Continuing to search for AFFORDABLE individual 20round boxes of 7.62x39 has been unsuccessful at my local big box stores.
I have found an ally at the gun shows, as the brand New Republic appears at several gun shows at a budget friendly price, as opposed to the history of price gouging a budget minded person would expect at such an event.
I decided to give it a try.
My testing it will include homestead field accuracy of 25 meters (the size of my fist is good enough for what I have encountered), and functionality (cycing without jams, or other issues) with the 7.62x39 rifles I have.
Here are the results