Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr – Great Match HP Ammo

Description

Almost all 7.62×39 ammunition is steel cased, bulk packed and loaded for volume rather than precision, which is why the cartridge has a reputation for mediocre accuracy it does not entirely deserve. The Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr is the counterargument. Brass cases, boxer primers and a match style open tip bullet, loaded to a consistency the surplus stuff never approaches.

• The cartridge is better than its ammunition
• Full specifications
• Reloadable brass in a cartridge that rarely offers it
• Honest notes before you buy
• Feeding and function in AK pattern rifles
• The bottom line

The cartridge is better than its ammunition

Plenty of AK and SKS pattern rifles will shoot two minute groups or better if you feed them something consistent. The problem has never really been the rifle or the cartridge, it has been ammunition made to a price. The Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr changes the input, and a lot of shooters are surprised by what their rifle does with it.

The American Gunner line is built around match style hollow point bullets loaded to practical velocities in quality brass. At 2350 feet per second and 1508 foot pounds, the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr sits right where the cartridge is designed to work rather than chasing numbers that shorten brass life.

Full specifications

• Caliber: 7.62x39mm
• Bullet weight: 123 grain
• Bullet: HP Match open tip
• Muzzle velocity: 2350 fps
• Muzzle energy: 1508 ft-lbs
• Ballistic coefficient (G1): not published by Hornady for this load
• Case: reloadable boxer primed brass
• Quantity: 20 rounds per box
• Part number: 80786, 50 rounds per box

The brass case is the part worth paying for even if you never reload. Steel cases do not obturate the same way, they are harder on extractors over thousands of rounds, and the lacquer or polymer coating can foul a chamber when the rifle gets hot. The Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr behaves like conventional ammunition because it is conventional ammunition.

Reloadable brass in a cartridge that rarely offers it

Boxer primed 7.62×39 brass is genuinely uncommon. Most of what gets fired is berdan primed steel that goes straight in the bin. Fifty pieces from a box of the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr is a real asset if you handload, and handloading is where the cartridge finally gets to show what it can do accuracy wise.

Even if you do not reload, brass is worth money to someone who does. Shooters who buy the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr regularly tend to keep the cases, either for themselves or to trade. It is a small thing, but over a few thousand rounds it changes the real cost of shooting the cartridge.

Honest notes before you buy

Price is the honest tradeoff. This costs several times what bulk steel cased ammunition costs, and nobody is going to burn a case of it in a weekend. Most shooters use cheap ball for volume and keep the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr for zeroing, for accuracy testing, and for hunting.

One point on terminal performance. The match hollow point in the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr is an accuracy design, not an expanding hunting bullet, and it should not be assumed to open reliably on game. For hogs or deer at 7.62×39 distances, a proper soft point is the better choice. This load is about precision and brass.

Feeding and function in AK pattern rifles

Most AK and SKS rifles run the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr without complaint, but function test anything new before you rely on it. Magazines vary enormously in quality across the platform, and a rifle that eats steel cased ball reliably can occasionally be fussy with a different case taper or bullet profile. Fifty rounds will tell you everything.

Bore diameter is the other thing to check on an older rifle. Some surplus barrels run closer to 0.310 and some to 0.311, and an accuracy problem that looks like an ammunition problem is sometimes a bore problem. If the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr does not shoot well in your rifle, that is usually why rather than anything wrong with the load.

The bottom line

If you want to find out what your AK or SKS is actually capable of, the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr is the ammunition that lets you ask the question fairly. You can read more about the bullet design at swiftbullets.com, or browse the rest of our stock on the MAG5 Firearms ammunition page.

MAG5 Firearms keeps the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr in stock and moving, and we are glad to talk through bullet choice before you order. If you are working up a load for a new rifle, a single box of the Hornady American Gunner 7.62×39 123gr is a sensible place to start.