AIA 7.62x39 cast boolit build
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 12:16 am
I'm bored I normally spend my spare time in front of my PC with my online buddies building 3d sniping maps for the Call of Duty WORLD at WAR on line gaming community. My latest map is finished its being edited by a guy in New York prior to release to the gaming community next week so I am twiddling my thumbs.
Any way that's the boring stuff out of the way so you can forget about that and now down to the shooting bit. My winter project is to develop a accurate cast load for my AIA 7.62x39. I noticed in the other forums guys post about there rifle builds etc. Well I thought it would be cool to document my quest for that tight group at 25 yards indoors with my AIA. The rifle does not look like the original I have made several mods to it. It originally came with iron sights but they ship with a scope rail that you can fit if you so wish. Its not a bad scope rail at all so that was fitted fairly early on. Reasons for starting this post I have made several references else were to cast boolits moulds etc. So I decided to put it all in one place like I said I'm bored so I need a project until the inspiration for the next map kicks in.
Ok so I have all ready said I have modified the rifle I did not like the front site at all it is a big chunk of metal that just accumulates crud so I removed it.
(I will post pictures later) The problem with removing the front sight is it leaves you with quite a bit of threaded barrel that does not look very pretty and the barrel is tapered. The eventual solution was to use a piece of experimental type of nylon material it was machined to the right outside diameter bored out then tapered and lightly threaded then screwed onto the barrel. I think it looks Ok its been on for a while now and it just screws off if you want to remove it. I had problems with the original 10 round magazine I did not like it and it made holding the rifle awkward because of its bulk so I bought a 5 round AK magazine and altered it to fit. It works great
The rifle has proved to be one of the better made AIA 7.62x39 rifles it shoots very well with factory ammo and I have had some very respectable groups out to 100 yards with it. But I have other rifles that are much better suited to 100yard plus. The other reason for the cast boolit project is the fact that I recently became a full member of a indoor shooting club with a 25 yard range I'm not a fan of .22 rimfires and love to reload so I prefer to shoot calibers I can re load for. The club allows shooting of full bore calibers that are down loaded to comply with the range safety certificate. I must add that there is a very robust set of procedures to manage the use of down loaded ammunition as laid down by the committee.
Up to now I have used a fairly standard load. But the chase is now on to track down the best cast load for my cast boolit build. I have researched some moulds but that did not pan out so I have searched my gun room for moulds and come up with a couple I'm not convinced that they will be the holy grail but its a start. I will also be purchasing some cast boolits from suppliers and trying them. So we will see were it leads to. Watch this space.
Oh nearly forget I have also made some custom neck dies and expanders for this project and most of the reloading is done at my computer desk using a arbor press.
Any way that's the boring stuff out of the way so you can forget about that and now down to the shooting bit. My winter project is to develop a accurate cast load for my AIA 7.62x39. I noticed in the other forums guys post about there rifle builds etc. Well I thought it would be cool to document my quest for that tight group at 25 yards indoors with my AIA. The rifle does not look like the original I have made several mods to it. It originally came with iron sights but they ship with a scope rail that you can fit if you so wish. Its not a bad scope rail at all so that was fitted fairly early on. Reasons for starting this post I have made several references else were to cast boolits moulds etc. So I decided to put it all in one place like I said I'm bored so I need a project until the inspiration for the next map kicks in.
Ok so I have all ready said I have modified the rifle I did not like the front site at all it is a big chunk of metal that just accumulates crud so I removed it.
(I will post pictures later) The problem with removing the front sight is it leaves you with quite a bit of threaded barrel that does not look very pretty and the barrel is tapered. The eventual solution was to use a piece of experimental type of nylon material it was machined to the right outside diameter bored out then tapered and lightly threaded then screwed onto the barrel. I think it looks Ok its been on for a while now and it just screws off if you want to remove it. I had problems with the original 10 round magazine I did not like it and it made holding the rifle awkward because of its bulk so I bought a 5 round AK magazine and altered it to fit. It works great
The rifle has proved to be one of the better made AIA 7.62x39 rifles it shoots very well with factory ammo and I have had some very respectable groups out to 100 yards with it. But I have other rifles that are much better suited to 100yard plus. The other reason for the cast boolit project is the fact that I recently became a full member of a indoor shooting club with a 25 yard range I'm not a fan of .22 rimfires and love to reload so I prefer to shoot calibers I can re load for. The club allows shooting of full bore calibers that are down loaded to comply with the range safety certificate. I must add that there is a very robust set of procedures to manage the use of down loaded ammunition as laid down by the committee.
Up to now I have used a fairly standard load. But the chase is now on to track down the best cast load for my cast boolit build. I have researched some moulds but that did not pan out so I have searched my gun room for moulds and come up with a couple I'm not convinced that they will be the holy grail but its a start. I will also be purchasing some cast boolits from suppliers and trying them. So we will see were it leads to. Watch this space.
Oh nearly forget I have also made some custom neck dies and expanders for this project and most of the reloading is done at my computer desk using a arbor press.
