Maven
Well-Known Member
In this time of powder scarcity, and wanting to test my "as issued" Type 56 SKS with something other than RL-7 (which I have very little of), I thought about trying an "inappropriate" propellant. My thoughts turned to WC 860, which I have quite a lot of. Slower propellants such as IMR 7383 + LR magnum primers work OK in my SKS with the ~162gr. Harris designed CB (accurate, extract more gently than RL-7), so I thought I'd give WC 860 a test drive today. Using a fired 7.62 x 39mm case whose neck I partially removed, I was able to determine how much of 860 would fill the case with a bit of compression: 22grs. will, but 23.6grs. are better. I set my Lee Perfect Powder Measure to throw that amount (after much weighing of course) and came up with 23.5gr. - 23.8gr. WC 860 + WLR magnum primers. Once I charged the cases (2x fired + annealed), I seated the CB's a tad deeper than usual, i.e. 2.1" v. 2.125", so I could crimp those CB's in the proper place: I was hoping for a cleaner burn by crimping them. Btw, the bore of my SKS is on the large side so my CB's are sized to .316". The mould is from NOE and casts nicely.
Results: As you can see from the attached target, my load hit low, but I was able to change the sight picture a bit to get higher hits @ 50 yd. The 23.5 - 23.8gr. load was accurate enough even with a crimp, but wouldn't eject the cases. In fact, it sounded almost like a suppressed rifle. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't very dirty and there was nary a trace of leading with the GC'd CB's swished around in Lar's Liquid Xlox. Although I'd like to increase this load to 24.0gr 860with a booster charge of some sort, but I'm not certain which of these would be the better choice: 3gr. Hodgdon's Clays or 3gr. FFFFg (smallest Lee dipper for either)? What say ye?
Results: As you can see from the attached target, my load hit low, but I was able to change the sight picture a bit to get higher hits @ 50 yd. The 23.5 - 23.8gr. load was accurate enough even with a crimp, but wouldn't eject the cases. In fact, it sounded almost like a suppressed rifle. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't very dirty and there was nary a trace of leading with the GC'd CB's swished around in Lar's Liquid Xlox. Although I'd like to increase this load to 24.0gr 860with a booster charge of some sort, but I'm not certain which of these would be the better choice: 3gr. Hodgdon's Clays or 3gr. FFFFg (smallest Lee dipper for either)? What say ye?