Thread: 7.62x39 hollow point projectiles?

Are they available in NZ?

And if I have it correct you can’t use 7.62x51 (.308) projectiles?

I've never seen hollowpoints for x39 here, but SST's go great. There's not much choice here really.

You can try .308 projectiles. But don't be surprised if your accuracy sucks compared to using proper .311/.312 projectiles. You'll also need a .308 expander for your sizing die, as the standard one might not give enough neck tension.

All the bullet makers produce 123 or 125 gr projectiles for them. They are supposedly .310 diameter but I have used the light flat based 308 Sierra pro hunters and got as good accuracy as the privi factory. You need to exchange the expander button for a 308 one though or they are a bit loose.
I don't bother anymore as I was lucky enough to get a whole wodge of barnaul sp and hp a while ago and it's cheaper than reloading.

Thanks for all the help guys.

My plan is to pull projectiles from military ammo and replace them with hollow points. (A personal preference over soft points, no logical reason!)

Your Bore/ Calibre depends on who made it . The Americans like to make them .308 , the Europeans usually go for .310 and the old Com Bloc go for .310 up to .314 . The only way to tell for sure is to slug it .

When i had a x39 my standard load was a .308 HP.
my barrel was .310 and it shot well with the .308 speer 130gr HP and the .308 Targex 125gr HP but the proper .310 Hornady 123gr SST worked equally as well and might be the way to go if pulling factory FMJ.
I miss my AR15 .762x39, this was my goat culling gun that shot many stinkers. I think the extra bullet weight and fatness gave it an edge over the standard 55gr .223 load and knocked a few sika over with no drama

your rifle loves .308 speer 130grn HPs look no further than that Mate.

well I have inside knowledge of that particular rifle having owned it for last 5 or so years ,loading for it and shooting all manner of animals with it.

the die set (LEE) I used to reload for it came with both expander balls.... didnt find a projectile that would go worse than 2"...didnt bother punching paper much as didnt see need....its a 150 yard cartridge so 150 yard accuracy for vitals isnt really hard.... the bulk pack SSTs loaded by hornady impressed me on wallabies. 125grn ballistic tip noslers worked really well too BUT needed to be seated till oglive was just starting to go into case or wouldnt fit magazine. 125grn sierra 30/30 projectiles are another lead tipped hollow point worth a look....or buy Roberts 151grn cast hp and poke case full of trail boss behind them...they wont always feed from mag but normally do OK.

I use t use the hornady bulk pack with the sst Bullets in them and they killed well.

Originally Posted by Mauser308

The one potential problem with this is that the pills must be solid base, i.e. a full cup projectile. Some FMJ rounds are open base with exposed lead - not recommended to drill these as you could end up leaving the jacket in the bore. Good way to write off a barrel with a bulge if not worse (and even if you get lucky and the bore doesn't develop a bulge where the subsequent shot tries to squeeze through the jacket) it's a hell of a job dealing with the copper fouling!

I’ve heard of that theory.

I also read (possibly in a US gun mag) that this scenario was attempted and that even with the projectile cut flush with the case mouth there was no separation of jacket and core.

Finally they pushed a cut back projectile down the bore and heated the barrel enough to melt the lead core out.
And fired another bullet down the barrel, they found it swaged the jacket into the rifling and carried on.

No report of resulting accuracy was reported from what I remember!

A Hornady SST is more or less a hollow point with a lump of plastic in the end, just use those and pull the plastic out if you really have to

The mrs went into Gun City and bought some ammo and asked about 123 and 125 gr hollow point or soft point projectiles and they reckoned they had none in stock??

If you want a little more weight Hornady make a 150 grain .311" spire point that should be good for bigger animals than goats
the standard twist will handle 200 grain spitzers.

Try Barnaul.co.nz
They had the 123 grain hollow points last time i ordered.
(Jim is real easy to deal with, and good prices)