I realize that this is completely befuddling to non gun geeks. So those of you who are not into this sort of thing will just have to take my word for it that these are all completely ridiculous.
1. 7.62x39 Ackley Improved
2. .22 belted magnum
3. .338 rimfire
4. 28 gauge Buckhammer saboted slugs
5. .50 BMG shotshells
7 comments:
I wouldn't mind a really hot 7.62x39, with maybe slightly different dimensions so would not feed into a regular ak type rifle or SKS. But an SKS or AK could easily be converted to the new caliber.
I mean, why not? They have done just about everything else.
Steve,
In theory, one could give the 7.62x39 the Ackley treatment and wind up with a cartridge that makes an extra 120 fps or whatever. And I agree that this would be kinda neat in theory because a little extra oopmh at 150 yards would make this a better deer cartridge.
However, let's think about this a little bit. The allure of 7.62x39 has little to do with it's ballistics. America is falling in love with 7.62x39 because it's become the cheapest centerfire cartridge available (excluding corrosive milsurp ammo). At a time when ammunition costs in general have been going ballistic (heh heh) this thing showed up right on time.
Buying specialty 'Ackley improved' ammo would probably cost $16 a box or so. As much as a box of 30-'06 hunting ammo. Kinda defeats the purpose, huh?
As far as reloading goes, one of the attractions of Ackley chamberings has always been that you could shoot the regular ammo in it and the standard cases get blown out to the slightly larger Ackley dimensions of the chamber. Then you can reload that brass and you have cartridges that give you the full Ackley advantage.
That's great, except that the vast majority of the 7.62x39 that is out there is not brass. It's steel cased, which is such a pain in the butt to reload that it's basically impractical. Heck, some of it is even berdan primed as well. I don't even know if steel cases will blow out to Ackley dimensions on firing the way that brass cases do.
I think the most charitable thing you could say for such an idea is that some people might like the idea of being able to shoot the cheap steel-cased ammo most of the year for target practice and then only get the pricey Ackley ammo to re-zero their scopes and hunt with.
That's an idea that does actually kind of appeal to me. However, my SKS cost me about $80 (oh how I love wholesale pricing). A reputable gunsmith would probably charge me $100 to ream out the chamber for Ackley-styled dimensions. If he already had the reamer, that is. For that $100, plus another $50 to get it drilled and tapped for a scope, plus the $100 for the scope and base if I'm gonna be a real cheap bastard about it, I could have bought a used Savage combo in .243 or some-such that would certainly shoot tighter groups.
Would an Ackley version of the cartridge even feed properly in the SKS' gas-operated semi-auto system? I have no idea. In most bolt actions it's easy enough to stick a different cartridge of similar proportions into the rifle and have it feed just fine (so long as you've rechambered it). But semi-autos are generally more finicky. You might very well find out that you need to make all sorts of other subtle alterations to the rifle in order to prevent frequent jams.
For these reasons, no maker of gunsmithing tools will ever produce
a 7.62x39 Ackley im1proved chamber reamer. If you could wave a magic wand and make the chambering appear in your SKS then that would be great. Short of that, the economics don't work.
While the others seem humorous I have seen one reason for 22 LR belted (not magnum) and that's cost. The 1919 beltfed community really enjoys blowing through ammo and 308 and 30-06 (the two native 1919 cartridges) are really getting up there in price. While there are some conversions to 8mm, 7.62x54r, and 7.62x39, there is something to be said for how cheap you can find 22 LR ammo.
Let me introduce the .30 Steve (previously known as the 7.62x39 Ackley improved)
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2007/12/30/30-steve/
;)
Ridiculous? I got right here:.the Hello Kitty AR-15!
The thing is, aside from its use in the AK and SKS, the 7.62x39 is a pretty good cartridge for use in a compact bolt action, general knockabout rifle. It is frugal in terms of powder consumption, suitable bullets for it are cheap, it has enough power to bag deer-sized game, and it may also be loaded down, using cast bullets and pistol/shotgun powder, to the equivalent of a rimless .32/20 for bolt actions.
If only we could get rid of some of that excessive body taper, it would greatly extend case life, while making it even more efficient in terms of power per grain of powder...
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