whats your favorite 7.62x39 round?

O

Ocraknife

New member
I bought a CZ 527 bolt action carbine chambered in 7.62x39. I don't know much about the commercial ammo that is available for it. What do you recommend for plinking, target and hunting respectively?

Thanks
 
I'm a big fan of the 124 gr Golden Tiger ammo out of Russia. Very clean and consistent quality. SG Ammo is a good source at a reasonable price.
 
On a side note, the 527's trigger is highly adjustable. I shot mine for years thinking it couldn't get any better, until I learned how to work the creep and overtravel out. Now it breaks like glass, and I don't even bother with the set trigger anymore.
 
Ocraknife: I have had a CZ 527 762 X 39 for several years now. And it is an outstanding rifle and very accurate with about anything I have fire in it. But It shoots the best with that Cheap Wolf Brand 124 gr HP`s, I belive. CZ in Kansas City says they designed that rifle to shoot the cheap steel cased ammo. And mine for one sure does that. So instead of trying to reload for my rifle. I just buy the cheap Wolf Ammo by the case when ever I can fine it. My rifle will shoot this cheap Wolf Ammo at an inch or less. I have killed several Pigs with this ammo and it seem to work very well for me.
ken
 
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I do not have a CZ rifle in x39mm, but have two others so chambered, a Mini30 and a Ruger Mk-II. For about 10 yrs, I hunted with a reload using a Sierra .308 dia 135 gr SSP (single shot pistol) bullet intended for the .30 Herret. Bamaboy and I killed several deer with that combo, but that slug has now been discontinued.

I went on a search for another projectile, and ended up with some Hornady SST's in a trade with some other goods. The Hornady slug is .310 dia. Reloads with that bullet are significantly more accurate than others I have tried in the bolt rifle, and I will likely hunt it this year. On line gel tests show the 123 gr SST to have good expansion, they're likely a bit softer than the 135 Sierra, but I am not really worried about that on our southern whitetails.

Hornady loads the SST in their "Steel Case" line for the 7.62x39mm cartridge, and if I were shopping for factory hunting ammo, I would look at a box of those to test. The silly ZombieMax ammo uses the same slug and I would believe behave similarly.....the difference being the goofy green tip.

The other factory load that seems to shoot well in both the bolt rifle and the Mini (as well as the mini can shoot) is the W-W 125 gr soft point. I have not used that load on deer, but it prints well (enough) in my rifles to qualify as a hunting load.
 
Ocraknife: I have had a CZ 527 762 X 39 for several years now. And it is an outstanding rifle and very accurate with about anything I have fire in it. But It shoots the best with that Cheap Wolf Brand 124 gr HP`s, I belive. CZ in Kansas City says they designed that rifle to shoot the cheap steel cased ammo. And mine for one sure does that. So instead of trying to reload for my rifle. I just buy the cheap Wolf Ammo by the case when ever I can fine it. My rifle will shoot this cheap Wolf Ammo at an inch or less. I have killed several Pigs with this ammo and it seem to work very well for me.
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Thank you for the info. Today, I shot some cheap ammo and I have to say that I LOVE this little gun :D Id have no problems taking deer at 100 yards. I was hitting pretty small targets at 50 yards with just iron sights.

Any suggestions on optics? Since the Iron sights are so nice I'd like to mount something that wouldn't require me to remove my iron sights?
 
Ive been shooting my CZ 527M for a long time now, and made a few modifications over the years. I can say this, that i buck the tide here. I handload my own ammo and cast my own bullets for 7.62x39mm, (heads will turn, I can tell you), and this morning I was gonging my 3/4 IDPA steel at 200 yards with iron sights. It is wicked accurate little rifle, but I cannot honestly say what factory ammo works best - haven't shot any in many years.

Go from the muzzle straight up - black dot is the target. :cool:




Once again, it's just me - I enjoy the heck out of all of it.
 
Ocraknife - A Vortex Diamondback 2-8x32, fits perfect on my CZ 527, 7.62x39 --- Does not need rear sight removal for fit. It has a left side turret parallax adjuster. I like the scope...and I bought a ring magnifier adjuster lever for it too --- Along with fitted scope caps.
 
Yes, Model12, it is, custom 10 round mag in place, spare 5 rounder in the stock, (made by the same genius gunsmith, BTW), so I can carry a spare reload without a pouch. That's why I call it the 527 CSR, for Camp/Scout Rifle, something to take out with you when you aren't going blasting, but just need something with enough oomph to take care of emergencies and enough ammo to do it more than once, if necessary, with the high quality, good looks and reliable functionality of CZ.
 
As a reloader, it makes alternate bullet choices a bit easier to come by.
You can coat your bullets in all colors, as shown above, to be dressed appropriately.
Plastic riot bullets, sabots, even frangibles can be had for close-up steel plate use, too.





 
Ocraknife - A Vortex Diamondback 2-8x32, fits perfect on my CZ 527, 7.62x39 --- Does not need rear sight removal for fit. It has a left side turret parallax adjuster. I like the scope...and I bought a ring magnifier adjuster lever for it too --- Along with fitted scope caps.
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Thank you.

Which size rings did it need? I assume I'll have to remove the front sight shroud right? I had to on my CZ 455.
 
You'll need the special CZ 527 7.62x39, 1 inch diameter medium height, rings and mounts. You can remove the front sight shroud, but the shroud is only slightly fuzzy visible for me at 2x, and the shroud image does not bother me at all while I'm looking through my Vortex Diamondback scope. My Vortex uses 1 inch diameter Leupold rings and medium height mount. I believe Burris also sells rings and mounts for the CZ 527-7.62x39
 
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I did have a primer failure misfire last month, using Tula 7.62x39, with my 527 --- I did not inspect {but I should have} the round before I loaded it in the chamber --- All I heard was a slight pop...with smoke coming out of the action --- The spent primer looked like {sorry, no pics} it might have been seated in a reverse direction, as the bullet remained seated in the cartridge hull. About 2 years ago, I had a squib load, using Tula 7.62x39 ammo...with the primer only firing, because of clumpy looking gunpowder from one of my AK's.
 
Most 7.62x39 is made for shooting out of AK's and SKS rifles, which are not known for their accuracy. The CZ you have is not as common as these guns, so finding ammo is not an easy task, but there are some good factory ammo loads available.

First, I'll mention Wolf's 154 grain soft point. The heaviest bullet I know of that is loaded in a 7.62x39 it must be a good ballistic performer, but with that extra weight is going to come at a price and the bullet drop will be very noticeable. I say if you use this, keep your shots within 100 yards.

After that, there's Hornady's SST steel case match ammo. It's pretty much the best all around match ammo for 7.62. Federal makes a Fusion load that's marketed specifically for hunting medium game, so it should work wonders in the CZ. Winchester makes a Super X load also for hunting and they also make a PDX1 load that is made for self defense, but I've read is phenomenally accurate even in the AK out to 50-100 yards. It is a hollow point, not a soft point, so I don't know if deer fur and hide will clog the cavity or not.

That's really about it for the highest quality/hunting ammo. Other good ammo if you just want it for shooting is Golden Tiger and PPU. Personally I just stick with the cheap Tulammo and Wolf stuff because I'm not shooting 7.62x39 for anything other than plinking and storing for self defense.
 
I fitted the scope lever magnifier ring on the Vortex Diamondback, atop my 527, and found that the mini mauser bolt handle ball will hit the lever or ring, an block it from full function on extraction and charging --- So I removed the ring. I also found out that the Vortex rear flip-up dust cap, rubs against the bolt on extraction an charging...so I also removed the rear dust cap.
 
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