Years ago I purchased a Rossi 7.62x39 single shot rifle before learning that you can not fire milsurp ammo in them. Like many others that purchased that rifle, I thought it would make a great little plinker or small-to-mid game rifle, while using dirt cheap ammo that I already had tons of. Well, that was the thought process. The reality proved to be different. After the purchase and several disappointing trips to the range with my new prize, and a subsquent call to Rossi/Taurus, I learned that the milsurp ammo primer (made for rifles with floating firing pins) is much too hard for the wimpy firing pin in the single shot Rossi. So, the rifle has sat in my safe for a few years. Every once in a while I think about alternative solutions to the problem, but none have worked out.
Recently I acquired some reloading equipment and thought I'd get into reloading. In the process of reading and learning (from posts in this and other forums as well as in the ABCs of Reloading) I've learned that different primers have different hardness and seating depths. In going through the learning process, I got to thinking about my Rossi single-shot. I'm wondering if I can reload milsurp ammo with a commerical (softer) primer for the Rossi single-shot? If not, is there a brass/primer combination that will work?
So, I have a few questions.
1) Is anyone successfully reloading milsurp brass for a single-shot (non-floating firing pin) rifle? If so, what primer do you use?
2) Does anyone reload for a single shot 7.62x39 using commercial brass? If so, I'd like to hear your experiences and what brand brass works best...and what to avoid.
3) What primer size (small or large) is needed for the 7.62x39 case?
4) Can commercial primers be used in milsurp brass?
