Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7.62 X 39 FOR HUNTING?

Anyone here have expereince with it as a hunting round and if so, what/where were you hunting? Give us the benefit of your expereince, please

In my opinion a 123 grain soft point would work just fine for someone who is recoil shy.

Everyone knows the SKS is a 7.62x39, there is also the Ruger m77 Compact, CZ 527, and the Savage 10 Scout. I usually see boxes of FMJ rounds for around 5 dollars or so, which means cheap practice ammunition.

my neighbor used a Ruger 7.62x39. He killed two does at 200 yards with the little cartridge, DRT.

My BC bud has let his 13 year girl kill two black bears with a CZ carbine. 150 grain Hornady..kilt dead....
It is said to do whatever a .30/30 will do and I believe that to be true....

Contrary to what you are asking for, I personally have no experience hunting with this cartridge. But have fired a few rounds at the range from a stranger`s Ruger compact.

In browsing my 49th edition Lyman manual, I read on page 242 that; quote,,,"bullet selection is limited to the 110 to 130 grain range due to this cartridge`s ballistic levels." That`s not real good if one wanted a better or wider bullet weight variety.

Ballistically imo, moving a 130 gr bullet at between 2172 to 2340 fps (max MVs listed in Lyman from a 20" barrel), will make for a good deer round out to about 200 or so yards. Probably throw in some hog hunting too.

The 7.62x39 is what it is. Should be a good lower recoil starter round for kids and for a well seasoned hunting adult who`s hunting needs or style won`t exceed this round`s limited ballistic capability.

I've killed a couple deer with a 154 gr soft point, worked well. The rifle is a CZ 527 and makes a handy package.

David

..............150 grainer? Then my Lyman manual stands to be corrected to include 150s.

Yep. Good for black bears too.

Witnessed two deer killed with the x39. Both broadside shots. First aT around 100 yards. Bullet exited and deer went down about 50 yards from point of inpact. Second deer was just over 200 yards. Bullet did not exit and there was no blood trail. Found it about 100 yards from where it was shot after on hour search.

30 Cal .308 150 gr InterLock� BTSP See details
30 Cal .308 150 gr InterLock� BTSP

SKU: 3033 | 100/BX

The cartridge will do an effective job on deer and similar sized game out to 200 or so yards with the right bullet. The issue is the rifle; SKS's are rather inaccurate (I had one once that was good for 30" groups at 100 yards; maybe unusual, but very inaccurate). I assume the Ruger's were more accurate.

I have always liked this little round, so a few years ago I had the T/C Custom shop make me a 26-inch stainless-steel barrel for my Encore.

I've shot all kinds of different rounds through it, including mil-surp, Wolf, Winchester and various handloads. Right now I'm working on whisper-type loads using 220-grain bullets at low velocities. The noise level is very low and the rounds are fun to shoot.

I've never hunted with this cartridge, so I can't relate any real world experience. From what I've read, it is basically a Russian .30-30 round. (Which simply means you toast your dead deer with a shot of vodka instead of a Bud Light.

I hunted hogs with a couple of Border Patrol agents who were armed with the Ruger carbines. As with all of my guest hunters, I had them shoot their rifles from the bench beside my front porch to ensure that they were sighted in properly. Groups from one rifle were about 3" for three shots at 100 yds, while the second was closer to 5", both with factory ammo. The triggers on both were just this side of horrible.

They took two hogs apiece. Dressed weights ranged from a bit over 100 lbs to almost 200 lbs. We did not experience any one-shot kills--one of the larger hogs was shot four times. I was not impressed with either the rifles or the cartridge.

If you handload good bullets for use in an accurate rifle, your experience would likely be different.

mudhen,
Were they shooting Ruger Mini 30's or the hawkeye compacts?

We have used this little cartridge effectively on hogs, dogs & goats. Like most things, if you hit them too far back you have a problem. I think most of the problem regarding kill shots is many use fmj bullets rather than a properly constructed hunting bullet. Sure there are better cartridges, but I guess it boils down to what you have in your hip pocket & eventually your hands.

built my Nephew a mexican mauser in 7.62 X 39 just because.. he has killed two nice deer wiht it..one shot kills with 125 gr Sierras

as long as you stay under 150 yds .. no problem

I had one of the little Ruger 77mkII's that was a special run a few years back. It had a 20 inch pencil barrel and shot the 125 grain Sierras very nicely.

I never got the chance to shoot anything but paper with it, but I always wanted to work with the 130 grain Speer HP's. The Ruger that I had wore a barrel with the .308" bore.

I've taken some coyotes with a Rem 799 and 123 grain Hornady bullets. I also tried Sierra 125s. It was reloaded ammunition. I couldn't manage better than 1 3/4 inches with any combination of powder and 123/125 grain bullet. It was because of the thin barrel and bedding, I believe.

The ranges were from 30 yd to about 150-175 yd. The 30 yd shot made a mess of things. The bullet hit bone and tore the critter up.

I haven't shot any deer with this cartridge, but if I was after one, I'd use 150s.

There are a lot of reasons that someone might want to chamber an accurate hunting rifle in 7.62x39.

But for all-around use, wouldn't a light load in a 308, 7mm-08, or 260 usually be a better choice? Later on, you can always load the cartridge to full potential.

Or on the cheap side, buy one of the old Stevens or Savage bolt action 30-30s. With a little fiddling, you can shoot 165 grain AccuBonds in them.

Haven't shot one but the little CZ carbine looks like a handy little tree stand rifle and the berries to start off recoil shy folks with.

Logically it should work ok. Not sure about bore dims these days. There was a time when some were chambering the round in a .308 barrel but the sovbloc standard was .311 IIRC. Dunno where that stands. Seem to recall that RCBS die sets provide expander balls for both dims.

On another level, I hold the likes of the AK and SKS in very low regard. Nobody was ever able to hit me with either and there was a brazillion of those screamin' yellow zonkers that gave it a try. To be direct on the point, I truly despise the whole lash up. Guns, ammo, the whole deal. Of course I'm biased toward American classics etc....