Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Share your 7.62x39mm hunting stories?

I don't have any...yet...but I'd greatly enjoy hearing yours if anyone would like to share.

What have you hunted with the 7.62x39? What load did you use, and how was the performance?

I’ll be following this one as well. Just picked up a lefty mini Mauser so chambered. Seems like it ought to be a great still hunting rifle.

Right on mart! A Zastava?

Its a Ruger American Ranch here. Looking to try both the 123gr TSX and 120gr TTSX (for 300 BLK) on game. This year I took my deer with 6.5x55.

But I'm really looking forward to trying the 7.62x39 as well. And on bigger than deer if its what I end up holding and the range is short.

Yes. A Zastavas. Nice little rifle and still in the cosmoline. It was pre owned by a neighbor who never got around to shooting it.

Always kind of longed for a ranch rifle in 7.62x39. I have one rebarreled from 223 to 6x45.

Good luck with it and your hunts.

Great! They look like a real peach. That Ranch rifle sounds nice too.

Thanks and enjoy as well!

Piles of hogs with a suppressed 7.62x39 AR with thermal. 125 Wolf sp, 8M3s and Hornady SSTs. Upward of 5-600.

WHOA! Now there's some data points! How do you find the lethality/penetration with that load? When youre not knockin them in the head or spine at least lol

Switched to the 7.62x39 when I got tired of chasing brass. Some kills over 200 but most +-100. Hogs aren’t to hard to kill but it did do a very good job. Only the first hog or two would be neck shoulder junction then it would be a free for all with the runners. As long as the range was kept under 150 yards or so I saw no difference between them and the 6.8 or Grendel. Kids killed a few deer with the SST. At the end before we lost the fields I had pretty much switched to the Wolf Performance 125 sp. Cost and the fact that it tended to put them down so I could move on to others was the reason. We were on extermination duty so it was put a bullet into every one if possible.

Boy do I miss those days.

"Whoa!" once again. Wow. Well that pretty thoroughly answers it will kill deer size stuff very capably. Interesting to hear its no different from 6.5 Grendel out to 150 as well, as I've been looking at energy tables and agonizing over a couple hundred foot/pounds tops and whether I'd have an exit with 7.62x39 lol.

I can see why you'd miss those days! That's incredible.

I don’t much worry about ft/lbs. I just grab what I think would be fun to hunt with at the time. Killed all my deer for a few years with sub when they made suppressors legal in my state. Killed quite a few deer and hogs.with 158xtp 38sp, 240 cast and hp subs 44sp and 45acp in suppressed rifles. Put it behind the shoulders and they don’t go very far.

If you can find them the Hornady 123 sst would be my chosen load. They only do around 2250 if I remember correctly but they always shot small groups and killed well. I’m from the south and our deer normally top out around 200 but have killed some 300lb+ hogs.

Also just guessing but I would think think you would be able to hand load to be in the 25-2600 range in the bolt guns. With where you are from the Barnes would be a good choice.Never handloaded the 7.62x39. I always used it to keep from having to handloads for what we were doing. As the range extended I pulled out the 308 with handloaded 168 AMax. Was my favorite big hog medicine but for hunting the fields at night it didn’t really matter.

Sounds pretty hard to go wrong with that, if you have to reach out there!

I'm liking the idea of the 7.62x39 as a rifle I could, but don't *have* to handload for. Fun to try different combos and stuff, shoot them for groups if I feel like it. Lots of steel case plinking ammo left...but I certainly won't be shooting as many animals with it as you did!

A set of 50 rounds of hunting ammo should last a good long time.

Betting you're right on with the speed too. Some pretty wicked velocities with CFE BLK especially. Ordered up 2 cans to go along with the Barnes bullets. Hoping for 2400-2450 fps from the 16" barrel of the Ruger Ranch.

Thanks for the confirmation on what it can do. It wouldn't be my preference but I'm pretty confident that with good shot placement or waiting for a good presentation, it'll do for moose at short range.

Good luck and post up your results.

I thought about hunting with my AR chambered in 7.62x39 a couple years ago, but never did. None of the shots would be over 50 yards, as we run a bait stand at times. While I would love to shoot a black bear with it, I ultimately decided against it. I only had to be reminded one time about the grizzly boar that came up and shook the tree we had the stand in. We were 14 days past grizzly season, or I’d of unloaded the .300 WM I had that day. Talk about a pucker factor.

I have lived in the lands of & or near the planes of South Dakota. Roughly 8 years ago I purchased 2 CZ 527's in 7.62 x 39. Some will understand others will be baffled that neither 7.62 x 39 have been shot by me in their original configuration.

Since purchasing those CZ527's in 7.62 x 39 I have re-barreled one to 6.5 Grendel that made a fine deer rifle. Then 2 years ago That rifle was re-barreled again to 6mm ARC. Again a fine deer rifle that I was offered my nicest whitetaii, to date. This nicest deer I have had a opportunity at was a beautiful 5ish year old 160" 4 x 4 brute taken at 254 yards in November of 2021. Bullet of choice for that hunt was a 108 grain Berger Elite hunter. Impact was a high shoulder shot. Actually low spine impact. That deer simply collapsed at the shot & was finished.

This last fall that same rifle was my deer rifle of choice. Took 2 does opening morning, each at roughly 100 yards.

So as of yet I have not chosen to shoot either of those rifles in 7.62 x 39.

Ho-lee.


thanks! Will do!!

I started my sons, 3, with a custom mini-mauser in 7.62x39 and my youngest shot his first deer with it, a doe. I liked it so much that I bought a Ruger 77, Zytel stock, in same chambering. I found the cartridge to be a great overall camp gun and it often rode on the rack of my ATV while doing chores any time of year. I was also a loaner when anyone visited and didn't bring a rifle. The Ruger had the only used scope I've ever bought, a Leupold 6x36 that never lost zero, no matter how many bumps on the ATV or overall rough handling. I consider a perfect Whitetail rifle for young hunters, out to 100 yards.

Oh those look like fantastic rifles!

Hope someday I see one and its not priced out of reach. Stainless too eh?

I have a Ruger American Ranch and a CZ 527 carbine in 7.62x39. Awesome rifles. I have a mini-30 so the mags are interchangeable between the two Rugers. The CZ likes the steel case stuff, but the Ruger has no issues with it either.

Cool! Make any meat with them?

Not yet. Hope to soon.

Going to keep a eye on this thread, have myself a lefty x39

I bought a Ruger American Ranch rifle in 7.62 commie back in 2018. One small doe, one hog. I load a 125 grain Sierera Pro Hunter over 4198 powder. I believe I really prefer the .30/30.

I know a guy who shot a groundhog with an SKS once. Does that count?

Deer seem to be really scarce when I have my CZ in hand but, have taken several armadillos and coyotes while in the woods. Only have one pic from a few years ago.

Why do people shoot armadillos?

Good luck, Obi Wan!

Mannlicher, do you find the 30-30 gives you more decisive results, or?

Gnoahhh, believe it does haha

They are invasive here. They tear up a lot of ground. Rumor has it they will destroy turkey nests, etc. and we don’t have an Turkeys or quail left. That’s why people here shoot them.

Got ya, especially if they're invasive. Figured its likely control of some sort but I couldn't imagine how so!

I'm pretty far north, mind. Never even saw one before.

Well, here's what the ammo looks like at least.

Threw the .308 sizing stem into a Lee FL die and did one up. 120gr Tac TX on top of 27.5 grains of CFE BLK. Over the Christmas break I'll shoot some for groups and adjust from there.

Hornady's calculator is showing if I can get 2430 fps at the muzzle, they should still be doing 2198 at 100 yards for 1287 ft/lbs. From what I see on Youtube, these open just fine at 2000 fps from a 300 BLK so at 200 yards, 1979 fps and 1044 ft/lbs. Think it'll be fine as long as its in the vitals!

I've only killed two deer with my CZ, this buck and a doe. The buck ran about 60 yards, the doe dropped in her tracks. On both I used Lapua 123gr SP and as you can see, those bullets perform beautifully.

Nice SCGunNut!! I have a CZ527 Carbine and a Zastava M85 mini-Mauser. Have killed a few deer and a big gobbler in PA with them. Used Federal blue box 123 grain bullets (both will consistently keep 3-shots around 1/2-3/4” at 100yards with this ammo). They killed them as you would expect the deer were around 100 yards and the turkey near 200 yards…..I really like them for how the handle and carry if I’m still-hunting.

PennDog

Great hunting and thanks for sharing!

"The buck ran about 60 yards" sounds like the ones I've hit low shoulder/ribs with a 308 or 30-06.

Great looking bullet there too

Where does one find Lapua soft points, all I ever find is FMJ but, they do shoot good. What I've killed with my CZ has been with a 165 gr. cast FN bullet at a little over 1900 fps.

Don't think they import them anymore. Haven't seen them listed in several years. I got them from Grafs back in the day. They came 30 to a box. I've got about 20 rounds left. I only fire a round ever so often to confirm zero and plink with the surplus stuff. I'm sure the CZ will shoot any SP just fine when the time comes to switch.

Had an AK for a while and now a Ruger American. It's mainly a hog gun for me and I've settled on Tula 154gr. soft points. So far they've given good results even on big hogs.

The few Tula 123gr. Soft points I've used didn't seem to expand all that well. The 154gr. Load may not expand any better, I may have just not noticed yet. Haven't tried them on deer yet.

I killed a spike with a PPU 123gr. Round nose Soft point. Hole in and hole out with no blood trail to speak of. Again, expansion seemed to be an issue.

Alternatively, Hornady 123gr. SST's seemed a little on the fragile side for hogs. But that would be my first choice for deer or defense in this caliber.

Hmmm...wonder how a handload with a 150gr bullet designed for the 30-30 would do? Not that far outside the design envelope, especially since some people shoot 18 or even 16 inch guns.

Hornady makes the 123gr Interlock too. Wonder if its a bit more stout than the SST, for the piggies?

Between the "hole in and hole out" was there nothing but a 30 cal hole tunneling through your deer, or did it do more damage than that along the way?

Depends on if the rifle will shoot .308 caliber bullets I know their are some that are .310 that might not work. Best is to try it and see?

I shot several different 308 bullets (including 30-30 bullets) along with several different 310 and 311 bullets through my two CZ 527s and AR Colt upper. They all shot great! Naturally, the rifles had their favorites, but I never found a single one that didn't shoot well enough to hunt with.

That is a sweet looking rig. You don't see those Bushnell Banner Compact scopes very often either. Very underrated scopes.

If its really a 310 bore it should be just fine. A looser tolerance 308 bore and a tighter tolerance 310 bore are pretty much the same barrel.

Maybe if its an AK made by Eastern Euro sweatshops for Century its not the case, I don't know...but thus far it has been for bolt guns of good repute lol

Many years ago I took my SKS deer hunting. I forgot my glasses, but went on to my ground blind. About an hour later as visibility wasn't good, I saw a nice "I thought" doe. I put a few rounds down and the doe collapsed. My brother came over the hill to check on me as he thought it must be a firefight. I said no, I just shot a nice doe. He walked over to it and lifted a hind leg and, "Brother, you doe has nuts". It turned out kinda small also. A couple weeks later we stopped at the processor's and he said it was ready. He came out with a Playmate 6 pack cooler and handed it to me. Then he said he put a chicken in there to fill the cooler. You know, the story went from Texas to Florida to Minnesota before we left camp to go home.I did buy a 7.62X39 Zestava barreled action and a friend said he had a reamer he wanted to try. He picked up a Shilen blank and chambered it in 270X39AI. I would call it a 270PPC. It turned out to be a very accurate young person's deer rifle. A few years after that I put another barrel in 220 Russian on it. The 220 Russian brass is what we form our 6PPC brass. It is very accurate.

In the early 90s in shooters bible cant remember the years I think 91 and 92 a good friend wrote articles about the 7.6x39 and the ruger mini 30. All three of his daughters and many niece and nephew and neighbor kids killed ther first deer with it. One years article was about loading the 7.6x39 for deer and the next was about the mini 30 for kids to use

Must have been atleast 30 + years ago... I killed a doe with an SKS... shot it, it ran about 20 yards... fell over and died... I would not hesitate to hunt with one again....

Honestly I have thought about one of the CZ carbines bolt guns in 7.62x39 for a long time... wish I would have gotten one... the 527 I think was the model. It would have made a great deer gun in a lot of places I hunt...

Shot my first deer with a 7.62x39 when I was 12. One morning, mainly to get me to stop bugging him and let him get back to sleep, Dad turned me loose with an SKS and five rounds of the best steel case FMJ Eastern Europe had to offer.
I was wandering down the creek looking for a wet spot (very dry that year) and found a pretty big puddle in the shade. I was sitting on a rock waiting to see if something wandered up and after about 30 minutes what i thought was a doe stuck their head above a cedar tree on the far side of the creek. I aimed for right below the head as it was looking right toward me. Couldn’t have been more than 40 yards; it went down like a sack of potatoes. I ran over to it as soon as it quit squirming and noticed it was a four point. Poor guy’s entire head was covered in blood. I ran home, woke up my brother (he called me a liar and dang near beat me) and we woke up Dad and we all sauntered down to the spot. I was still so excited an hour later I almost wet myself. Turns out the bullet went through his nose and out the back of his head.

I’ve learned a heck of a lot since then and had a great many hunts but that little four point rack still adorns my reloading room.

Several years ago I came into a 1916 Spanish Mauser rearsenaled from 7 X 57 to 308 NATO. I was afraid to shoot the 308 rounds in it. Guy from church got it for $16 thru Shotgun News and I assembled a CVA black powder pistol kit to trade for it. I read in the Mauser forums that you could buy a 7.62 X39 adapter from a smith in Alaska for under $30. That’s what I got for my birthday that year. I locktited it in the chamber and made a super cheap truck gun out of it. I shot reasonably well and I killed several does, coyotes hogs and armadillos with it. Very pleased with it and loved sporterizing it. Never put a scope on it. Fun plinker and loaner rifle. Would really like a CZ in this round.

I bought a ranch rifle this past summer. The load I worked up for it is: Norma brass, 123gr. Hornady SP, WLR primers and 26.8gr. RL-7 at 2375 fps. This load in this rifle will put five shots in an inch at one hundred yards.

Hunting late season my nephew used the rifle to shoot a young 115 pound six pointer at 70 yards. The bullet entered in front of the right shoulder and exited the left ribcage. The deer dropped where it stood. Below is a picture of the silver dollar size exit.

I live in Saskatchewan, but have a remote bush camp in northern BC that is our summer home. We have a LOT of black bears and a few cougars and wolverines and wolves and the odd grizzly bear that hang around our camp. So I keep a rifle in the cabin all the time, magazine loaded. Just in case. I haven't had to shoot a bear yet, but we've chased a few away while armed, and a rifle in hand gives us more confidence when out for walks or exploring. I like my Rossi M92 .44 magnum trapper carbine for that purpose. Handy, capable in an emergency, very easy to pack along while on a hike. Problem is my wife is not a gun person. She hates that gun. Kicks too much, and she had an accidental discharge once while letting the hammer down to half cock. That scared her. She prefers something lighter also. So I bought a CZ527 7.62x39 carbine with a youth stock as the smallest, lightest rifle possible that is still kinda reasonable to shoot a black bear with, if absolutely necessary.
She likes it a lot! She even took it shooting tin cans a couple times when I was not around. A vote of confidence for sure. Anything bigger just wouldn't be her choice. But I was secretly worried about the rifles capability. So I took it deer hunting back home, for whitetails. My wife and I were sitting in a box blind. I loaded it with Hornady 123 gr. SST. At measured 110 yards, a nice young Saskatchewan whitetail buck presented itself. I was completely satisfied with the little cartridge's performance. Full penetration and exit, blew out both lungs and top of the heart. Death dash was short. She never had any doubts. I now load it with Woodleigh 125 grain bonded bullets for bear repellent. I don't feel she's at risk in camp by herself any more if armed only with that little rifle. But we haven't shot a bear with it either.

x39 is a fine caliber.

I can ring 8" steel at 400 until I get tired of ringing steel... KS-47 from PSA.

MANY deer with a Mini-30.

Great round.

Yeah, I like those little scopes. I bought a 4x one off Ebay a couple months ago that I don't even have a use for yet. Just don't see them come up for sale too much these days.

How do you guys find it kills compared to a .223 with a good bullet in the right spot? Noticably different at all?

Many little people hunted me with the round using the SKS/AK47 and RPD. They all failed. Many of them died for their trouble.

Sammy Small

Thankfully our deer aren't armed and don't have helicopters lol. Be a different kinda hunting if they did!

Late deer season in Mississippi, we killed one deer with a .223 62gr. TBBC bullet and one with the 7.62x39 123gr. Hornady SP. Similar range, size and point of impact, same result. DRT.

I can always count on you to keep stuff in perspective Dan!

I raise a glass to you sir, to the x39 non believers club! Cheers!

Within the context of hunting, and not the enemy's choice of bayonet handle...lol

AA 1680, Nosler 123gr E-tips, a Ruger American Ranch and a Magnetospeed chrony are all awaiting back home, soon as I finish this surverying job and get out of the bush.

Looking forward to seeing what kind of velocity and accuracy they get and maybe how they do on some ribs and bottles at 100 yards. Totally unscientific but I want to see the holes and catch a bullet in the snow

The load that's worked up for my Rancher is with RL7, but I've got 1680 and CFEBLK waiting to try. I'd like for one of them to work so that I can save the RL7 for other things.

Let us know how the 1680 works for you.

Thats cool! If I could find the RL7 I would have went with that honestly...seems its only available in 5 LB jugs and I didn't want to commit before knowing how the rifle liked it.

Hope the 1680 or the BLK is the cat's ass for ya! I'll show some groups/data soon...although not too concerned about how a 150 yard hunting rifle groups as long as its reasonable for deer hearts :P

Was on a control hunt for escaped farm red deer the other day. Was really wishing that the little carbine was here but wouldn't have been allowed to use it anyway.

I use a CZ 527 with cheap Silver Bear 125 SP ammo and all I have shot up to 150 yards have been DRT!

Nice hunting!

Is that a function of hitting them in the central nervous system/spine?

Picked up two scopes for the little Ruger. Both FX-IIs. A 4x33 and one of the Ultralight 2.5x20s with Heavy Duplex reticle.

Not sure which I will go with but really looking forward to being out of the bush and getting this going. Although seeing a lot of moose doing inventory work is pretty dang fun.

Shot a doe in the back of the head in mid jump at 75 yards with a BT out of an SKS. DRT, obviously…

My cousin was present, and to this day says he has never seen a shot like that. Some days, it all comes together. And then, once in a blue moon, you make an amazing shot with a rifle not built for such, and make folks who swore you would not hit anything with it eat massive crow.

I see the round as a 30-30 with pointy bullets.

Well, the zips sure laid a lot of our men in the ground with them.

I bumped into this little 8 point in Maine while carrying my Mini 30. One shot at 80 yards and he dropped in his tracks using Federal blue box soft points. It's the only game I have ever taken with the 7.62x39. It's an impressive little cartridge.

Couple years back in central Michigan, I was creeping along what was once a train track. I had a Howa mini in 7.62x39 with a Zeiss 6x mounted on top. As I poked along a basket racked six point came down a hill the train track cut through, maybe 60 yards in front of me. He was looking where he was going and never noticed me standing completely exposed. Once he clears the trees I put the cross hairs for the textbook quartering away shot, but didn’t pull the trigger. Descent bucks around there are not common so he would be better next year. I stood and watched as he crossed the train track and dropped into a swamp and disappeared in the cattails.

Micky

Out of curiosity, have you guys who've killed with both noticed any difference between a good 223 load and what the 7.62x39 or 300 BLK do? Or is it pretty much six of one, half dozen of the other?

I've got a T/C Contender barrel that is 7.62X39X.308.
T/C made it that way so you couldn't shoot the higher-pressure surplus ammo.
Very accurate.
Semper Fidelis
Soup

SKS was my first deer rifle used for woods hunting.......the closest i came to even taking a shot on a deer was when a group of does walked out, literally passing under my tree stand. The click from my safety sent the entire group into a scattering frenzy.

A buddy of mine found out about my using a SKS and loaned me a scoped Ruger #1 .270........"here, use a real deer rifle"

I sold the SKS to a guy that claimed it was a hog killing machine.

About like a 7.62x39, the 7.62x40WT will create a cloud of pink mist and eject chunks of lung from deer shot broadside at woods ranges.

My neighbor still has a 7.62x39 bullet in his pelvis from Vietnam. We went shooting one day and I brought my new zastava ak with. When I pulled it out he about went ptsd. He was a Ranger, green beret, from Vietnam through Bosnia and everything in between. After that I'm pretty positive he did other government work he doesn't talk about. Ge doesn't like the round for personal reasons but told me it was very effective at stopping people and he was lucky to live through a few hits from one.

I think it's an amazingly well designed little round. It feeds well, it's efficient, and has tremendous accuracy potential on a platform designed for accuracy. Downside is we don't have a lot of match grade .311 bullets to choose from.

I have a mini howa for the kids but I've just been letting them use 125g barnul sp ammo in it. Maybe one day I'll work up a load and see what it can really do.

Bb

Why would anyone still have a bullet in their pelvis?? After at least 40 years???

I'm not sure but it's there. My wife is his medical provider. She doesn't talk to me about patients but he brought it up to her in front of me and as they were talking it was pretty obvious she'd seen it on xray and was concerned about it. I'd ask her more about it but won't tell me anything so I'll ask him next time he comes over. A lot of that fmj stuff has exposed lead in the back. I'd be concerned about that.

Actually I'll just try to call him right now and ask.

Bb

Was thinking of necking the 6.8 SPC case to 30 cal with a 20 inch barrel in a 6lb rifle including scope. I'd like to run 140's at about 2600 fps. but wouldn't be able to get there with the 6.8 case. Need about 36 grains of powder. No decent 140's made anyway.

NICE! Now that's encouraging, Tyrone!

Waiting on a Ranch in 5.56x45mm with AR magwell as a companion piece. Looking forward to seeing how 223/556 with a Gold Dot or Fusion (or Barnes TTSX) compares to 7.62x39

SKS w/4X Red Star scope. Remington factory SP ammo. Small doe at ~135 yards. One full penetration double lung shot, doe ran 25 yards then DRT.
Notes: I have owned two SKS rifles, two CZ 527 rifles, one a carbine, the other a CZ527 American, and fit a .308” bore barrel in 7.62x39 to my Ruger 77 switch barrel action.
I have enjoyed the cartridge enough to where I now own a Ruger No.1A in 7.62 x 39.
I have enjoyed hand loading for the ‘commie’ round, and have gotten great accuracy even out of the SKS surprisingly enough.
I like to tinker, so I took some Norinco steel cased ammo, carefully pulled the FMJ bullets out, leaving the original powder charge in place, then seated Speer 123 grain game bullets in place of the removed (same weight) FMJ bullets. Crimped them in place with a Lee Factory Crimp die, and then went deer hunting without concern of loosing any good grade brass cases ejected 50 feet away in the brush.
I started hand loading in 1968. Playing with the x39 in recent years has been as much fun as any other round (and there have been a BUNCH!)
I’ve been keeping the Ruger No.1 unfired so far. However these posts may have convinced me to taking it out of the safe and getting it dirty…😆

We’ve killed several deer and turkey with a Ruger American ranch in 7.62x39. I feel like I bought one of the first ones, when they were new on the market. Mainly run it suppressed using factory Hornady SST rounds, but I haven’t seen those on the shelves for a while. I think it was a great rifle for my girls to learn with and a great truck gun that packs a little more wallup over the .223 Rem.

Do you find it a more decisive killer than the 223, ChanceD?

Yes, for sure! We’ve shot several deer with the .223 loaded with 62gr Barnes and although they’ve all died, they have all ran off. We’ve had a several animals drop in their tracks using the 123gr. SST’s. In the 7.62x39.

Sample of one each from this past season. Approximately same distance. Top was with 123 gr. Hornady SP, bottom was with 62 gr. TBBC. Same results, DRT.

Those both did it alright!

Honestly, if it isn't a CNS hit, deer are running when I hit them with much stronger than 7.62x39 or 223 Rem.

Its high shoulder/spine or they're goin a little ways. Had one book it almost 100 yards with a sizeable piece of its heart shot off by 308 Win. Short runs from chest hits with 30-06, 150gr Fed Blue Box. Expecting the same with either cartridge if it isn't hitting spine.

You’re not wrong there, I’ve had many deer run off too. If they run here where I’m from, I like to have a good blood trail to follow. Tracking deer through the South Texas brush is no bueno without a bit of blood to follow. The .223 didn’t ever give us much if any blood to follow.

Man that I can believe! Not a big hole there.

Where are you hitting them so that they drop with the 7.62? Its encouraging.

Ditto with a 3/4" hole from a shotgun.

My daughters are the ones that have shot the deer with the 7.62X39, I have taught them to use the high shoulder shots or even neck shots if given the correct opportunity, but they hardly ever hit those exact spots. So anywhere close, it has seemed to work. One of the biggest bucks I've ever seen was shot and dropped immediately, I just think he was old and ready to die. lol.

LOL had enough of his wordly problems.

Seems like a real good place to be for 150 yard and in deer hunting anyway. Good stuff to you and your folks.

Our deer don't always drop, nobody's does, they frequently run 20-40 yards when using various cartridges. Those two also had approximately the same wound channels, center shoulder to off side rib cage.

I've used Barnes X/TSX on bigger game with bigger calibers and love them for that purpose. But, I honestly believe that smaller bodied game go down faster using a softer bullet. That's simply my opinion for what it's worth.

I’ve just not had great luck with 223s and blood trails. I’m sure I haven’t used one of the ‘right’ bullets, but I’ve killed my share of stuff with them. I’d just rather shoot deer with stuff that doesn’t require a magic bullet to leave good blood trails on any well placed shot….it’s thick here, too. I think the x39 checks my deer/hog boxes better than a 223, at least these days. We used to do some culling for a lease biologist, and used 223s for head/neck only, and well inside 200….being selective. It was better for that, back when.

I have killed a few Does with my SKS paratrooper using Chinese 122/123 SP …open sights furthest just inder 150yds .. right behind shoulder .. ran 30 yds then spun around and ran bout 10 yds and crashed ..
Others were not as eventful…
I had a Ruger Ranch carbine in 7.62x39 .. I don’t know why I traded it … but it was accurate
The prices have went up some since I purchased mine ..
I have actually thought about getting a AR in 7.62x39
But honestly I like my SKS … and probably wouldn’t use the AR

If Ruger had Iron sights on their Ranch carbines .. Id probably own a few of’em