7.62 X 39 Bolt action

[sniggler]

Rennie,
I agree that the M38 Swedish Mauser would be a great platform for such a conversion. The British Enfield in .303 head spaces on the rim and has a weird bolt head but if you have one to dedicate to the project it could be an economical approach.

The M38 is still the stronger and more inherently accurate action and there is a long track record. Choosing the barrel presents an interesting issue look at the the variety of bullet diameters in both commercial and surplus 7.62x39. I am wondering if a barrel pulled from a Finnish M39 nagant might have the meat you need for the chambering and shank thread many M39's had Sako barrels and there were a lot of very clean pulled barrels around for a while. The finns really squeezed great accuracy out of the old russian rifles by reworking them. If you were planning just to reload a standard .30 caliber barrel would give you the greatest range of bullet choices.

Bob

 

[rennie]

I have a crap load of mil issue ammo, but I am kinda of an accuracy freak when I hand load. If I build a 7.62 X 39 bolt action it would be for hogs and I would hand load for it. I shoot a 30-06 Vangard Deluxe and shoot a .437 cent to cent group @ 100 yards. We have been shooting Does at 125-140 yards in the head. Don't like to ruin meat.

 

[sniggler]

7.62x39 is dropping like a stone at 140 yrds and under .5" MOA is an unrealistic expectation.

bob

 

[Rick Leslie]

On your question about what bolt action to use: Just about any modern bolt action will be safe with this round. The problem you will encounter is going to be the bolt face size. The Russian round has a smaller bolt face than the standard .473" common to the '06, .308 and other commercial cartridges. The bolt face can be shimmed by soldering a small spacer in place to make up the difference in rim diameter, or run the standard bolt and see if you have extraction/ejection problems. Another option is using a factory rifle chambered in x39, but then there's no build.
There are other methods for reducing the bolt face diameter but they are pretty involved and require machining the bolt head down and making a sleeve.

 

[Cactus Farmer]

The problem you will encounter is going to be the bolt face size. The Russian round has a smaller bolt face than the standard .473" common to the '06, .308 and other commercial cartridges. .

Ergo, The Carcano is the same size head diameter as the 7.62x39. Exactly the same. It uses the same shell holder to hold the brass for reloading. Most Carcanos,at best,have odd size bores and all were origionally shot with corrosive ammo. Some shoot suprizingly well but most are not very accurate. I always heard how sorry they were with out ever looking at one to see if it was true. Well, after taking the time to remove the old barrel and looking at the action itself, it appears to be a far better action that I was lead to believe. And they are fairly common and not very expensive either. I will gather them up for this very conversion every time I find an under priced (in my eyes at least) one at a show. They are NOT target (read sub MOA) rifles,but the coyotes around here are very careful not to get caught out in the open.
If you want a Mauser looking rifle,find a Type "I" Japanese rifle. They are Carcano actions with a Mauser type magazine box. These are origionaly 6.5x 50mm Jap caliber. They are harder to find but nice never the less. The Italian Carcanos are common and easily found. YMMV.

 

[sniggler]

Cactus Farmer, What barrel are you thinking of using?

Bob

 

[Cactus Farmer]

Gun Parts Corp. has 30 cal blanks from time to time that are pretty cheap. These are drilled on size and rifled with out reaming. They don't look great but shoot way better than they look. They are ugly on the outside,might be hammer forged even. But they turn great! I'm trying to scope on with a side mount but I hate the thing. I think I'll add a peep sight after I bend the bolt handle. Like I said, coyotes around here don't like meeting the AK/Italian beast. The 122grn HP ammo is destructive. Bang-dead! They just stiffen up and fall over,like they were electrocuted.:thumbsup:

 

[sniggler]

Yeah i love of peep sights. i'll have to watch numrich i used to go there it's on the way to my hunting camp but they don't allow walk ins anymore.

Bob

 

[Cactus Farmer]

The only trick to the peeps is the bolt need to be modified for the handle to clear the the sight. I build a set of blocks to forge the handle on an "Type I" Jap rifle that the fellow wanted scoped. I make the mounts out of steel and charged him a LARGE amount of money to build
the mounts. It came out great in the end and he is very happy with the gun. The Type I is a Carcano with a Mauser type magazine box.
Neat but they only made 40,000 of them and that was 1937-39. I'd bet a few are on the bottom of the south Pacific.

 

[The_Crusher]

I am working on building an AR in 7.62 x 39 right now. I should have it completed next week. Nice scope and 45 degree BUIS and it will be good up to 400 yards without a doubt.