I haven't read much about reloading the 7.62X39. How much hotter can it be safely loaded over the common range fodder?

Dunno. What powder, projectile, brass and primer are you running?


Lots.of books have x39 data. I believe hogedon has data on their site

I depends on how far you want to hike to find your fired brass.

I don't currently reload.

I'll check out that site. Thanks.

I do handload, just not x39 yet

I have all my components ready to go just haven't started yet.

While preparing, I have been going over a lot of data though.

I really don't see any data that's "hotter" than factory.
The size limitations of that small case and the powder burn characteristics that the majority of the rifles it was designed for (AK/SKS) require for reliable function don't seem to allow much room to experiment.

You may be able to "play" with performance a little bit more in a bolt gun.

There are also some "premium" bullets available; Hornady SST, Nosler 'Varmegeddon' etc that could/should increase terminal performance over factory FMJ as well as data for heavier and, therefore, slower bullets (think subsonic) but IMHO, as far as significantly higher performance is concerned, this cartridge "is what it is"

Go post in the reloading forum.  There have been a couple of threads on 7.62x39 this year and there are a few guys there that do reload it

@Y-T71 : Thanks.

Sure thing!

Too bad I don't have any real experience with it yet or I might have been able to give you an answer with experience.

As the other poster mentioned, there are a few threads on the x39 that might interest you too.

you can turn it up pretty good if you want to and your not going to re use your casings..  (one time hunting loads)

works alot better in an AR with a good barrel and tighter chamber.  i don't have expericence with reloading for AK chambers

i have been using starline brass, hornady 123 SST, and CFE BLK powder

I'm planning on a home cast, PC'd and GC'd load using 2400 pistol powder precisely so I can reuse my brass.

I do also have some 123 SST's and some Re7 and IMR4198 for a little performance testing too.

Mix of new Starline and new Winchester brass.

Looking forward to experimenting with a Yugo AB2

I would suggest CFE-BLK powder for jacketed loads. Just over starting loads gives you factory velocity, so you have some room to work up if you want to.

CFE-BLK was/is on my short list of powders (lets face it though, suitable powders for the x39 is a short list), 8lbs for ~$240 but no 1lb bottles.

I'd prefer to start with the 1lb in case I don't like it.

Thanks for the tip and I have read up on it.

When/if 1lb become available it'd definitely like to give it a try.

Lots of useful powders for x39. I use Blackout. Basically any powder you would load 300blk with works great. My older loading book shows 11 powders such as 4198 and BLC2, N120 and more. Doesn't even include new powders like CFE or Blackout.

I'm sure I'll find what I'm looking for in my quest for a x39 cost effective, "plinking load"
Looking forward to going down the rabbit hole...

My current inventory consists of 4198, Re7 and some surplus WC844 that I just want to burn up.

By my count, I found 8 listed for jacketed bullets, plus  ~3 for cast but I'm sure I can overlap these.

By contrast, I stopped counting at 28 powders suitable for. 223 so it's an apples to oranges comparison at this point.

I am not looking to improve performance (read velocity) in my x39 just looking for an inexpensive plinking load that I can recover my brass and not have to go to a different zip code to do it.

I still say that the little 7.62x30 doesn't lend itself to performance upgrades like other cartridges do; maybe 100-150 fps here or there but nothing that's going to take it to the next level of performance.

However, since I yet to have a single handloaded round under my belt I cannot say anything with any certainly yet.

If anyone has any recipes they'd like to share in the meantime, I'm all ears!

Thanks!

Yep, your threads on the cast/2400 are a big part of my decision to go that route.

My main goal is to recover my brass and that recipe sounds like just the thing I'm looking for

I am gonna try for some performance when I get around to loading the SST's

There is really not much spread between starting and max load on the 7.62x39. I would caution you that you really need to pay attention on the brass you are using as I have seen some fairly thin wall and case heads on the brass I am reloading and therefore load at the lower end. You will also experience small and large rifle primer use so this makes it more frustrating when sorting etc.

I found that the Hodgdon data for CFE BLK got factory velocities at the starting intensity -- as has been said already.   They list 29.7 gr as MAX.   I made a series of loads from 27.5 gr (the starting load) up to 29.5.  While all loads were consistent, the ES and SD got really small at the highest intensity load.  So, more seems to be better in terms of accuracy.  I have read this many times elsewhere, too.  I'm getting 2500 fps with the 29.5 gr load.  No signs of excessive pressure, but the brass was going further and further away from the gun as the loads increased.  I'll have to adjust the gas for the hotter loads to preserve the brass.

BTW, CFE BLK fills the case completely and is probably a mildly compressed loading -- especially at the higher loadings.

Here is a comparison of some OEM ammo & reloads I've tried.
Accuracy (open sights) were between 1.5 & 6" MOA most were in the 2-3" range
Polish kit AKbuilder US bbl (7yrs ago) 5 shot strings

bbl - bWt - Type -  Brand - Powder - pWt - MVfps - SD/ES-OAL Primer-Case
16"122JHP oem.TCW -Tula OEM OEM 2378.fps-11/27-TCW
16"124JHP oem.Ulyanovsk OEM OEM 2343.fps-43/106-Ulyan-98
16"124FMJ oem.Golden Tiger OEM-OEM-2332.fps-14/35
16"124FMJ oem.Golden Tiger OEM-OEM-2339.fps-16/42 Russian.Vympel
16"123FMJ oem.Wolf OEM OEM 2438.fps-7/18 Wolf
16"124JHP oem.Mixed OEM OEM 2307.fps-124/303-Tula, Wolf, Uly
.....................
16"122FMJ Generic.310" Re-7-26.5-2249.fps-11/27-2.18" WLR Beloc
16"122FMJ Generic.310" Re-7-25.7-2197.fps-21/46-2.18" WLR Mixed
16"122FMJ Generic.310" A-5744-22.0-2039.fps-16/44-2.18 "WLR USA
16"124JHP.bt Generic.310" A-1680-26.5-2345.fps-8-/1-2.20 "WLR Norma
16"124JHP.bt Generic.310" A-1680-26.0-2304.fps-14/37-2.19" S&B R-P
16"124JHP.bt Generic.310" A-1680-26.5-2349.fps-31/77-2.19" S&B R-P
16"124JHP.bt Generic.310" A-1680-27.0-2375.fps-14/35-2.19" S&B R-P
16"124JHP.bt Generic.310" A-2015-27.5-2115.fps-20/48-2.19" S&B R-P
16"124JHP.bt Generic.310" A-2230-29.5-2176.fps-11/30-2.19" S&B R-P
sorry for formatting - insert table didn't work

CFE Black at 29gr with the 123gr MSC bullet at 2.200" is giving me about 2,400 fps in a 16" GF3..

123 grain Hornady FMJ or SP bullets seated @ 2.190"

28.0 grains of H322 or
24.5 grains of H4198 works for me.

I got these loads over 25 years ago from a NRA article and haven't felt the need to change anything all this time.

That's one thing I didn't like when I was reloading for x39, compression loads.  Always seemed like too much powder in that damn case.  Never had an issue, though.  

Accurate 1680 27.0 gns has been great for me with SST and Noslers.
Alliant RT1200 28.0 grains for ppu FMJ