300 whisper or sub 762x39

[longbowrecon]

I wasnt sure where to post this but I'm thinking about the 300 whisper. It seems neat and I like the idea of using my 9mm can for a rifle but I'd have to get someone to make the bbl etc. I have been reading on 762x39 subloads and I've been wondering if this would be a better path? I can get a 762x39 bbl for my XCR cheap and the 5 pos gas system may give me a bit more flexibility to get it to run. Any thoughts? If I ran the AK bbl I'd want to use subs and a trident(yes yes the warranty will be done) I guess I'd like opinions from folks who know more than I.

[este]

I steered away from it for a few reasons.

There is better accuracy from whisper, due to many factors (case taper/design, powder volume, bullets available, etc) but this is the truth. There are of course whisper guns that don't/won't shoot as well as a x39 gun but the general idea is whisper has the potential to be more accurate or to be as accurate with less effort.

There is no one doing any serious amount of work with x39 subsonic. A few people here and there, but no one could answer real questions, only hypothetical stuff. So, I figured I would wait until I saw some real info and real testing before jumping in.

There is a .311 vs .308 problem. The best bullets are .308, along with the best barrels. But, factory x39 ammo is x39. I have no issue, and have found people that claim .311 supersonic down a .308 barrel works fine I have no proven it for myself, nor have I found that combo to be stable considering a suppressor is involved. There is s--t selection for .311 200gr+ bullets. Some Arisaka/7.7mm jap and a few others. It's nothing like the variety and availability of .308

x39 brass is expensive and hard(ish) to find. This is compared with whisper brass that can be made from 223 which is probably the first or second most common center fire rifle round in the united states. If we were in Russia this would be different.

The AK doesn't really get quiet. The tolerances of the AK don't really make for a quiet ride. Not AR quiet anyhow. This is my understanding but I haven't heard subsonic AK next to subsonic AR so I don't know for sure. But it does make sense. I wasn't looking at the XCR so maybe it's different with that gun. The AK is loose so it always works, I have no idea about the XCR or other x39 semi guns (VZ-58 or other AK based). If it doesn't get quiet what is the point?



I'm waiting for someone else to early adopt. In the meantime, there is a TON of info on whisper with relatively few surprises. The XCR, any AK, the CZ-527 bolt guns, etc there are some cool platforms that would be great as x39 but not for me - yet.

[longbowrecon]

Fair enough, thanks

[Spook]

simple answer to this is get a 308X39 reamer cut and use that in a 308 bore. plentiful brass that forms / resizes/ seats with factory Redding dies. there is some brass out there with small primer pockets ( Rem and Olympic are the two I can think of) but it would seem the large primer brass would be relegated to using slower powders.

[whiterussian1974]

Think about the 9x39mm Soviet. A 250gr .358 bullet. Accurate to 200m and max usable 400m range. Soviet SpecOps Troops have used it for decades.

[Bendersquint]

Think about the 9x39mm Soviet. A 250gr .358 bullet. Accurate to 200m and max usable 400m range. Soviet SpecOps Troops have used it for decades.

Besides that this topic died 3 years ago....

Where do you get brass, dies and the reamer for this?

[johndoe3]

Bender, the BFG Design website sells the .358 Gremlin brass and Hornady dies (based off the 7.62x39 or Grendel brass), and they may also have the reamer too, since they sell barrels for the cartridge.

http://www.bfgcartridges.com/358Gremlin.html

[sub-sonic]

I have played around alot with 7.62x39 subs and have had some success but the SKS or AK are not the ideal choice for this. I have also use bolt guns and had better groups and also better quiet. but and its a big but 30HRT or 300BLK easier in either a semi or bolt.

I use small primer x39 brass to get consistant loads but the brass is getting harder to find.
I did one AR in .30x39 (ruger as I like to call it because they invented it wth the mini30) and it was good balistacally but feeding sucked so it went bye bye. If I was to do another I would be going 30HRT

[Garrett]

I thought at one time of threading a Yugo 59/66 to use with subs. The idea being it already has the gas shut-off option, so I could turn it into a straight-pull bolt-action when shooting subs.

It never made it high enough on the list to get it done though.

[jlwilliams]

With respect to a long dead thread.....

The availability of 300BLK/whisper barrels in twist rates that are good for subs gives it a big advantage over 7.62x39 (or 30-30) for a suppressed rifle.

[HotGuns]

I took a Ruger M77 that started out life as a 7.62x39 and re-barreled it. I chambered it using a 7.62 reamer with a .308 throat and used a .308 barrel with a 1/8 twist specifically to stabilize a 220 grain bullet. The original barrel was just to thin to get a decent 1/2-28 thread on so I turned it into a varmint profile.

It shoots very well, it's accurate and comparable sound wise to any Whisper/Blackout that I have.

I have also experimented with every standard 7.62x39 ammo I had, Russian, Yugo, Greek, Arab, South African, Korean and some stuff that I wasn't sure where it came from.
It shot all of it extremely well. The .311 bullet seemed to have no issues being shot down a .308 barrel and the fast twist didn't seem to affect it all, on the contrary it is one of the most accurate 7.62s that I have seen.

I have a vast supply of 7.62 ammo, and I figured that this rifle wouldn't be a bad thing to have someday. The ability to shoot any 7.62 ammo or reloaded ammo that could be shot suppressed might come in handy.