Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 7.62x39 for deer

Ok, now you start with the kindergarten stuff. lots of maturity there. Scream on brother.

And fwiw I've taken close to as many head of game with a BOW as you have with a gun... for starters....

And MIGHT be a known national competitor....

Your typical 123-125 gr. sp x39 load is no match for the typical 170 gr. sp .30-30 load when it comes to penetration at sub 200 yd ranges. I've recoverd exactly one 170 gr. .30-30 bullet out of dozens of deer killed and that was a lengthwise shot. My co worker has recovered a half dozen 123-125 gr x39 sp's out of deer in the past couple seasons alone. None were lengthwise shots.

My fuggin azz. You're a bigtime bullshytter though and that's a fact. You can fool the fans but not the players junior. And don't lecture me about childish posts after sticking your big, fat, clueless schnozz into the Rav4 thread yesterday and immediately calling names. Dickhead. Oh yeah, and I might have been a former 3 time state champion in NRA registered 4 position smallbore too. No might about it, I was. Big deal. It isn't relevant in the least here.

Explain yourself Einstein.

Keep in mind I never said the x39 wasn't adequate for deer. Heck, I've found the .222 to be adequate. But equal to the .30-30 it is not.

Your logic revolved around comparing two cartridges (coworker says it's [7.62x39] about like a .30-30), one of which you haven't used in the same method as required to make such a comparison with any degree of certainty or authority. Yet, you still made an emphatic and absolute statement to the contrary. You can't "KNOW" anything operating from a position of ignorance.

I'm the only person who I know who has a bolt action 7.62x39, a Ruger 77, and while it is reasonably accurate, it would be among that last rifles that I would pick to take on a serious deer hunt. Back when you could buy new Norinco SKS by the case for around $75 per unit, I bought a case of them and gave them to some of my FIL's farmer friends to keep as barn/combine/tractor guns. At that time, I thought that the cheap Chinese SKS would be the next high volume entry-level CF rifle, but as time has proven, I was wrong on that count.

Personally, I'd much rather have a Marlin 336 in my hands on a deer hunt than any rifle that I can think of chambered in 7.62x39.

if you think the 30-30 is SO MUCH superior, you have an issue you should resolve.

Now if you were saying the 300 mag over the X 39 I coudl see the difference...

right bullet, right shot placement, the x39 kills better than my 30-30 contender from all the shots I've seen...

I took a doe tonight with my x39 upper and the Federal Fusion load. Shot was slightly quartering away at 18 yards and entered her left side just off the point of her leg and exited the pocket between her body and her offside leg, then it entered her offside leg and broke it before exiting.

Internal damage was extensive. Heart was hit and had a 1.5" hole through it. Also damage to lungs. Blood trail was immediate and very, very heavy. She ran approx 30 yards.

The round and bullet preformed just like I thought it would...about like a .30-30.

Well I just got back from a deer hunt. Used a 7.62x39 fusion bullets and a ruger mini 30 tactical and a ruger No.1 in said caliber.

I can tell you we shot 4 deer. All shoulder shots. All ran. None dropped. Very very little blood

Recovered 2 of the 4.


I hate this round for deer

How far and what angles were the shots? Recovered 2 of 4 bullets or deer?

Were the shots high on the body?

I killed a nice 8 point with my Marlin 30-30 Saturday morning. 60 yard broadside shot through both shoulders. Through and through penetration as usual. Deer dropped like a lead balloon, bang, FLOP. 170 grain Federal power shok. The cheap stuff in the blue box.

Took this one yesterday, with the 7.62x39 bolt rifle shown. 123 grain Federal SP. 85 yards, broadside, dropped in his tracks, full penetration and an excellent exit wound.



Here are three other decent bucks taken with that same little rifle in the last couple seasons:







I've taken 19 deer with the little rifle since I picked it up a few years back. All were one shot kills. None have gone further than 40 yards, and only three have gone anywhere at all. Every bullet has exited, at ranges from about 12' to over 125 yards. I haven't even started handloading any hunting ammo for it yet, just using either Remington or Federal factory SPs. They shoot very well, and kill very well.

As stated before, the 7.62x39 works just fine for deer - if the shooter does his job. It's a very near ballistic twin of the .30-30, and performance on deer is similarly identical; it all comes down to placement and the shooter.

I did get a chuckle out of someone questioning Jeff Rost's credentials on this thread, though. That's pure gold right there.

About to start overeating for the day, then head back out again to see about killing more stuff with the 7.62x39 as the rifle is fast becoming a favorite (weighs next to nothing, carries well, recoil is basically non-existent, and it just kills stuff very, very dead).

Sure, why not. Like the man said, it's pretty much a .30/30. Plenty of rifle for most Eastern whitetail hunting.

I would prefer one with a .308 bore for convenience sake.

I used to handload 125 and 130 gr. pointed sp's to 2450-2500 fps in my old Savage 340 bolt action .30-30. I eventually quit using them on deer and went back to 150 and 170 grain bullets because the lighter ones didn't give me the through and through penetration I wanted on a consistent basis. Yet somehow, miraculously, 125 grain sp bullets going 100 fps or so slower out of the 7.62x39 will penetrate like the dickens. My fuggin' azz.

Sounds like you have a personal problem with your azz; either fuggin' it, or talking out of it.

As for the 7.62x39, I've yet to have one of those bullets not fully penetrate and exit the deer I've shot with that round. The blood trails, on the three that have actually moved from where they were shot, were excellent.

Oh, and those bullets you loaded were not the same in design as the ones in the x39; neither in construction or in velocity performance window. There'd be a few hints there, but I doubt you'll figure them out.

Me? I'll keep right on killing stuff with the little 7.62x39, whether you believe it or not. Then again, I've actually hunted with folks on here that have seen me kill stuff with that same rifle and cartridge; so they must be FOS, too, eh?

Happy Thanksgiving, all. Time to dive into the dinner prep, then head back out to the woods.

Take it to the jilted, irrational love of bitching and .30-30s thread.

Grow up you bitter ass of a old man.

That's great. Thanks for sharing. Is that a CZ or something different?

I think that is a mini mark x.

It's a daly mini mauser. (Mini mark x as CT says)

Same as my 222 rem, which also kills deer.

Maybe it's the maker and not the caliber?