Whitworth
posted this
04 January 2011
I built a 7.62x39 on a M1894 Brazilian SR Mauser action. I bougth the kit GPC was selling for $99 at the time. It was the barrel (.300” x x.308") chambered and crowned, a nylon mag blocker and a plastic follower and spring. The later looked as if it'd been scavenged from an AK mag, withthe follower spring clipped off shorter.
This photo shows the ejector extension I MiG welded on the issue ejector. I also had to mill the guiderib in the left lug raceway a bit to get it to fit. It needed to kick the cases out earlier in the extraction process. Without it, the cases are pulled back far enough so that when ejected they can hit the right edge of the bridge and fall on the rounds in the magazine. It also shows the brass piece added to the follower to bias the last round over toward the right siderail. Otherwise, the narrower 7.62x39 case can pop out.
The magazine filler block supplied had a habit of slidding forward under recoil so I removed the triggerguard from the stock, clamped the block in place then drilled and countersunk a hole through the back of the mag housing for a 1” #8 woodscrew. No more problems there.
The Lyman 3112847 @ 214 grs in the 7.62x39. It's engraved pretty well, eh :-)! I used a flat nosepunch trying to get it short enough to feed from the magazine of the Mauser, and it's JUST a tiny bit too long yet. The other slug is the Lee C312-155-2R. The heavy Lyman provides a use for bunch of surplus WC872 I have. The Lee shoots very well also. The rifle is a real delight with the Lee C309-113F so far as accuracy and recoil go. Doesn't feed real well.
(LEFT) 7.62x39 28.0 surp 4895, Lee C312-155-2R, 2018 fps (RIGHT) 7.62x39 Lyman 311359 & 29.0 WC846 + 2294 fps. These were fired at 50 yards. Alloy was whatever was in the pot (no hardness tester at the time) Javalina lube, Hornady GC's visually inspected slugs and thrown powder charges. That charge of surp 4895 fills the case just above the shoulder. Vibrating the case settles the charge enough so the bullet base just sets on it. It's turned out to be one fo the best loads I've found.
Rick