo while the great ammo scare was going on, and still do. My VZ-58 loves a 123gr Hornday Soft point ofer 24 grains of Accurate Arms #1680 powder, and I use the Lee dies, including the FCD. I alos consider reloading to be a fun procuctive hobby that goes along with shooting, so I don't mind the time and effort. The VZ also doesn't batter cases quite as bad as an AK does, ejection "port" is kinda huge.
Someday I'll start the pot up and cast some bullets for it, even have 1000 30 cal gas checks laying about waiting...
My VZ-58 loves a 123gr Hornday Soft point ofer 24 grains of Accurate Arms #1680 powder, and I use the Lee dies, including the FCD. I alos consider reloading to be a fun procuctive hobby that goes along with shooting, so I don't mind the time and effort. The VZ also doesn't batter cases quite as bad as an AK does, ejection "port" is kinda huge.Someday I'll start the pot up and cast some bullets for it, even have 1000 30 cal gas checks laying about waiting...