I continue to shoot the rifle and remain impressed with both it and the cartridge. Hunting season just keeps me from having much free time to catch up here on the forum.
pricedo wrote:Has anyone slugged the barrel of their Savage bolt rifle nominally chambered in 7.62x39 caliber? Is it 7.62 or 7.92 or some other diameter?
I have. My notes are out in the reloading room and as I recall, it is .3095", not the .308" that Savage Customer Service told me. It is a unique throat in the rifle. It appears that the throat of the rifle was hammer forged over a mandrel "cone" that was .312" at the step and .3095" as the leade. The rifling follows the shape of the cone perfectly; hence, my thoughts of hammer forging.
This is truly a unique idea and offers some incredible utility in such a compact cartridge. First off, in effect, this acts as a polygonal barrel does. It squeezing a spec bullet down to fit the groove increasing the pressure that increases the velocity. So you shoot factory ammo that is loaded to the spec; 41.5K 51.5K PSI, will it increase the pressure? Sure it will but this rifle is built to withstand the 308 Win's 65.0K PSI. The win in this is an increase in velocity over the spec. The exact same principle employed in Glock and other polygonal barreled handguns. With factory ammo, the 20" barrel of the 10 FCM equals exceeds that from the 23" barrel of my Rossi Single Shot. That is a reflection of the above design principles in play.
That same throat allows the use of heavier .308 bullets. Heavier means longer and even though the .308 bullet is not supported at the throat the ogive matches well at the leade. The .308 bullet is deeply engraved with the .300 bore so it will spin it up to speed without issue. I can see a 165-grain match or hunting type bullet being shot on this cartridge without issue and without extending into the useful case capacity.
pricedo wrote:The 7x39 is already a ballistic 90 pound weakling without further hampering it's performance with substandard ammo.
Haah... compared to what, the 308 Win? It really doesn't bother me. You can use the same leapfrogging comparison up the cartridge food chain until you run out of cartridges. As hard as the cartridge SLAM DUNKED that hog, I don't have a problem HAMMERING a deer with it and will before the season is up.
akuser47 wrote:I just want a rugged universal bolt gun or single shot that handles cheap steel cased and my loads is all. I have alot of 7.62x39 steel cased that is just sitting currently and I think I will enjoy finding somthing to more slowly shot it than al my ak's their appetite is to big. lol
As far as the steel cased and metal core ammo goes, I wasn't going to shoot it but was simply given too much not to. Bottom-line is that it shoots the Wolf and Russian military surplus ammo very well. I have sectioned these bullets and there is quite a copper cup around the steel core. I do not see any issue with using it.
Finally brass... no issue with it as there is not many reloading it. Found a source for quality brass, large rifle boxer primed once fired brass. 17¢ each, bought a thousand of them. All the US manufacturers (Federal, Remington, and Winchester) make quality ammo for the cartridge; general, match, and hunting. So far, I have been able to obtain and shoot all of it. Same with the European outfits. Still think that Prvi Partizan offers the most awesome hunting bullet.
PPU_310_SPRNB030.jpg
This is a quality rifle in the Law Enforcement Savage lineup. The rifles have unique features that place them in this role and the 10 FCM chambered 7.63x39 is just but one of them. These includes other models chambered in 223 Rem, 308 Win, and 300 Win Mag. I suspect that the little cartridge keeps the company of the others in that some law enforcement agency here or abroad wants it.
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