Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game SKS for pigs?

Just wondering what the pig hunters think about the SKS for pigs? Mine is fitted with a 5 round hunting mag, synthetic stock and a 4x scope. I have hunted them in Ga a number of years back with the uncles of an old Navy buddy using a SKS and enjoyed it. Quick second shot of one that was coming at me in the brush. This time out will most likely be in CA and using a .300 Savage 99. Still wondering what people think of the SKS as a "pig" gun.

7.62x39?

IMO it depends on the bullet design. I've shot 4 pigs with a .30-06, 3 with 150 fusions and one with a 165 ballistic tip (my first animal back in '07). I like the fusions better, that same 165 load did not pass through a small-bodied buck but the fusions went right thru the 3 pigs I shot this year. I don't know if the fusions come in your caliber but I would go with a fairly tough bullet. IME the fusions expand well but also penetrate deeply.

I wouldn't use an SKS to hunt anything...don't care for the round and care even less for the firearm...

Too many slob hunters I have seen like the SKS...

I'd use the Savage 99 on that alone...

(not insinuating you are a slob hunter.. just my picture of most of the guys who carry them...)

i have always felt the same way about ARs... tinker-toy rifles, in my book...

i've got 2 young cousins who like them real well... they're shooting ARs in .243... these guys are serious hunters and i gotta respect their opinions....

don't think that i'll try it though.....

Not my first choice but an SKS will work fine. Especially if you get on a bunch which happens. One thing for sure there isn't much you can do to one that will hurt it dragging it through the mud and brush.

BCR

7.62x39 is basically a .30-30 with a spitzer. It'll work if you like the "spray and pray" style of hunting. Out here in CA, I don't think they're as thick as in the SE. We've got wide open country where our shots can be 300yds plus. I've got an AR-10 that I set up to shoot pigs. Every time I think to use it, I just leave it behind.

WTF??? I mean the gun doesn't mean a thing. Its the user. I've seen many more slobs with wally world bore sighted bolt guns IMHO.

Of course you can spray and pray with anything. But semi auto makes it easier but just because your car can go 100 doesnt' mean you drive it that way.

Bottom line, pigs can be killed with small rounds in the ear. There is nothing magic about them. IF you are shooting a larger one and not in the ear, then pick a stout bullet becaues the shields are tough cartilage and can be over 2 inches thick. My wife shot one with her bow, over 350 pounds(maxed out our scale) and his cartilage was almost 3 inches. Died quickly though.

Use a decent bullet and think of the gun as a single shot and take each shot as such and you'll be just fine.

Myself, I've used an AR15 for years for hunting. Folks tend to be the azzes they can and judge teh book by the dumbo (zumbo) cover and never look further. The only time I've used more than one shot was to take 3 pigs on a sendero and the AR came in right handy there, never could do that with a bolt gun. But I've taken 2 head shots with one round with my ARs and usually only fire the gun one time period. My longest kill has been just over 550 yards with an AR, they are that accurate.

The SKS we've shot, I don't own one, are accurate enough that at 400M my wife was keeping all 10 rounds with iron sights on a 5 gallon bucket some years back.

I hunted with a guy that had a ruger boat paddle in 7.62x39 and he killed MANY hogs with it, and more than few deer.

The gun doesn't matter, its how its used.

How its any different than a 300 savage I'd sure like to know. Those 2 rounds are pretty close ballistically, at least in my books.

Don't get hoodwinked by folks out there that don't like cause of their looks.

Jeff

I've thought of using my SKS a time or two, but wasn't confident in the bullet designs available. Hogs aren't armor-plated, but I do like a decent bullet.

I think an SKS doesn't have the accuracy needed to thread a shot between sticks and such much past thirty or forty yards. But if the shots would be fairly open and close it should work well, pending a decent bullet.

I have found that the SKS is actually quite accurate out to about 100 yds. This was when I took it to the range with the iron sights. I plan to use the 154 gr. soft points made by Wolf. I have seen some Remington round in 7.62x39 also.
I figured there would be some negative answers but I do appreciate the answers from those who don't hate the gun.

As for slob hunters I have seen many with bolts out there. I sat on a ridge in Wyo once watching a bunch of what I think were "city boys" fill the air with lead shooting at a muley buck that was running flat out in the bottom of the draw. With the amount of lead those idiots were putting in the air you would have thought 1 might of hit him.

As for my shooting style I learned from my dad who shot on the Army rifle team @ Ft Bragg back in the mid to late 60's. Treat evey gun as a single shot and hit what you aim for. To this day I still shoot that way whether with bolt, semi-auto or lever gun.

I"ve shot SKS that would shoot under 2 inches every time for 5 shots at 100, and the best one shot much less than that.

Puts the accuracy issue to bed quite quickly.

Jeff

Springfield M1a Bush Rifle. Rock on.

No flies there either other than cost.

SKS for pigs?

yes, please.

i need one of them

Can you reload the 7.62x39 with any .30 cal bullet as long as it's not too long? I was thinking it would be good loaded with Hornady Leverevelution bullets.

Sure. Different situations and tastes call for different guns. Pigs are killed with everything here in TX.
I prefer a scope for the low light conditions either early & late or full moon and for the low light conditions in the thick stuff where it is difficult to pick out the aiming point.
But with the right bullet, it appears any gun is a good pig gun.

stumpy

I have one just like the one in the photo, but 'cept I had my guy machine out the rear aperture sight to a (removable) ghost ring, and I replaced the front post with a tritium post...

What a rifle...

That is IDEAL for CA pigs.

I have hunted N Cal with a 99 in 308 often.

Nothing better, really.

The 300 Savage is the functionally identical to the 308.

Oh and the SKS SUCKS . . . . .

BMT

hey dude, i think you might want to read up on ballistics a little.

in my humble opinion, the thing that really matters is stopping power if you are hunting game that can bite back. when your 165 ballistic tip did not pass thru, it did something far more important, it transfered all of its energy into the animal, and not just some of it.

by the way, for future reference, the 7.62 is a 30 caliber. its just the metric equivilent.