Personally, this .338 caliber seems "too" proprietary. Can't use normal mags, can't use anything but handload brass, new barrel. Best when used with 6.8 SPC cases.
I dunno. How many ways CAN you get the same ballistic performance? I dunno.
I've been trying to find info about that 9x39 clone - "35x39 wildcat". Supposedly that company I mentioned (in that similar thread on the Gunco ammo discussion forum) made some .35 caliber Mini-30 conversions using a 7.62x39 case. That seems like a more logical match - 7.62x39 case + .35 Remington bullets. Both items are readily available, making, IMO a better caliber conversion. No ballistic data, however. If it were compared to the Rusky 9x39, which we know NOTHING about, it would have to perform with similar characteristics.
...at the distances of up to 400 meters (440 yards), Soviet engineers developed different loads. These loads - SP-5, SP-6 [...] are based on M43 case (7.62x39mm), re-necked to accept heavy 9 mm bullet.
SP-5 was designed as "sniper" load and has Full Metal Jacketed bullet with small steel core and lead behind it. SP-6 was designed as "assault" load with Semi-Jacketed bullet with pointed, hardened steel core exposed at the nose of the bullet.
Both SP-5 and SP-6 bullets weights approx. 16 gramms (ca. 235 grains). Those loads adopted by spec-op units of Soviet Union Internal Affair Ministry forces and by Soviet Army Spetznaz in 1980s and still in service with different Russian special operations forces.
PAB-9 is recently developed and more cheap version of SP-6. It also has heavier bullet - 17.3 gramms (ca. 255 grains) with hardened steel core.
On the 9X39, from the G&A Article by Dave Fortier:
The standard SP-5 ball load consists of a 250-grain 9mm FMJBT with a lead core and a thin jacket topped by a steel penetrator. Also fielded is a SP-6 AP load consisting of a 246-grain FMJBT with a thin jacket and steel penetrator core. Muzzle velocity of both these loads is approximately 950fps making them very easy to supress. Recoil is mild and controlability on full automatic is very good.
While the ballistics of these loads sound very mundane, the heavy weight of the projectiles combined with high ballistic coefficents makes them more effective than one would expect. The Russians claim the SP-6 load will shoot through both sides of a US kevelar helmet at 400 meters. In concept this cartridge is similar to JD Jones' .300 Whisper.
In Russia the author interviewed to MVD end-users who had just returned from a year's service in Chechnya. Their comments were that while the cartridge's accuracy was mediocre, its terminal performance was excellent, and it "knocked Chechnyans flat."
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There is a wildcat in the US called 35x39 or 350x39 which may be its best approximation. Accuracy Systems Inc used to rebarrel Mini-30s for that round.
I would think it would be close to our 35 Remington. I wanted an SKS or AK in 9x39mm so very badly for a while, but think perhaps 35 Remington would do. The AKM has been successfully rebarreled in that round. Such a build is on my agenda for the future.
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Question: WHERE are the .35 Remington rebarrelled AK pics?????
Pookie...all those reasons are why I'm looking at the .338. It's similarity to the .300 whisper, wide variety of bullets, cheap 10mm brass to use, and the use of unmoddified 5.45 magazines. If there is a downside it would be that Teppo Jutsu is the only place to get a barrel.
Look at that rebated rim already marked by the * asterisk.
Wildcats need lots of feeding, grooming, and care. Best not to adopt one that requires major work on each case. You want a large number of cases to load and shoot. The easiest would be one that is shaped in one pass thru a sizing die.
I have to admit..I have a lot on my plate right now as it is. Why I'd want to start planning for and buying for another project I have no idea.......
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