SAVAGE LONG ACTION .223 CONVERTED,TO 7.62X39MM READ ON!

[jonbearman]

I did the conversion for a fun gun.Well it no longer is just a fun gun,this thing plain shoots.It is set in a bvss stock that I had to mill out the magazine pocket,then once the reciever fit,I milled slots to capture the marine tex,once it was bedded I had to wait for the ptg headspace gage,it arrived in just 3 days. So I set the headspace to the go gage.It functions perfectly picking up the cartridge out of the staggered mag.The mag will hold 2 only due to the body taper and one in the chamber.The reciever is blued and the lug,nut,and barrel are all stainless steel.It has a 3 screw trigger that I cannot get to go down below 5 pounds without it being unsafe.I have had others that I could go down to 2.5 pounds,this one is ugly. It has the BT handle on the bolt.The barrel is a .310 bore and only 18 inches long. Here is the exciting part.At 100 yards shooting lapua factory 122 grain full metal jacket,it shot several .350 groups. I went out today and shot the new reloads consisting of 29.0 grains of h322 and sierra 125 grain soft points and cci std primers in lapua and winchester brass. I shot it at 200 yds today including the ugly trigger and shot a .290 group.I am flipping out.This is a blast.I wish I had done this years ago.I cant believe the mcgowen barrel is that accurate. I had to write this story out of shear excitement.I knew this little cartridge was way underated as useless to some due to the sks and ak's noteriety for minute of barn accuracy node's. If you want to have a riot,build one of these,but I suggest you do it on the .308 bore for better bullet selection. Thanks for reading and I realize this is sort of a redo article,but I am really happy today. This is the poor mans 30 br facsimilie. I know I spelled that word wrong.Just too excited!

 

[MrMajestic]

Good for you! I have the 10 CFM in 7.62X39 and it has the .308 bore. What twist are you using? I am thinking about re-barreling as mine is 1 in 10" and other than perhaps shooting the 208 A-Max at sub sonic just doesn't fit the case capacity. Thinking 1 in 15" should be about right. Any thoughts?

 

[Laurie]

Jon,

sounds a good one, and a great conversion project too - well done!

I can vouch for the Lapua factory ammo too - used some in a short Cz527 carbine I had some years back. It was a fun little rifle, but wouldn't produce your groups even with handloads. I once shot it on NRA targets out to 600yd - OK to 500, but struggled with the extra hundred on a cold winter's day.

 

[jonbearman]

MY BARREL IS 1 IN10 AND THE .310 DIAMETER. Sorry about the caps. This gun has come together and exceeded my expectations tenfold. I dont know about the 1 in 15,I would check with your barrel company.It all depends on the weight you intend to shoot.I like the 125's and they flew in the wind yesterday quite well.My shooting partner looked at the group and said,yeah its tight.He was upset,but he got over it after he shot under 3/8ths with a stock savage at 200. Laurie,what were your groups at 500 if you wouldnt mind posting again.

 

[jerrschmitt]

How about some photos????? Sounds like a fun rifle.

 

[jonbearman]

I have tried to put photos on here with no success.That is why I elaborated on how I put it together.If you have any questions feel free to ask away.If you want something that doesnt suck up a ton of powder and is accurate,this one is for you.

 

[Laurie]

Laurie,what were your groups at 500 if you wouldnt mind posting again.

Jon,

well I wasn't shooting for group but was one of three, maybe four, shooting in turn on a marked target, in a pretty miserable November day seven years ago. Not too much wind (although any wind is too much wind for a short barrel 7.62X39 at 500 and 600yd!), but grey, poor visibility, light drizzle and damned cold. Standard NRA Target Rifle target with a 2-MOA Bull and 1-MOA 'V'.

300 was 2+20 and I shot 93.8v (193.8x in your system). A bit of vertical stringing but most of the 20 within 1.5-MOA.

500 was 2+15 and was 69.6v ex 75. One just leaked out left from the two-MOA Bull-ring, and three went high, one of them very high 1.5-MOA above the top of the five ring.

600 was only 9 shots including the sighters and apart from two off to the left it was all vertical covering around 3.5-MOA. 37.1v ex a possible 45. The markers said the bullets made oval holes at that range.

Remember the Cz527 is a lightweight sporting carbine with short and skinny hammer forged barrel and the action is simply bolted into a downsized wood stock - like a Remy model 7 but with a smaller, thinner action. The verticals were probably bedding related especially as the barrel heated. It was a fun little thing, but not a lot of use to me in the sort of shooting I do, even before F Class came along.

 

[jonbearman]

Thank you for your insight. I have a feeling the rest of the members think I am a nut job ,doing a project such as this just to prove a point to someone who believe's onlybenchrest cartridges can be accurate.I intend to keep shooting it till the barrel is shot out.It is alot of fun ,no recoil hardly and cheap to reload for. Thanks again for your support.

 

[Heavies]

Awesome Jon! I was browsing the other thread and knew you could pull it off.
Did you try any of the real cheapo ammo to see if those shoot decent?

 

[fm1947]

that trigger should go into the ounces, I have had the issue i believe your having where trigger just goes off easily even at high trigger pull , and it was when fitting to a different stock , you binding somwhere, right below where the rear action screw goes there is a lip take that lip and cut it down with dremel or router what ever you use to get in that area.

 

[jonbearman]

Yes ,I did try some russian hunting ammo and it shot under an inch.fm1947,I will look at what you are talking about,if I cant get it to work,then it will be another rifle basix2 for it.

 

[Laurie]

Jon,

as with you, it was trying out the little cartridge that really appealed to me. It's very interesting just what it'll do in your custom rifle with good quality, heavier barrel!

I found some old (Remington) UMC headstamped factory ammo in yellow cartons too, but never got around to trying it / reloading the cases before I sold the carbine. The unique feature of this ammo / brass is that it uses small primers, which in theory should reduce MV spreads and groups as the standard format is arguably 'over-primered'. (This is something I still plan to explore but in 6.8mm Rem SPC, one of the few other small capacity and charge-size cartridges with a choice in the matter. I've also been playing with small primer Lapua .308W brass, but it's at the other end of the powder charge to primer size relationship.)

One thing I did find was that many handloads that otherwise performed well produced horrendous MV spreads, often into three figures, while cheapo East European military ball was much better if still not good by match ammo standards and wondered if case-neck crimp was a factor, the milspec stuff all heavily crimped. Sure enough, trials with a Lee 'Factory Crimp' die solved that problem in short order - not something I normally ever consider with my handloads.

 

[MrMajestic]

Laurie, do you think a jam might produce the same ES results?

Jon, I am pushing the 110 gr. Barnes TTSX to 2742 fps with VV N120. I have tried the 125 gr. Nosler BT's(presently using them at 2814 fps from my .30-30AI) and don't expect to go any heavier due to low velocities and associated expansion inconsistencies for hunting loads. I would think the light weight Berger flat bases would be a natural for it and may give them a go also. Shilen states on their website that the 1in17" should stabilize up to 125 grs., may even be a better choice but the #'s don't quite jive with the stability program on the JBM site.

 

[Laurie]

Laurie, do you think a jam might produce the same ES results? [MrMajestic]

Probably yes. I just stuck with standard COALs with 123gn Lapua FMJ .310s so I could use the carbine's 5-shot mag - I think the Cz527 Carbine was rather long-throated too for jamming such a short bullet.

I did intend trying 0.312" Sierra Pro-Hunters and the 174gn MatchKing single-loaded but never got around to it. (Lapua lists a 200gn D-series step boattail FMJBT subsonic loading that feeds through standard magazines and cycles AK type rifles in its military ammo listings - an interesting application considering the bullet is over 1.3" in length. Its base cannot be much above the internal floor in the case, but it shows you can go to surprisingly heavy bullets in 7.62X39mm. Likewise, I know of people loading 155gn 0.308" SMKs into .30 Carbine loads used in rapid-fire 'gallery rifle competition' rifles here, but at extended COALs and with special magazines.)

 

[jonbearman]

Man,you gotta love the 30-30 and its wildcat versions.A great little cartridge that has taken more game then all the others combined.I almost(wish I did) bought a ruger#1 in 7mminternational and am kicking myself for not doing so.

 

[jonbearman]

Where do you get reloading imfo for 174 grain bullets and the like.

 

[Laurie]

Jon,

there's a Scandinavian website that gives all sorts of interesting information on subsonic loads and similar - in English. Unfortunately, I lost its address some time back, so that's not a lot of good!

Otherwise, it's QuickLOAD plus suck it and see. Running a propellant charge table for 7.62x39mm at standard COAL and a maximum chamber pressure of 45,000 psi with the long Lapua 200gn B416 bullet designed for subsonic operation showed that a few powders appear to work well with high fill-ratios and 100% or near 100% charge burn - Re10x, Re7, Viht N130 - giving around 1,800 fps MV from a 20" barrel. With the 174gn SMK, MVs are in the 1,900s up to just under 2,000 fps.

 

[jonbearman]

I will see if I can find that scandinavian site for fun. Thanks!!!!!!!