Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7.62 x 39 and deer ?

Just be aware that the cheap, imported surplus is .310/.311 for the most part. American made 7.62x39 uses .308 diameter bullets. Some rifles will be finicky about what they digest.



I had a mini-Mauser, but disliked it after using it for awhile. Norinco FMJ and Federal SPs managed 1 1/4 inches @ 100 yd. The others, all topped with hunting bullets, Win, PP, Igman and PMC shot 1.5 to 2.5 inch groups. The skinny barrel was to blame, paired with the stock. I tried bedding and shimming, but it didn't seem to help much. The Rem 799 (Zastava) looked pretty, but shot lousy. Handloads or factory, it didn't like any of the ammunition.

123 Hornady SPs, 125 Sierras were 1 3/4 inch groups. Benchmark gave me some 1.5 inch clusters, but I wasn't really happy with any of them.

I did better with 150s. They grouped slightly smaller. Velocities were around 2000 fps.

One last thing: if you reload for this cartridge, watch which case you use. I tested six brands. Winchester had the most volume; Lapua the least.

Example: 125 gr.Lapua bullet, 28.5 gr. AA1680. OAL of 2.200 inches.

Win. cases were filled to 86% and produced about 50kpsi. Lapua cases were filled to 99% and produced about 68kpsi. Follow the recipe from your manual carefully.

The 7.62x39 should be more successful than it is. Outside of the US, it is more popular. I tried to get a Savage in this cal., but was told that being in Canada put me toward the back of the line. This cartridge is the cat's ass for eastern deer and coyotes.