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Saiga Ammo' preferences...


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I'm going to begin loading .308 this year (bought a bolt gun as well as a Saiga .308).

 

I was curious if it's feasible to buy some "brass maker" ammo' (a.k.a. shootable brass) or will the Saiga make it unusable for reloading?

 

Thanks in advance,

CZ52'

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I'm going to begin loading .308 this year (bought a bolt gun as well as a Saiga .308).

 

I was curious if it's feasible to buy some "brass maker" ammo' (a.k.a. shootable brass) or will the Saiga make it unusable for reloading?

 

Thanks in advance,

CZ52'

 

dunno about others, but my topcover puts a good dent in 10-20% of my casings.

 

Do you load? Do the dents size back out or are they "terminal dents"?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

CZ52'

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Thanks!

 

Depending on the dent and the brass, sometimes it will size to tolerance. Sometimes you can "shoot out" dents from range brass. Some brass shouldn't be sized and should be scrapped.

 

After a while you get a sense for it.

 

I am pleased to hear that a decent % seems to survive just fine and may indeed be reloadable. I'm just trying to weigh my options for practice ammo'. If it's a lost brass proposition, I'd look to Wolf or Barnaul. If I can recover a fair amount of the brass, then something like Federal AE may be just the ticket.

 

Thanks again,

 

CZ52'

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Mine dents all the brass I can find and creases 40% or so. Dunno if it's fixable but the size of the crease makes me cringe when thinking of it being in the chamber like that.

 

That said, I've shot alot of gouged rounds right after the bolt gouges them, or after a misfeed, who knows, maybe the guns can take it.

 

Just get an ejection port buffer. It seemed to work for the .223 guys. :smoke:

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I mainly shoot steel cased, but it throws them so far I don't recover too many. I have shot brass, and the dent/crease is from hitting the dust cover. None looked to be too bad for reloading.

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mine puts a tiny, but noticeable, nick/scratch in the shoulder of about 10% of the fired cases, but it's very slight and they are still safely reloadable (imo). seems to be the luck of the draw, i've heard a lot of .308 owners say they ruin brass here. but if you're serious about reloading you should be able to fix up your extractor and/or cover to prevent any damage that would ruin the brass.

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mine puts a tiny, but noticeable, nick/scratch in the shoulder of about 10% of the fired cases, but it's very slight and they are still safely reloadable (imo). seems to be the luck of the draw, i've heard a lot of .308 owners say they ruin brass here. but if you're serious about reloading you should be able to fix up your extractor and/or cover to prevent any damage that would ruin the brass.

 

Thanks, I'm not surprised it's a YMMV proposition.

 

I'll give it a try with a box and see how it goes.

 

Thanks again,

 

CZ52'

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The Speer 168 gr match bullet with Reloader 15 shoots into a cloverleaf at 50 meters in my 308-1 16 incher. Each gun will have its preferences. Unless you cant get the brass into the die I dont worry about creases. As long as they dont put an actual cut all the way through the brass.

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The Speer 168 gr match bullet with Reloader 15 shoots into a cloverleaf at 50 meters in my 308-1 16 incher. Each gun will have its preferences. Unless you cant get the brass into the die I dont worry about creases. As long as they dont put an actual cut all the way through the brass.

 

Any chance you sent that load over a Chrony? I'm curious what the velocity difference is between 16" Saiga, and say a 24" .308 bolt gun.

 

Btw, I test fired my newly acquired S-308 last night, brass was fine. The whole trigger group will need to be replaced, but the brass was fine...

 

Safe Shooting,

 

CZ52'

Edited by CZ52GUY
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I don't mean to hijack this thread bu I had a question along similar lines. How does the Saiga like 168 grain bullets?

Additionally, has anybody shot soft points with any success?

Thanks in advance.

 

Just shot a 1.5 in three shot 100 yard group with Hornady 165grain boat tail soft points. This is the third sub two inch group that I've shot with this load. I shoot for groups first thing, before the barrel heats up. After about ten shots it spreads out a fair bit, and my best groups are always the first three shots. It takes awhile to test loads given the need for a cold barrel. For deer/bear purposes I would think this is almost ideal. This was over 41.4grains of accurate arms 2460.

 

The 168's also shoot well, but the 165 is a soft point that shoots just as well for about $8-10 less per 100.

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My Saiga dents the brass significantly. I have reloaded some OFV79 brass 5 times with no problems. I do not sort it as to severity of the dents. Just resize them all the same and shoot them with no problems. Also it seems to have a preference for Rem Corelokts 165gr. Often will do 1" with good handloads.

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I don't know if it applies to the 308 but the x39 I understand is designed to dent and dimple the ejected case so the russians could know if it was fired from a civilian or military issue AK.

Actually it is the double radius indentation in the neck of the x39 cartridge that the Russians use to distinguish shells fired from civilian versus military AK's. It's got nothing to do with the dents in the ejected case.

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