Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What 7.62x39 rifle to get?

I own the Ruger rifle. I bought the rifle to help train my children to shoot. When starting my girls, I start with a .22 lr, move up to a .22 magnum and then they move up to this rifle suppressed. They shoot a lot of rounds of cheap ammo in different field positions to build their confidence and proficiency. Using the Hornady 123gr SST’s it has also taken two rather large South Texas deer with no issues. One of my daughters has her own Remington 700 classic .300 Savage that she hunts with now, but she loves this Ruger. My youngest daughter won’t give it up.

Well, if the ladies love it maybe I'll buy a couple.

Guns, not ladies. -geesh-

It's easy for us loony types to dismiss the utility of something like this, but it may be all the cartridge someone needs for plinking, as a truck gun, or meat hunting for deer in places where shots aren't long. The Hornady manual gives loads for 150gr bullets at up to 2200, which based on what I've read over the years is right with a lot of .30/30 factory loads and handloads in carbines. The pointed bullets should let them catch up over distance pretty quickly. The twist listed for that SKS is 7 1/2" which ought to stabilize heavier bullets too. Twist for the Howa is 9.45", BTW.

Obviously a .30/30 or .308 is a better all-around cartridge and can be loaded down easily (the reason the Blackout has no charm to me) but the little rifles are pretty light and handy, and cheap. The CZ 527 is also very nicely made from steel and walnut, as nice a rifle as you can get at that price.

The BO is easy to download with cast if one doesn't mind the details. And it will shoot better than low power .30-30 loads.

Download? Hell, it's already there. The "details" are precisely what keeps the average joker from fooling with the stuff that winds your clock. Rifles and ammo for what people use the 7.62 for are easily obtainable. The BO ain't except in ARs and some customs from what I've seen. Maybe it should be, and maybe someday it will, but the 7.62 has a big head start and slightly outruns the BO with bullets up to 150gr, and those loads are available over the counter. Clearly the BO is superior with heavy subsonics and has more bullets available for handloading (unless you count .308s loaded in the 7.62, which seems to happen a good bit).

Something like the Henry SS in .308 or .30/30 might be better than either, more versatile, certainly. Might find out myself next year.

OK Pappy, you got the bit in your teeth I reckon. I disagree with some of your premises, but hey, that's what America's all about.

SAAMI spec for bullet diameter is .311". Spec for groove is .310". Folks may slip some .308s in the cartridge but the wisdom of doing so is scant. No quicker way on Earth to gas cut a barrel than running smaller bullets than intended down the barrel.

.300 AAC data from Hodgdon 24" barrel

110 gr bullet Lil'Gun 21.0 2,474
150 gr " 17.2 2,062
180 gr " 14.8 1,786
220 gr " 8.4 1,062

7.62 x 39 24" barrel

108 gr CFE BLK 27.0 2,471
150 gr " 24.5 2,156

My Hornady manual suggests top velocity for the 39 w/150 grain bullets is ballpark 2200 fps with a 20" barrel. That said, I see no significant difference between the two with equal weight bullets. No surprise there, the case volumes are similar. The .300 ain't "already there" insofar as down loading. It has the advantage of available components in wide array.


By "big head start" I take it you mean the variety of guns chambered for the round, correct me if I'm wrong. The RAR (2 styles) is available in .300 AAC , so is the Remington 700 (3 model variations), Ruger Mini 14, AAC Micro (3 models), Kimber and a fair number of other manufacturer's rifles. I'm talking bolt guns only, not semi-autos. Friend of mine has a SS break action rifle with that chamber as well, don't recall the manufacturer. It shoots one ragged hole with 5-10 shots using cast bullets. Some of those folks also chamber the 7.62x39 case as do some gun makers from Yurp, but I don't see the big head start?

The average joker probably shouldn't fool with guns if they aren't willing to examine the details. Thoughtless enthusiasm is the catalyst for ER visits.

So OK, ammo is cheap for the 39. Is that it? Hang in there, the prices will climb in time.

Our area of hunting differ greatly from the US, plus I don't the amount of hunting I once did due to age and health, ive also thinned the heard to these
Sako custom 358 win
CZ 527 7.62x39
19 badger

The rifle that 9 times out of 10 accompanies on my walks is the x39, just love it. The little CZ barrel is only 18 1/2" I load the CFE BLK with Barnes 123 gr
bullets for 2,540 fps. I have taken 10 sambar deer over the last two winters all one shot kills, if you are not familiar with the sambar its a big animal.
Having said that I don't shoot em in the arse and hope for the best if I can't place the bullet I don't shoot it.

Many use the x39 in CZ & Howa on goats & pigs the123 gr Hornay SST seems the pick. I think its a love/ hate thing, we have not seen the new CZ with 20" barrel I think I would like that also. Its a good round with good powder and projectiles and very accurate in a good bolt rifle. I have'nt shot the Ruger but handled one and did'nt like the feel that's just a personal preference, buy it enjoy it

Johno

Okay Dan, let's see if I can cover all this.

I had no idea that there were that many factory rifles available for the .300, mainly because the round is of little or no interest or use to me in its subsonic dress, which as how I first became aware of it. For the same reason, I had no idea how much factory ammo was available for it, but a quick check at Midway shows there's a bunch. Clearly there's no contest as to the number of bullets available in .308 as opposed to .310-.312. So, I have to agree that despite a slight velocity advantage for the 7.62 the .300 is a more versatile and useful round than the Russkie, even in pure factory dress. That doesn't mean, however, that the 7.62 isn't a good choice, if maybe not the absolute best, for the uses it's usually put to, especially for someone like Mr. Walter that already has other rifles so chambered, which is how all this got started. I already explained how I came to buy one, and eventually I'll get it back and and see what kind of fun I can have with it, since it's already in hand, not because I especially wanted one myself. I expect that I'll enjoy shooting it because it's a handy little gun with a nice trigger that's cheap to shoot even without reloading and doesn't kick a lot. I might even work up a good load for turkeys or play with .308 sabots if they don't rattle down the barrel too badly.

When I mentioned details, I was trying to point out that stuff like those lovely heavy cast bullets you posted a pic of are totally off the radar for the person who just wants to shoot a bit, not get involved in the wild fringes of this business. You work on some wonderful stuff and keep us amazed and entertained with your toys, but it's the shooting equivalent of a guy who hybridizes tea roses or breeds raptors. Sometimes our enthusiasm keeps us from seeing things from the viewpoint of those not so heavily involved or invested.

I'm good with that Pappy. I don't know anything at all about tea roses.

Did them damn raptors tell ya I was breedin' 'em? Lyin' little bastids. Was it the T-Rex or them little buggers?

Guy on the Fieldsports Channel raises eagles, hybrid falcons, and I think, Redtails since he uses them on game. Trains them with drones, puts cameras on the eagles while they hunt, even splices in replacement feathers using carbon shafting. Neat stuff, but too much fun for me; inseminating a big killer bird worth thousands while keeping your eyes and flawless complexion, using imaging equipment to keep track of the chicks in the eggs, etc. I can barely keep a dog.

My bad.

I thought you were talking this kind of raptor.

Those are even tougher.....

Pretty sure my HOA has a rule against them too.

Dan,

Top handload for the 7.62X39 with a 150 grain bullet is 2,200fps (that's in a 16 inch barrel by the way)===> so much for the 30-30 eating it's arse.

30 carbine with it's 110 grain bullet at 1,900 fps (not to mention it's a round nose... you were going on about BC above)===> is a hell of a lot more than a short step behind it.

I've got a couple of 300 BO's and they do not run circles around it "Faster". But it (the BO) is a much better round for suppression.

Might add Hornady's 300 BO velocities from a 24 inch barrel are a little disingenuous, not many 24 inch 300 BO's around===> might be pretty 'Quiet' unsuppressed though.

Jerry

the american is a great little rifle. I have had one for almost a year now.. it is my favorite rifle to take to the range. shoots the hornady stuff inside and inch all day. I might have gotten a good one, but I hear almost all the ruger americans shoot well.

Shooting Federal Fusion at 200 yds.



With federal's $5 a box rebate, i'm not going to reload at 60 cents a round delivered. Fun little rig, quiet and shoots like a BB gun. Haters gonna hate, but the little ruger commie carbine is where it's at.

Mine is a great little shooter, love the 10 rd mags, inexpensive rifle, cheap ammo, accurate just seems to belong in my 86 CJ7.

Color me a bit skeptical, kinda like the orangutans. If you're getting 2200 fps with 150s out of the 39 please shoot at least 10 benches away from me. I see a few loads that approach that, all maximum according to the books, none that get there. There are numerous loads for the 30-30 that wander around the 23/2400 fps range and one I'm aware of that runs 2500 fps+. Like the BO it has options for heavier bullets which the 39 does not. That said, I'm not going to quibble much about the numbers. They are all functional cartridges within their realm, but the 39 is saddled with oddball dims and does not have the wide range of options available for the others. That was my point about "running circles". They can all shoot light bullets at decent velocity, but the 39 takes a chitt after 150 grains. The BC numbers I referred to related to the heavier bullets that are useful to the BO, .30-30 and my cute little Sneezer. Pointy noses is a small part of BC calculation in case you didn't know that. MV doesn't matter nearly as much as impact velocity and that matters less than bullet construction and form when it comes to imparting destruction and mayhem.

I have a friend who has one that shoots that ammo, just like that.

Hence the "need" to get one.

What Pappy348 said about the CZ 527. If you want a well finished blue steel & walnut rifle it's a good choice for the money.

I just got one and the only real negative to me is having to mount a scope a little higher because of bolt handle clearance. On the plus side for me it comes with decent enough open sights and the receiver has integral bases. If you wanted to use receiver sights NECG makes a good quality adjustable receiver sight that fits the bases perfect with no d & t work.

James Calhoon makes aftermarket CZ parts that include a bolt handle that will allow lower scope mounting.

Again, it seems like the CZ is good if you sink a bunch of $$ into it post purchase, while the Ruger seems OK out of the gate.

Bolt handle clearance issues on a brand new factory rifle that is made for a scope? Really?