7.62x39 AK47 ammo / Practice and HD ?

[TreyG-20]

I like Privi ammo so I looked at their AK offering in SP and boy is that a short fat snubby looking bullet. Is that stuff any good? Man if I start buying guns again I am going to have to learn to reload lol

Anything that does not have a bi-monthly jacket in a SP would be great. But the cheap soft point ammo from Russia has a hard steel jacket that does not like to deform.

 

[TexMex247]

I like Privi ammo so I looked at their AK offering in SP and boy is that a short fat snubby looking bullet. Is that stuff any good? Man if I start buying guns again I am going to have to learn to reload lol

Prvi ammo runs well in combloc rifles as it is manufactured in Serbia(Also sold as monarch or PPU). However, you will probably be disappointed with the performance of your reloads vs. steel cased ammo. I went through a phase of trying various powders and bullets and never could outperform cheap steel cased ammo is velocity or accuracy. I was able to produce a pleasant, soft shooting load with hornady BT and SP bullets. Unfortunately, they cost me over 25 cents a round to make, even using once fired brass. All of my loads could only creep within 100-150 fps of steel bullets even when loaded to max charges and with powders like AA1680.
Your reloads will also have a terribly short life cycle when run through an AK. The extractors and action is very rough on brass. If you have your heart set on a more reload friendly and slightly more accurate rifle, get yourself an SKS or even better a VZ 58. Those rifles eject forward and don't beat up brass quite as bad. Part of the joy of the 7.62x39 is how cheap you can shoot them for.
I forgot to mention earlier, be wary of the white label imported ammo. It seems like a great deal til' you crack open a few boxes and inspect the rounds. At the last gun show I went to a vendor let me open a box. I found several rounds with copper shaved off of the bullets that gathered at case necks. Most of those rounds will probably jam up when going into full battery or while being extracted.

 

[Southpaw]

Prvi ammo runs well in combloc rifles as it is manufactured in Serbia(Also sold as monarch or PPU). However, you will probably be disappointed with the performance of your reloads vs. steel cased ammo. I went through a phase of trying various powders and bullets and never could outperform cheap steel cased ammo is velocity or accuracy. I was able to produce a pleasant, soft shooting load with hornady BT and SP bullets. Unfortunately, they cost me over 25 cents a round to make, even using once fired brass. All of my loads could only creep within 100-150 fps of steel bullets even when loaded to max charges and with powders like AA1680.
Your reloads will also have a terribly short life cycle when run through an AK. The extractors and action is very rough on brass. If you have your heart set on a more reload friendly and slightly more accurate rifle, get yourself an SKS or even better a VZ 58. Those rifles eject forward and don't beat up brass quite as bad. Part of the joy of the 7.62x39 is how cheap you can shoot them for.
I forgot to mention earlier, be wary of the white label imported ammo. It seems like a great deal til' you crack open a few boxes and inspect the rounds. At the last gun show I went to a vendor let me open a box. I found several rounds with copper shaved off of the bullets that gathered at case necks. Most of those rounds will probably jam up when going into full battery or while being extracted.

Some has been shown to be corrosive as well, however, haven't seen any of the problems you have mentioned.

 

[rp-]

Back to the original question, with that velocity inside "HD" ranges, anything is going to work.

Just sayin

 

[benenglish]

Does no one make any hunting ammo for 7.62X39?

Sure. I have a case of this stuff: Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Ammunition :: Rifle :: Choose by Caliber :: 7.62X39 :: 7.62X39 123 gr SST® Steel Case and it's noticeably more accurate than run-on-the-mill blasting ammo. Of course, if I wanted to hunt I'd place no limits on the cost of ammo and test both 7.62x39 150gr CORBON Hunter JSP - Rifle - CORBON Hunter - Hunter - COR®BON and Federal Premium Ammunition - Rifle . Some companies even produce a range of premium 7.62x39: 7.62X39 Russian .

 

[Rebel]

I've always wondered why Hornady loads their AK ammo in steel rather than brass. There's already a premium on their ammo (and worth it), why not make it reloadable?

 

[Charlie]

I've always wondered why Hornady loads their AK ammo in steel rather than brass. There's already a premium on their ammo (and worth it), why not make it reloadable?

Then shooters would not buy theirs!