Thread: good powder for 7.62 x 39

Anyone reload for their AKs here?
Please let me know a good powder for the 123 Grain Zombie killer.

Thanks a lot.

AR2207

thanks, will give that a try. I wondered if Bench Mark 2 will do the job as well. the burning rate really make that much difference?

ADI website only has BM2 data for 108 grain Barnes projectiles, for heavier projectiles (125 and 150gr) they only list 2207, 2219 and 2206h

Couple of good articles:

https://loaddata.com/Article/BenchTo...the-762x39/101

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art...762x39-mm-m43/

Hodgdon 4198 is listed as 24.5-26.5 for a 125, and I happen to have some. Cheers for the idea

EDIT: I also see CFEBLK listed as doing pretty well with the 125gr

lil gun.... you wont find data for it...2206 is great too.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

lil gun.... you wont find data for it...2206 is great too.

Lilgun seems to be the go-to for a lot of small 30 cal stuff, must get some

got a mate to do the quickload thing and went from there...because it doesnt fill case completely like AR2206 there is room for more if you were so inclind....

Cfe223 works well in the Grendel which is the same case (ish) with the same bullet waights ish so don’t see why that wouldn’t work?
Is an ak worth loading for? Or do you just buy cheap shitty shit
Steel case probably get 2 rounds or even 3 for the cost of a reload
Considering most aks I say most as there are a few exceptions shoot no more than 3 inches at 100
Is there gains to reloading or are you better to save time and money and go plinking

Article about improving the 7.62x39 and some possibilities for tapping its potential. 7.62x39: Improving the Military Standard

Another vote for AR2207. It gives a good balance of accuracy and velocity - you can meet or exceed factory/surplus speeds without too much trouble, especially if you load long and cram in a little more powder. CFEBLK is the velocity king - I've had 2500fps from mine but accuracy wasn't overly impressive.

I wouldn't use CFE223. It'll be too slow. The case is similar to Grendel, yes, but the extra surface area of the larger diameter bullet means it accelerates quicker than the 6.5. With the small-ish case, anything slower than AR2219 isn't going to develop enough pressure for decent speeds.

E.g. Lyman lists H335 as their accuracy load so I gave it a punt - it gave a marginal improvement over AR2207 but velocity really did suffer at ~2100fps. All the un-burned powder made for some impressive fireballs at the range!

Loaded a batch for the AK with the nice Lapua brass. all of them got smashed against the bolt cover and dented the sides. scratched sides and heads. i think I'll just stick with the steel case for AK. I'll used the brass for the CZ bolt action.

Try CFE BLK. I have been using ADI 2206 but now moved to CFE BLK and get some really nice velocities along with great accuracy. That is out of a re-barreled Brno with a 22" barrel though so probably not going to get the same out of an AK but worth a shot.

hthomas: could you give some details about your BRNO turned into a 7.62x39 please?