Cast bullet for Baikal 7.62x39 ?

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  • Last Post 22 November 2011
gaz-52 posted this 02 October 2011

I recently slugged the bore of this rifle.It slugged out at .3115".which explained why the .311"cast bullets I have been shooting are not great . How much larger than the bore size would I need to go to improve  accuracy? I have a mold which drops a heeled bullet at .317” (.310 Martini cadet) 123gn that I am thinking of trying , but I am concerned that it may be too much. Any one out there been down this road and could advise me would be appreciated.  Cheers Gaz.  

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Ed Harris posted this 02 October 2011

What is the barrel groove diameter?

Most 7.62x39 boltguns shoot well with the same bullets used for .303 British if you don't need to worry about cartridge overall length to fit into the magazine. #314299 sized .313 with 21 grs. of RL-7 or 18 of 4198 should work OK.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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gaz-52 posted this 06 October 2011

Thanks Ed.  The groove diameter on the slug measures .299” with my digital verniers, I think we could safely say .300". The bullets I have been playing with are from a Lee 150 gn. gas check  mold which I believe is one of your designs. I have been sizing them to .311& fitting the gas checks . I think I might cast a few more & try them unsized . I don't recall the diameter before sizing, but there is one sure way to find out;).         Thanks again for a friendly and informative forum.           Cheers Gaz.

    

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onondaga posted this 18 November 2011

I have the Biakal in the same caliber. Mine was imported by Remington and called the Spartan rifle.

Mine is shooting very well for me. I had to work on the trigger as it was about 10 pounds when new. I removed one turn from the hammer spring then shimmed the trigger return spring and polished all the action parts . A gunsmith wanted $150 for that job but I got it done and reduced the pull to 3.2 pounds. It still has lots of creep but the creep is smooth and not jagged anymore.

I shoot a bullet made from a modified Lee 309-150FNGC. I honed the mold out to drop bullets at .313” and size/check them at .312” My bore slugged .3105” and close to yours. The chrome lined Biakal bore really likes cast boolits.

I size the brass using the Lee collet neck size die with a  .303 Brit mandrel  in the die to fit the diameter bullets I use.

My load is 28.1 grains of AA2230 with the boolit seated so the gas check is even with the bottom of the case neck for an LOA of 2.140” The bullet engages the rifling about .040” when a round is chambered and you can see the marks on the bullet of an extracted round.

My velocity is verified by chrony at 2161 fps.  I have no signs of pressure at all on my brass with this load but suggest you work up to it as it is above maximum published data. Full length sized brass will not fit the volume of this load .

Here is my last target with this load and it is typical of what the rifle does:

I like the little rifle and dressed it up with some of my leather work including a shell holder and a roll over cheek rest for scope shooting.

Here is the good news:

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onondaga posted this 18 November 2011

Here is what my loaded ammo looks like. The bullets are lubed with 45:45:10 Recluse tumble lube before and after size/checking.

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tturner53 posted this 19 November 2011

I see there's a step in the necks from neck sizing. Looks like your chamber has a generous neck, a condition I have with a Remington rolling block 7mm. Are you neck sizing in a standard FL die? Your results speak for themselves but you may get longer case life with Lee Collett dies for the commie 7.62. I use them for my H&R 7.62x39, accuracy is not as good as yours but cases have not split yet as they do with the 7mm RB. Let us know how the hunt goes.

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onondaga posted this 20 November 2011

I do use the Lee Collet Neck Sizing Die but I have modified it with a Lee .303 British mandrel that I had to shorten to fit the 7.62X39 die. My bullets are sized .312 and the standard 30 cal. mandrel supplied with the collet die in X39 is not big enough for cast bullets sized .312. The Brit mandrel is fine and only is a couple dollar part from Lee that has to be trimmed to length for this application. The Lee technical department advised me to do this upon my questioning them regarding my application of the collet die for the X39 Rooskie with oversize cast bullets.

I think the step you mention is on slope between the neck and the shoulder, not on the neck,  and that is how the brass fire-forms in my chamber .  Neck sizing with a collet die does not touch or re-size the shoulder slope of the brass at all, but leaves that area in fire formed dimension. This has not been a problem, but is visible on every  fired case. That is how my chamber is shaped. The Spartan is an inexpensive, utility grade Russian made rifle that I prettied up and tuned.

The hunt went well. I harvested a 160 pound Whitetail doe just before sunset from my ground blind  and a truly giant black squirrel when leaving my midday stalk area.. The little Spartan X39 rifle hits with my worked up load, both shots were about 60 yard offhand bang-flops . The doe was struck broadside through both shoulder tops and the lungs vaporized. The squirrel was decapitated against the trunk of a big Maple tree.

The brass in the picture is Winchester brass, It was loaded 10 times, then annealed and has been loaded 4 times since annealing. One case neck out of a batch of 100 has split so far after all that loading. I am happy with the Winchester brass also.

Gary

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tturner53 posted this 21 November 2011

Will it shoot the military surplus stuff? My H&R won't fire the cheap steel cased stuff, primer is not hit hard enough I think.

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 21 November 2011

tturner53 wrote: Will it shoot the military surplus stuff? My H&R won't fire the cheap steel cased stuff, primer is not hit hard enough I think.

If I remember right, they didn't make bbl's in 7.62x39 for some time because of the wide variances in ammo - some of it too loose to allow the firing pin to hit it.

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onondaga posted this 22 November 2011

I haven't tried any military ammo in my rifle and probably won't. I selected the 7.62X39 because  it's internal case volume can accommodate a variety of powders at full capacity and not over pressure a Lyman #2 alloy gas checked bullet.  I believe 100% capacity loads eliminate a variable in ignition that is important for accuracy and also wanted ballistic performance close to the 30-30  Winchester for deer hunting.

Gary

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 22 November 2011

onondaga wrote: I haven't tried any military ammo in my rifle and probably won't. I selected the 7.62X39 because  it's internal case volume can accommodate a variety of powders at full capacity and not over pressure a Lyman #2 alloy gas checked bullet.  I believe 100% capacity loads eliminate a variable in ignition that is important for accuracy and also wanted ballistic performance close to the 30-30  Winchester for deer hunting. Gary

Exactly my resoning, except for the deer.

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