7.62 x 39 handi

[ScatterGunner]

i took my 7.62 x39 commie handi out to the range today. i bought it several years ago but i do not recall ever shooting it.

all the usual cleaning and o-ringing was done. i have to say, what a lousy cartridge.

a box of no-name yugoslavian(?) ammo from gander mis-fired 1/2 the time, primer dimples were ample but many failed to fire. the jacketed bullets measured mostly .3095 which is too small,the barrel should be
 .311. the ones that fired printed a 5" circle at 50 yards off a rest.

a box of remington factory did about 3" at 100 yards.

the best grouping was with a bag of handed loaded 110 grain gas checked cast spire points upset to .313, these did about 2 1/2" at 100 yards.

when i bought this gun i was thinking the 7.62 x 39 was good because it was based on the 220 russian which is a great round and the basis of the PPC cartridge. i was dead wrong. of the brass i saved, flash holes varied from .050" to over .080", case lengths varied +- .030 after firing. the factory stuff from remington was dimensionally consistant.

the cast bullet loads used new brass i bought at a gun show, these were all prepped by trimming to length, and drilling the flash holes to .078. i guessed at the cast bullet diameter and upset them during sizing/gascheck to .313. too bad this cartridge uses large rifle primers...

anyone else have good luck with this miserable cartridge???

"SG"

[quickdtoo]

That's why they discontinued it, people wanted to shoot cheap milsurp in them, those that shoot sporting ammo or handload for it really like em. 

Tim

[Daniel Laws]

The one I have is probably the most accurate Handi I own.  It doesn't do too well on milsurp ammo, but my handloads are very accurate.  Even the milsurp shoots every time in mine.  I just hit it lucky with mine, I suppose.

[mitch132]

I cannot speak of accuracy out of a Handi in this caliber, but I have a stock CZ 527 carbine chambered in 7.62x39 that I am very pleased with. I can easily get around 1" @ 100 yards with my better groups measuring 0.85" using Winchester brass, CCI 200 primers, Sierra Pro Hunter 180 grain .311" dia. bullets, and a light load of Bullseye to measure around 1050 fps on the conograph. This is my go to rifle for late night pest elimination! Accurate with a very mild report. This was my cheaper alternative to a .300 Whisper. I have seen it often referred to as a .300 Commie. I would not use this load on mid to large game, but fine for rabbits and raccoons. Also, verify your twist rate can stabilize this long of a bullet as the CZ has a 1:9" twist. I strongly recommend reading the web page below before attempting to load subsonic loads and of course, do so at your own risk.


http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/DevelopSubsonic.html


I enjoy the 7.62x39, but I approached it knowing that with most surplus ammo, you might as well have a slingshot with a bag of firecrackers and a pocket full of rocks. Good luck with your Handi, as I have been thinking of trying to find one myself in this caliber as they are no longer offered.

[ScatterGunner]

this should and could be an accurate round. it should approximate the interior ballistics of the 220 russian. the military ammo sounds like it was designed to fire in a fully automatic weapon, not a sporting rifle. the stuff i bought was from gander mountain, it came in a square orange box and cost about 5 bucks.

the cast bullet performance was pretty good for the first load. i need to work on it but i'll bet i can get down to an inch at 100 yards with this gun.

is there any brass made with small rifle primers??? my brain is foggy but when i was shooting light varmint with the 6ppc it used a small rifle primer as they were supposedly more repeatable than the large primers. back then fiochi were the rage because they had the most repeatable 'brisque' or flame. i think i am spelling that right!

i stay far far away from light rifle loads. they are too risky to play around with unless you have the right equipment. i can't imagine what a handi would do if a round detonated in it.

[PHATINJUN]

Mine shoots 1" and less with American Eagle/Federal 124 gr. I love it . Got the can't believe that thing is an H&R at the range last yr with it. Was able to buy a couple hundred rounds cheap for it so I have not hand loaded for it yet.I do have the dies and such though ready to go.Mine will not shoot the surplus ammo either. Kurt

[Singleshotsam]

It still sounds like Mil-Surp ammo is the problem.  The 7.62x39 was designed to function first out of an SKS Then the AK, Both guns were designed to go bang and thats about it.  (Although some sks rifles show promise for accuracy.)  As for some of the rounds not detonating, do you have a hammer extension installed?  I know on my Rossi, I had the same problem with the hammer extension adding too much mass to allow the hammer to strike the firing pin w/ enough force. When I would look at the primers, they would have an indention where the firing pin had made a dimple.   Took the extension off and shot it again last deer season and never had another ftf. 

[Smokin Joe]

is there any brass made with small rifle primers???

Remington used to make small pocket brass. Don't know if they still produce it.

[GoodOlBoy]

ooohbekaybes I though I had already replied to this one but apparently I musta closed the window instead of posting.

Yes surplus ammo is a good part of the problem.  I have seen handis in 7.62x39mm as well as other rifles shoot all over the place with it and have failures.  The one exception for me being the wolf ammo, partiularly the 154 grain softpoints.  They will shoot decent (not great like more expensive ammo but decent) from a 7.62.  I am wary of ANY fmjs because I once had to replace a 75 yard pan on a range after getting two steel core rounds in with a bunch of regular fmjs purchased at a gun show.

Anyway.  Handloads and/or better quality ammo should fix this issue.

GoodOlBoy

[tmccray45]

My initial reaction to my Handi 7.62x39 was disappointment.   I got it off Gunbroker and used Winchester ammo the first time out.   I didn't do anything to the rifle once I took it out of the box. 

Out of a box of 20, I'd get 16-17 shots, with dimpled rounds on the remaining 3-4.  But, from the 16-17 good rounds, it was stupid-accurate.   I reloaded a bunch, using the brass from the Winchesters, took them to the range.  Using Winchester primers, I got about the same results as with factory ammo.

THEN, I tried CCI primers and MAN!, what a difference.   It fires every time, and using a load from the Hodgdon site (H4198), I can usually hit the center of the target 3 out of 5 times on the first shot.   Not an inch off - the center!

Admittedly, the next five shots will be within 1", but I can count on that first shot being right on target.  I hunt in Maryland, and if I ever get into Western Maryland where they allow rifles, I know which rifle I'll take.

[Badnews Bob]

Yep its the surplus stuff,Its made for SKS and AKs works very well in those ask any soldier. Ya got one thing wrong its no based on the 220 russian. Its the other way around, 7.62x39 is the parent round. I don't have a handie in it but my CZ is crazy accurate with this round and just too easy to shoot. It is also a very good whitetail round, very popular around here, ( SKSs mostly) plenty of knock down power on the heels of a .30-30. Reloads should cure most problems and I think Lapua or Norma one sell brass with small rifle pocket but I can't remember which.

Its not a crappy round but most of the cheap mil surp is.

[ScatterGunner]

thanks bob - another brain lapse.

i spent a little time looking for small primer brass and found that remington does make it.

i couldn't find lapua or norma, the ones i found had large primers. but, feel to correct me here too.

tomorrow, i am heading out to herb phillipsons and gander to see what i can find.

thanks,

"SG"