7.62X39 Bolt Rifle

[TCOV]

A year or so ago I bought an Interarms Mark X MZ bolt action rifle in 7.62X39 at the Puyallup WAC show. Its an older well used rifle but I'm thinking about all that cheap ammo to shoot. The stock had suffered some trauma and been repaired and it had an old K4 Weaver scope. I took it to the local shoot dump when I got home and couldn"t get a group a 50 yards. Oh well put in the basement. Took it out today and took the action out of the stock and didn't see any obvious problems. Some one had tried to glass bed it and I figured I might have some work to do but put it back together and while torqueing the screws there was a "click" sound. Pulled it out of the stock and didn't see anything wrong so put back together figureing it seated. Went to the shoot dump couple miles from home and set up target at about 30 yds. Shooting off a rolled jacket got 4 shot 1 1/2" group couple inches high dead center. Moved target to about 100 yds and shots were about 6" high. Adjusted old scope and got 2 shots high and 2 shots where I adjusted for. Tried 4 more shots and got a nice 1 3/4" group. I figure the 30+ yr old Weaver was sticking on adjustments and settled in after a few shot. This was with Russian steel cased ammo marked 3 94 on the case head. I can't wait to try some good hunting ammo. Has anyone worked with a bolt action 7.62X39 and what can be expected with good ammo. Plinking offhand out to 100 yds was a lot of fun with the cheap Russian ammo. I figure this is a good beater rifle for the west end peninsula drives and target of opportunity.

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[landcbeitner]

Sounds like a very interesting rifle... I would be interested in seeing a pic of the bolt face if you have one. I'm curious if/how it was modified for the slightly smaller than standard bolt face (.445" vs. .473". When you shoot that barrel out, the rifle would be a good canidate for a re-barrel in 6PPC (although I'd expect that barrel to last about 8,000+ rounds).

 

[Silver Fox]

I had a norinco SKS that shot good groups at 100 yds but the AK, well it was good for an AK. I beleive the ammo is good just depends on the platform.

Got me thinking.... Do I need a bolt action 7.62x39?

SF-

 

[bmw2]

CZ chambers one of their rifles in x39. I don't remember which model but it's supposed to be pretty accurate.

 

[TCOV]

landcbeitner I don't have any pictures but the bolt diameter not including locking lugs is .545" and the recessed bolt face is .4525" if that means anthing to you. When I bought this I was just looking for a centerfire plinker that wouldn't break the bank to shoot and it's looking better than I expected. I reload a little but find it boring and .22s are ok but centerfires are just more fun. I have a lot of Russian 7.62 ammo and it lasts a lot longer in a bolt rifle than SKS/AK47. Next time out I will try some Wolf steel case and I have a little Winchester and Fiocchi brass case. It's got my interest now. With 30/30 balistics I will probably keep it in the back of the Subaru for drives through the west end forests. I have a couple .223 bolt rifles and they are accurate and fun even with Wolf ammo but tend to just punch a hole without knocking anything down.

 

[landcbeitner]

Thanks... that's what I wanted to know. If you ever decide to sell it let me know . I don't even care if the barrel's toast.

 

[onearmedswordsman]

CZ chambers one of their rifles in x39. I don't remember which model but it's supposed to be pretty accurate.

CZ 527 carbine
http://cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-527-carbine/

Remington also imports a Zastava LK M85 rifle and sells it as the Rem 799
http://www.zastava-arms.rs/cms/index.php?id=47
http://www.remington.com/products/archived/centerfire/bolt-action/model-799.aspx

 

[TCOV]

Thanks for the links swordsman. I forgot about the little CZ logo after the Interarms label. This seems to be an older CZ for US import. Good to know.

 

[Bill]

I shoot a Ruger Mark II in 7.62x39. I picked it up about 5 years ago just because it was different, now I find myself shooting it alot because it is very accurate and fairly cheap to shoot,and very low recoil so my kids shoot it well . plus it is a good little deer round.

 

[Spitpatch]

Yeeee Hawww!

Not many people know that the "Mini-Mauser" was chambered in 7.62x39. When this became known to me, I grabbed one right away...... and then I changed it.

Yep, took a brand new gun, never shot it, and made something different, of my own "invention".

I am a dedicated, rabid, hooked since childhood antelope hunter. My favorite cartridge for them is the .250 Savage. The 85 grain Ballistic Tip at 3000fps I thought was the "cat's meow" for goats, but I wanted a lighter gun than my venerable 99 Savage.

I watched the GunList diligently, and sure enough, a Mini-Mauser in 7.62x39came up for sale new in the box. ( I already owned a .223, and knew first-hand of the quality of these overlooked guns.) I got the gun, sent it immediately to Dennis Olson in Plains, Montana, and had him re-barrel it for what I call the .25 PPC. You may be aware that the 6mm PPC is called that as a result of its two inventors, Palmisano and Pindell. It swept the benchrest competitions like a house afire. I merely necked up the cartridge to .25. No work on the bolt face was necessary, since the commie round was the root basis for the 6mm PPC. No work on the feed ramp or magazine follower was necessary either. My gun feeds perfectly and flawlessly.

Many people had already necked up a .222 Mag to 6mm (6x47:another good benchrest round) and John Amber (the venerable editor of Gun Digest) had even done a .25-223 in a Ruger, and wrote about it in one of those books.

However, they never could approach the 3000fps mark (understandably so, due to case capacity). I thought that with the efficiency of the "short fat" case of the 6mm PPC, that it might be achieved. I was right. RCBS was happy to build me a set of custom dies based on a fired case (I just jammed a well-lubed .25 Nosler bullet into a well-lubed 6mm PPC brass and fired it in the Lilja barrel that Dennis installed on the Mini-Mauser). RCBS advised me this was the first request they ever had for the ".25 PPC".

So now I guess I now have a "proprietary cartridge". Since it is mine, I have stuck with the moniker of .25 PPC, but I call mine the ".25 Pronghorn Pursuit Cartridge."

Even with a 21" Lilja barrel, and a bit fatter than the original barrel contour, the whole gun with a 3x9 Leupold Compact Adjustable Objective scope weighs less than 5.5 lbs. I hunt antelope strictly on foot. The old tried and true method of driving around until you see one worth stalking got boring for me years ago, and as a runner, I love the chase. My father warned me 30 years ago I could not run down an antelope. I proved him wrong that day, and I continue to do it. The little Mini-Mauser rides like a wisp on my shoulder, and I have the .250-3000 ballistics (albeit in a .25 PPC) when the time comes.

If you want to get rid of that action, I guess we'll have an auction! That factory was the first thing blown to smithereens when the Yugoslavia nation went kaput. Mine is marked Manchester, England, but they were made in the Slav Republic. I guess the Remington 799's are the same pattern, but not nearly the quality of the old Mini-Mausers. Much more rough in finish and appearance.

All hail the Mini-Mauser!

 

[wired]

CDNN sell the Zastava built Remington 799 mini mauser for $389.99 . #REM89853

 

[onearmedswordsman]

CDNN sell the Zastava built Remington 799 mini mauser for $389.99 . #REM89853

Hmmm! I thought that sale had ended on Jan 9!

 

[wired]

I got an email notice on it last week so I suppose not. I think they're liquidating that line and they keep showing up on the weekly special list.