7.62x39 vs 300BO

W

William Suter

Well-known member
Talking to a friend and this subject came up. He's a big fan of the 300BO but says the 7.62x39 will out perform it. Then why does he shoot the BO and not the 7.62x39? Maybe better bullet selection? The .311 bore isn't doing the 7.62 any favors. Bullet selection is pretty slim. There are a few rifles chambered for the 7.62x39 with a .308 bore, (can't remember which) that would let you use regular 30cal bullets. Anyone care to comment? Just for discussion.
 
Better bullet selection in the BO. Better brass in the BO. No feeding issues from straight mags with the BO. Better selection of factory ammo with the BO and until recently subsonic ammo for the 7.62x39 didn't exist. Also more difficult to use a suppressor on an AK47 due to concentricity issues and odd thread pitches.
 
A little higher velocity for the 7.62 when comparing equal weight bullets i believe and cheaper to shoot due to steel case ammo and military surplus. Other than that, all the others still apply.
 
ehh
even lapua makes brass for 7.63x39 so i wouldnt say brass availability is a negative
and the brass factory ammo is still cheaper than 300bo, so a plus
the biggest issue i see is bullets
is the bo being used for its main purpose of being suppressed?
 
Bullets are an issue. Most rifles, not all, but most, have a .310-311 bore. You can shoot .308 diameter bullets through the .311 bore but accuracy suffers. Some shops around here carry a few bullets in .310-.311 but not very much to choose from. Years ago I had a CZ or Howa, can't remember, with the odd bore and bullets were a challenge. Brass and dies were the easy part.
 
crapshoot said:
A little higher velocity for the 7.62 when comparing equal weight bullets i believe and cheaper to shoot due to steel case ammo and military surplus. Other than that, all the others still apply.
Click to expand...
unfortunately these days the availability of cheap 7.62x39 ammo is gone way down... or should i say the price has gone way up due to the sanctions.


even over on ammoseek the cheapest of the cheap is 46 cents per round. and thats for steel. the cheapest brass is 49 cents.

multiple companies are selling 300bo for 45-60 cents each these days. and all of its brass.

so the price gap has closed significantly.
 
I reload and seldom buy loaded ammo. Once in a while I'll buy a box. If I went 300BO, I have a BUNCH of 223 brass that could be used. I'm still on the fence with how bad do I really need this and which way should I go if my wants out weigh my needs. A guy on another site offered me a used CZ with only 20 rounds fired (?) but by the time I paid his asking price plus shipping then an FFL transfer, I can buy a NIB locally for about the same money. I passed on that one.
 
If you are interested in shooting subsonic, I think the 300BO is a great option. I love shooting my Ruger American Ranch with my 190gr subsonic hand loads suppressed. It's surprisingly accurate at 100 yards. You can really hear the "thud" on a woodchuck!! Furthest chuck I've taken with it is 140 yards. That's pushing the limits of it IMO. It really lobs the bullet and I'm constantly using my range finder and ballistics app, but it's fun. Outside of shooting subs, I really don't have much use for the round personally.
 
Guess I shoot the BO more than anything anymore. Cheap to load, good terminal performance (supers) and light to heavy bullets. Better than m1 carbine/357/9mm/etc. Doesn't have the performance of larger cases but I did load a special alloy and got near MOA @ 100 yds and 2100 fps with a 145gr PB. I hunt hogs with it.
 
Never been a fan of the 300 blk.
Have always prefered the 7.62x39
Just a personal preference.
Anyways, brass is plentiful and in my limited testing in my Mini-30 the .308 bullets work as well as .310 or .311 bullets. Both give me right at moa and better. I have noticed without annealing 300 brass gives up the ghost sooner. The second pic is the .311 bullet

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20230821_161325.jpg


20230911_184739.jpg
 
I went to the gun shop that has a lot of ammo in stock. There were just about as many choices for 7.62x30 as there were for the BO. So, ammo wasn't going to be an issue either way I went. I went back to the shop that has the CZ in 7.62x39 and gave it another look but they also had a used Savage Axis II in 300BO in the rack for half the cost of the CZ and it was in VGC with a some what decent scope. Being I have an abundance of 30 cal bullets I bought the little Savage. Probably not as nice as the CZ but hopefully it will shoot good. Its an impulse buy and not needed very bad but another one to play with.......and spend money on LOL. At least I don't have to buy a scope......right away.
 
I mostly shoot steel cased 7.62x39. I do reload and shoot hornady 123 grain sst bullets with the intention of one day taking it doe hunting. X39 Is (was) a cheap round for me to practice field positions without wearing out my shoulder.

It seems to me the intended purpose between 300 bo and 7.62x39 is totally different.
 
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