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Secret project

Well, this project is nearing an end. After much research, time and work invested in it, I now have an integrally suppressed 9x39 upper. Something that had interested me since going back at least to 2011 when I first learned about the cartridge.

It was worth the wait.


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Yep, I have truly enjoyed this build, far more than many of my other ones.

I have had to do a lot of research to find much of the technical data and other things from the 9x39 in general because the Russians have held much of the info close to their chest. One of my favorite parts was writing back and forth with Mr. Popenko in St. Petersburg, Russia.
 
I love shot show time. All the new stuff starts coming out about this time of the year.

I just ordered some 140 gr solid brass bullets from KAK in hopes that I can work up some good supersonic loads so I may be able to down a deer with one next year.

In running the numbers, if I can achieve the velocity that KAK said they were getting, should have the ft lb performance very near to a 154 gr 7.62x39, only with a considerably larger diameter bullet. That should have no problem on whitetails.

They also have one that I believe is supposed to expand, but I wanted to try the cheaper version first to see if I can work something up to my liking.

https://www.kakindustry.com/140-gn-solid

https://www.kakindustry.com/125-gn-4-petal
 
I haven't been able to load any of the supers yet, but I was able to recover a couple of bullets today from behind my target stand in the berm. It's so muddy, I didn't dig out much because it's just big clumpy orange clay right now from as much rain as we've had this week, but interestingly, I recovered two blackout bullets and a single 9x39 bullet.

Actually one of the Speer 270 gr hot cor soft points that I've been loading.

I'm assuming that it may have hit a rock due to how much it mushroomed out and because it's the only one that I have found so far, but for comparison, the middle bullet in the picture is one of the nosler 220 gr bullets that I loaded up about the same velocity as the 9x39. It's bent up and likely hit a rock too, but I wanted to show the comparison of how much better the 9x39 is doing when everything is near equal since I like to look at ballistics down range and pictures don't exaggerate or lie.

The blk on the far left, has so little deformation, I'd be tempted to load and shoot it again LOL.

The 270 gr bullet weighed 263 gr retaining almost all of its' weight and measured .676" in its' widest spot.

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Yeah, I think so too. I lost a 6 point last year that crossed over the property line into a state animal preserve and I couldn't continue following it to retrieve it.

I have no doubt that it died, but I didn't want to get charged with trespassing and poaching either trying to find it. I probably wouldn't have been caught, but it's sometimes better just to follow the rules than to try to skirt them.

I only found 4 drops of blood while tracking it so I would prefer to use some other bullet next time. I don't think the 254 gr lehigh max expansion exited. So, I will be using another bullet next year. And it may likely be one of the 125 gr expanding brass bullets that KAK is selling. 2200+ fps, should have no problems downing a whitetail.

https://www.kakindustry.com/125-gn-4-petal
 
I agree with you on not following the deer. I would be the guy that the CO would catch......

I wasn't there but I would have tracked the wounded deer especially if you shot it on YOUR property. Blood trail would show it and prove it. I like to think that putting a wounded animal out of it potential misery would trump any Natty Resources Officer reason to ticket you for going onto state property.

I watch "Northern Woods Law" (or whatever it is called) on Animal Planet on occasion. Based in ME, NH and maybe VT, it follows a number of "game wardens" in the various northern states. While they are doing a great deed for game animal conservation and against poaching, they are still dicks sometimes ticketing people for fishing without a license or ticketing ATV-ers or snowmobilers for speeding on speedable sections of state trail... :mad: :rolleyes:
 
Bobster, it really upset me deeply not to retrieve the deer. It sickened me.

But, when something goes off of your property, regardless of where you shot it, you no longer have the right to be there tramping around looking for it, and even if you found the animal, you don't have the right to remove it or retrieve it. And doing it on the states largest animal preserve during deer season no less, would not have bode well if I had been caught trespassing and especially with the deer during deer season.

I understand the sentiment. I get it. But that doesn't change the law.
 
...you no longer have the right to be there tramping around looking for it, and even if you found the animal, you don't have the right to remove it or retrieve it...

North Woods Law lawyer speaking here ;) but what if a game warden found it 100yds in and assumed it had been poached. Now they have to do an investigation and so on. Or what if they followed the blood trail to your property? Anyhow, I'm sure it passed on and provided food for a number of carnivores in the preserve...
 
Our property physically borders the animal reserve. I don't really care what critter cop thinks so long as I'm in the right, he can pound sand. He stays on his side of the boundary, I stay on mine. There are many carnivores. I just hate that I wasn't able to track and recover it. If I had known that I wouldn't have been able to find it, I would've just stayed at the house and not even went.

In other news, I was able to do some load testing with the 9x39 this evening. I fired a handful of 140 gr bullets with a 20.0 gr charge of #9 powder. Velocity average was 1884 fps and I still had 2.4 more gr of charge before max'ing out according to quickload. I'm hoping that working up maybe another 1 gr or 1.5 gr that I'd be able to get up into the low to mid 2000 fps ballpark.

Even if I stopped right now though, the gun/caliber is already exceeding 357 magnum through a carbine length barrel and with a heavier and fatter bullet. So, I'm very pleased with it.

There are some expanding 125 gr bullets that I know will surpass the velocities of the 140's just by swapping to the lighter bullet and not changing anything. Those will probably be my hunting bullet next year.
 
I wasn't there but I would have tracked the wounded deer especially if you shot it on YOUR property. Blood trail would show it and prove it. I like to think that putting a wounded animal out of it potential misery would trump any Natty Resources Officer reason to ticket you for going onto state property.

I watch "Northern Woods Law" (or whatever it is called) on Animal Planet on occasion. Based in ME, NH and maybe VT, it follows a number of "game wardens" in the various northern states. While they are doing a great deed for game animal conservation and against poaching, they are still dicks sometimes ticketing people for fishing without a license or ticketing ATV-ers or snowmobilers for speeding on speedable sections of state trail... :mad: :rolleyes:

Sounds as if your more interested in following your own laws than the laws the CO's are tasked to enforce.
I am not going to risk my gun, lifetime hunting license, truck and whatever else the state would decide to take for being caught "poaching" on an animal preserve. The best course of action would be to call the CO's, let them know what happened, and let them make the call. If they can recover the deer, great. If not, it will feed alot of animals in the woods for awhile.
 
As a youth, I took great joy in hunting.
But the laws now make it a joyless ordeal.

I don't trust the wardens at all. Their reputation gets more and more dicey.

You cant hunt with lead here, plus you have to carry non-lead in your sidearm as well.
They don't have to prove you shot lead. Only that you have it in the gun, or even just with you in some cases.

They decided that Condors eating stray lead shot were getting poisoned. Unfortunately, hunters had not already exterminated these flying vermin. We had to protect the remainder. Nevermind that the condor would peck the flesh from your dying corpse, the Politicians love them.....The same ones that pick the pockets of your corpse (just coincidence, surely....)

Our county doesn't care that you kill some crackhead burglar with jacketed lead moose-killers, 00 buckshot, or a hand cast wadcutter, but don't you dare shoot lead at a rattlesnake while hunting hogs.

Anyhow there were already so many rules here I just gave up when I moved to California. (I almost gave up shooting completely.)

I haven't taken a legal game animal since . . . . A few varmints and no more.
 
Now that shot show 2020 is well underway, I've found out there are a couple other companies going to be making uppers now. This makes at least 4 businesses selling them now. So, that's good.

Also, D&H has officially announced their mags. (psst--I have a 10 round pre-production mag incoming to test out in my gun--I'm so thankful to be able to give it a good workout. I'm also glad the pre-production mags are straight mags too. I'm limited to 10 rounds for hunting and this will work out fantastic for me.

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Imagine if you will, for the next year not one new law is passed at any governmental level in the United States starting today. I think we would survive . The politicians could feel free to remove old, irrelevant, and redundant laws from the books for that same time frame. We would all be better off.
 
There are too many convoluted and senseless laws already.

If we started over today from scratch, and completely abandoned all but the most basic laws (other than violent crime laws), we would be better off.
 
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