7.62 x 39 Re-loading?

[aka-kesler]

A few questions.. Can anyone tell me where to find brass? Any data on this caliber would be helpful.. Is it possible to re-load the steel casings w/ carbide dies?? Thanks !!!

 

[rjhans53]

yes you can reload steel but it's very very hard on the dies. The brass I've got is stuff that I picked up at the range. Be aware that if you are shooting this out of a ak or sks the bullets are .311 and not 308 if you are shooting them out of an american bolt then you probably want 308 bullets. What cal bullet is your die set for, I've got both expanders for my set.

 

[Cerberus]

Winchester and Remington make reloadable brass, and I think Lapua does as well. I'm not 100% sure, but I think Remington uses a small primer in theirs, or may have in the past. Wideners had the components at one point, they may still have. You could always check with Aszerigan here on the forum if you wish to keep things in state.

I am currently backing out of the AK platform, or I would look into it more.

 

[kruger]

Winchester and Lapua do and if you keep your eye out Lake City does also. Lee makes an OK dies set for this caliber. If you are just plinking then the Lee is a good set for that. Lapua will last you awhile also. You will get alot of reloads out of it.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

There are actually several manufacturers of 7.62x39 in reloadable boxer brass. I haven't bought any yet, but I'm planning to. Even Prvi Partizan has some.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I thought about it when I had my AK. For the price of components though, it's cheaper just to buy steel cased ammo. I personally could not see the point of reloading it. Something to consider.

 

[dukeboy_318]

The only reason I would reload for 7.62x39 is so I could run cast bullets for it. I'm set up to do it but haven't yet.

 

[Broom_jm]

It should also be stated that not all 7.62x39 firing chambers are conducive to long case life, regardless of who makes the brass. In fact, I've never seen any correlation of case life to brass manufacturer, other than brass that is actually flawed. In other words, W-W brass is likely to last just as long as Lapua...

There's no way I'd pony up Lapua prices for 7.62x39 accuracy...not even if I had a quality bolt-action or AR, so chambered. It's not a 300 yard cartridge, so why pay for BR quality brass?

 

[jedi]

Corrosive ammo in 7.62x39 runs about .19 cents per round. For those of you reloading this round what is it costing you?

 

[03A3]

You could work up a load for special occasions. Something that you wouldn't shoot a lot of, but keep it in reserve.
Graf & Sons has Berdan primers and Barnes bullets. And Yugo M67 ammo is brass cased.
Graf also has 4 different brands of Boxer primed brass.
Berdan primed brass is somewhat of a pain to work with. On the othed hand it's one more thing to accomplish, another skill learned. You don't have to go into mass production and make a big job of it.

 

[aka-kesler]

Thanks for all the input!!! Very good info. Great help to a novice reloader of this caliber.

 

[jcwit]

I've reloaded 7.62 x 39 for years using cast bullets that are gas checked. I shoot them in a chinese SKS and accuracy is the same as Jacketed bullets, 2 in. at 100 yds.

 

[spencer rifle]

Last batch:
123 grain JSP, 25.1 grains H4198, 2.17 OAL, various primers since some of the brass was small rifle and some large.
Not sure how much it cost per round, since I got the brass and bullets together a while ago, the primers came in a sale group (about $20/1000), and the powder was from someone who wanted out of reloading ($20/lb.), all INGO members. If I had to guess I would say around 20 cents?

 

[CountryBoy19]

I can confirm that Remington's brass uses small primers... I have a bunch of it that I've never reloaded because steel cases ammo is so cheap...

We're still sitting on a good stock of 7.62X39 from the last time we made a bulk purchase at $150/case