Anyone Know Of Any Wilcat Cartridges Based On The 7.62X39?

[ROMAK 3]

Is anyone using a wildcat cartridge based upon the 7.62X39 cartridge, or know of a wildcat cartridge based on the 7.62X39 cartridge? Thanks, ROMAK 3

[Skrenos]

.22 and 6mm PPC.

[Banshee]

Yeah, both of the PPC cartridges are based off the .220 russian, which, as I recall, is just a necked-down 7.62x39.

Something I'd like to try is a 6.5mm version of the cartridge, and maybe an improved case with the same bullet size. I'm a sucker for 6-7mm rounds, what can I say?

Banshee

[Skrenos]

i'd like to try 6.5 or 7mm bullets in a 7.62x39 case. it looks promising :) or maybe 8mm bullets to be weird ;)

As to improving 7.62x39, I took a .308n case and cut it down to 39mm and am trying to jam it into the die reall far, so as to have a fatter cartridge, but still the same length.

[N/A]

Question--if you did a wildcat cartridge off the 7.62 x 39, say nothing more than necking it up to .35, how would one go about deciding which would be the correct powder to use and what charge to start with. Most of us just look up in loading books and start working up for known cartridges. How do you do it for the unknown/untried?

[Skrenos]

Depends on the bullet weights. I'd go for...example. you had a 150 gr .35 cal bullet. I'd use loading data for a 150 gr .30 cal bullet, but drop it 10% or more.

[Banshee]

Skrenos, what you're trying to do above sounds lots like the 7.62 (or was it .308? Whatever...) Barnes round. It's a 1.5" cartridge, and in power fairly well blows away the .30-30. Also, for a 6 or 7mm round, one could always just use the remington BR line, which are just cut down .308, right? Pretty cool stuff, IMHO. I'm not a fan of the 7.62x39, and don't really think the .22s are as versatile as they should be, so I'm all for messing around with 6-7mm rounds!

Banshee

[Poodleshooter]

Originally posted by N/A:
<STRONG>Question--if you did a wildcat cartridge off the 7.62 x 39, say nothing more than necking it up to .35, how would one go about deciding which would be the correct powder to use and what charge to start with. Most of us just look up in loading books and start working up for known cartridges. How do you do it for the unknown/untried?</STRONG>
That's where knowing powder burn rates comes in handy. If you raise the bullet weight and keep the cartridge size roughly the same, you either drop your charge weight and keep the powder the same, or switch to a slightly slower burning powder, start with lighter loads and work up. For example, if I was used to loading 125gr 7.62x39 with AA1680, I might move up to AA2230 for a heavier bullet on a necked up case. As a general rule, the standard 7.62x39 uses slightly faster powders than 5.56 does, so raising the bullet weight necessitates getting a slower burning, less energetic powder-otherwise you blow the gun apart. Take a look at peak velocities for any magnum cartridge and you'll see that certain faster powders perform well with lighter bullets, and slower powders will perform better with heavier bullets. There is still a lot of guesswork however.

[N/A]

Sorry to be so long in saying my thanks to you men for your info. I always had the thought of necking a 7.62x39 up to a .35...not that it would have any improved practicality...just to do it. :D

[SA93]

actually saw a magazine article on a guy who bored out a mini-30 to 35 cal. Worked okay, he did a lot of number crunching before hand and was very conservative. Working out the starting load, and then getting the gas system reliable

[Duce Apocalypse]

I believe Dr. Kalashnikov said it best when he said that there should be a modernized x39 round, basically I'd like a thicker case with a hotter charge behind it, to maybe push the x39 at 2,700 FPS instead of 2300 2400 FPS, Also a lighter bullet could be used to push it out at around 3,000 FPS or in the .223 range, the AK has a ruggud action and could take the abuse from a hotter round also pushing the ,39 faster would make it more accurate at longer range, and flatter shooting like the .223.

Duce out

[Larry H]

I believe Dr. Kalashnikov said it best when he said that there should be a modernized x39 round, basically I'd like a thicker case with a hotter charge behind it, to maybe push the x39 at 2,700 FPS instead of 2300 2400 FPS, Also a lighter bullet could be used to push it out at around 3,000 FPS or in the .223 range, the AK has a ruggud action and could take the abuse from a hotter round also pushing the ,39 faster would make it more accurate at longer range, and flatter shooting like the .223.

Ummmmm, yeah.... it's called 5.45x39! :D