Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7.62 x 39 and deer ?

I contacted CZ USA about this and they sent me a stronger firing pin spring so the problem went away. [/quote]

I called them about the problem, too and they told me to either send in the bolt and they'd upgrade the spring under warranty, or pay for new spring and they'd send one out to me to install. I haven't gotten around to either yet.

Song dog/Wolf?

I have one of the early Mini-30s mostly for around the ranch. It's like a semi auto 30-30 equivalent, but with better down range ballistics due to using spitzer bullets.

It's been very ammo sensitive, some factory rounds shoot about 12" groups, and some will shoot under an inch. My reloads shoot under an inch using 125-150gr ballistic tips.

The ballistic tip is a good choice for hunting as the low velocity favors a bullet that opens fast.

If they shoot ok, I'd recommend to just use Win White Box 125gr soft nose rounds as the simple solution for hunting, there is not really any performance benefit to be found at the bench, and that load is more than adequate for medium game.

The round is just as capable as the 30-30.

well I loaded some 125gr nosler ballistic tips and some sierra 125gr SP put 'em on top of 27grs of imr 3031. headed to the range this week with my crony .. I'll post my results

thanks all
plab

I think 3031 may be too slow for top velocity. Mr. Richard Mann sent his results to me after he did an article on the CZ527, which showed Rx 7 to be the best out of all he tried.

3031 is too slow to achieve top velocities. It may produce acceptable groups however. It all depends on what you'll be using it for.

1680, Re 7, 4198 and even 4227 is where you'll want to be.

For 150s, 3031 might work. Benchmark did well for me in some tests with the heavier bullets.

Anybody try W296?

Hodgdon shows some decent velocity with H335 and 123's. Nothing with 296, or with Lil'Gun. They would seem to be too fast. And 296 might even be risky to try, as generally they recommend fairly tight load ranges for it & H110 (the same powder).

I bought a Ruger 77 Compact last year just before deer season and I could not believe how well it shot - I had several three shot groups at 100 yards that were right around 1/2" (with factory Federal 123 grain soft points). I killed a turkey and a buck with it last hunting season and it performed just abut like my .30-30 has on game .....meaning that turkey and venison were pretty good eating

PennDog

Yes I've tried it in my AK with 125gr NBT's. I wasn't impressed with the groups. I had better results with a case full of H335.

range report:
average velocity was 2098 with 39fps deviation. accuracy was pretty good about 1"@75yds with either bullet. I looked for a can of 4198 today. no luck. I got some 4227 I'll give that a try

thanks all for the advice

plab

I have an old bolt I converted to 7.62x39 years ago. I have killed deer with it with no problems. The old statement "Same as a 30-30" is silly. I still have two 30-30's and have shot dozens of others. The only one even close to the accuracy of my gun was an old Savage 340. Here is my deer load: Remington .308 150 Grain SPCL, H4198 24.0, 2.200 OAL

Killed any hogs with the 7.62x39?

I have. All less than 100 yds., all one shot.