department in class one service dead in their tracks. With that I rest my case for the 7.62x39. In terms of fi eld evaluations re-
We could be looking at the possible future of military rifl e ammunition.
centerfi re rifl es that shoot this cartridge, the whole setup ranked as mediocre performance at best. Downrange ballistics of the
7.62x39 are, in general, quite workable. With a muzzle velocity of 2,300 fps and at a range of 300 yards, the 125-grain bullet produces velocity of 1,550 fps and energy of 1,445 ft/lbs of kinetic shock. Remember, this is the round that decimated gun rights in California with its use by a couple of wackos in body armor and AKs taking on a bank and police in Los Angeles. Here a pair of AK-47s stopped a top grade police
garding the 7.62x39, I have set up for years upon years on prairie dog towns with some low budget surplus Rus- sian ammo and shot the daylights out of medium range (200 yards) dogs all day long with the AKs I own, at times with poor sights and all. Over the years I have shot coyotes on the prairie, rac- coons in stream beds, or skunks in road ditches with the 7.62x39 round. In every case the targets never knew what hit them. Without question, this is a solid critter-stopping cartridge. You could say Mr. Mikhail Kalashnikov knew what he was doing when he designed his military rifl e around this cartridge. With that information at hand, so much for the 7.62x39 for now. We all know it, understand that it has been a pain in the neck for the free world military in many areas around the globe, and it needs far less attention here than the newer kids on the ballistic block. 30 REMINGTON AR
REMINGTON R-15 XHR Remington has made a bid for
a look-alike Russian 30 caliber AK-47 round in their newer 30 Remington AR. No, I don’t believe as some are saying that the 30 Rem. was designed as a deer or varmint cartridge, but rather as I have previously stated, hell bent
on refi tting the current AR-15/M-16 in a combat cartridge role. This cartridge uses a case close to the Russian 7.62x39 in length, and bullets I tested regarding grain weights were identical for both cartridges in the factory wrapper. The 30 Rem. can move about 300+ fps faster in the Remington R-15 AR, and for the most part the gun platform built by DPMS or Bushmaster (Freedom Arms Group) is a major upgrade in accuracy and sight mounting capabilities over the basic AK-47. Mounting a Nikon Coyote scope
using the Rock River elevated one-piece AR mount on the R-15 XHR, and taking on the previous three-target down- range test, the results were as follows: At 100 yards, three-second timed fi re produced a 2-inch group that sent only a single round out to fl yer status during a run at the target board. Getting down on the sandbag for accuracy slow fi re, the group shrank to a bit over 1 moa at 100 yards. Turning to the 200-yard target, three rounds measured a bit over 3½ inches center mass. At the 250-yard target a slight group opening, and again a fl yer, resulted. But a group of three hits was fi red that measured a bit over 4 inches. What all this means is that if three coyotes were coming at you, and you were able to start your shooting at 250 yards, the chances of eliminating all of the fur targets would be very high. I fi rst shot the 30 Rem. AR during
a writer event two years ago at SHOT, and at that time the Remington R-15 I was assigned on the range was able to produce just about single rough holes at 100 yards. Editor John Anderson was with me and observed the accuracy of the new rifl e and cartridge. The rifl e I received for this review, at least so far, has not been that accurate, but I do see groups getting tighter as I shoot and clean the R-15 rifl e repeatedly. I believe the 30 Rem. is an outstanding upgrade in the standard AR platform’s ability to send the mail down range. If it was AK-47 or 7.62x39 performance, with a bit more energy and accuracy that Remington was searching for, they hit the primer on the head with the 30 Rem. and the R-15 rifl e. Case length of the 7.62x39 mea-
This rifl e is as accurate as most turn bolt rifl es and is also far more fl exible when changing barrels, receivers, or low-end equipment. You can have this rifl e any way you want it nowadays.
Page 34 Winter 2012
sures 1.519" according to my sample ammunition, and the 30 Rem. measures 1.515". The 30’s shoulder length is 0.148", and the Russian round’s shoul-
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