7.62x39 CZ 527 and the RDO 313-150
Posted: 19 Jun 2019 19:41
Sorry it took so long to get back to this. I posted on another site already but was interrupted with a family emergency before I got back here. I hope to have better groups to show sometime yet this summer. I think I have my "squirrel load," but I want at least one load putting these out there at full speed for a 150 grain jacketed bullet - but with this cast bullet.
I haven't shot it much but I got a few down range using the last two moulds I bought from Michael. I stuck a scope on it for load testing and realized I really should at least have put a 6x on it, but I had a new 1x - 3x Weaver that looked like it was made for the rifle. The plan is to put a Skinner receiver sight on and replace the weird day-glo front sight with a sourdough sight. The first load I tried was one I started with on a lot of other cartridges - 7 grains of Unique.
I loaded up ten with 7.5 grains but haven't had time to shoot them. My 30-30 shoots 7.5 grains under either the RDO 311-165 (one of the versions) or the LEE C309-113 extremely well, and my 222 has a preference for 7.5 grains of Unique pushing the RDO 225-50. Oh, and my 44 Special loves 7.5 grains of Unique under a Lyman 429-421 ("Keith-type") SWC. Maybe I should focus on the 7 grain loads so I get an even one thousand loads from a pound? "Alloy" is typically wheel weights of varying vintages, air-cooled, sometimes a little tin added. I've shot this "alloy"/hardness to 1840 fps in the 222 with no leading. Haven't had time to go faster, but don't really need to for most uses. The flat noses on the RDO bullets hit pretty hard even at modest velocities.
All of these except the LEE C309-113 wear home-made aluminum gas checks made on Free-Check III tooling. The C309 was de-gas-checked, making it a plain-base which now weighs 118 grains. I size the 311-165s and C309-113s to .310" for the 30-30 and size the 313-150 and C309-113 to .313" for the 7.62x39.
With a rickety rest, trying to beat the rain again, and my 3x scope, my last group, after sighting in, wasn't spectacular but is certainly encouraging. I honestly believe that all that space between the holes was me. Distance is 65 yards.
I do need to get a larger expander button for my LEE FL die and a larger mandrel for my LEE Collet Neck Sizer. I had to turn a field point from an arrow down on the drill press to use as a neck expander to open the necks sufficiently on the new Starline brass. Otherwise, the tight necks would have re-sized my fat cast bullets and they'd have rattled down the bore.
I haven't shot it much but I got a few down range using the last two moulds I bought from Michael. I stuck a scope on it for load testing and realized I really should at least have put a 6x on it, but I had a new 1x - 3x Weaver that looked like it was made for the rifle. The plan is to put a Skinner receiver sight on and replace the weird day-glo front sight with a sourdough sight. The first load I tried was one I started with on a lot of other cartridges - 7 grains of Unique.
I loaded up ten with 7.5 grains but haven't had time to shoot them. My 30-30 shoots 7.5 grains under either the RDO 311-165 (one of the versions) or the LEE C309-113 extremely well, and my 222 has a preference for 7.5 grains of Unique pushing the RDO 225-50. Oh, and my 44 Special loves 7.5 grains of Unique under a Lyman 429-421 ("Keith-type") SWC. Maybe I should focus on the 7 grain loads so I get an even one thousand loads from a pound? "Alloy" is typically wheel weights of varying vintages, air-cooled, sometimes a little tin added. I've shot this "alloy"/hardness to 1840 fps in the 222 with no leading. Haven't had time to go faster, but don't really need to for most uses. The flat noses on the RDO bullets hit pretty hard even at modest velocities.
All of these except the LEE C309-113 wear home-made aluminum gas checks made on Free-Check III tooling. The C309 was de-gas-checked, making it a plain-base which now weighs 118 grains. I size the 311-165s and C309-113s to .310" for the 30-30 and size the 313-150 and C309-113 to .313" for the 7.62x39.
With a rickety rest, trying to beat the rain again, and my 3x scope, my last group, after sighting in, wasn't spectacular but is certainly encouraging. I honestly believe that all that space between the holes was me. Distance is 65 yards.
I do need to get a larger expander button for my LEE FL die and a larger mandrel for my LEE Collet Neck Sizer. I had to turn a field point from an arrow down on the drill press to use as a neck expander to open the necks sufficiently on the new Starline brass. Otherwise, the tight necks would have re-sized my fat cast bullets and they'd have rattled down the bore.