Anyone with experience with 7.62 x 39 as deer hunting gun?

[huntsman]

I am considering adding an SKS 7.62 x 39 to my hunting arsenal as a short-range stalking gun. I don't mind the 9 lbs or so weight, and the ballistics for this caliber suit me fine. I just don't have any experience with the gun, nor do I know anyone else who does.

Does anyone have any experience with using an SKS in this caliber they would like to pass along before I go sling up one of my own? Even just how they perform on the range and handle generally would help. :grin:

[1911crazy]

I am considering adding an SKS 7.62 x 39 to my hunting arsenal as a short-range stalking gun. I don't mind the 9 lbs or so weight, and the ballistics for this caliber suit me fine. I just don't have any experience with the gun, nor do I know anyone else who does.

Does anyone have any experience with using an SKS in this caliber they would like to pass along before I go sling up one of my own? Even just how they perform on the range and handle generally would help. :grin:

Remember when you were a kid with a 22? Now your bigger so you need a bigger plinker or hunting rifle. I cannot express how much fun these guns are even with a bunch of empty soda cans for targets. This is  the most down right fun gun I have ever owned since my first 22.
With any hunting rifle you just have to place your first shot.  With open sites and not too serious about accuracy just to see if the gun shoots I'm grouping 6" at 100yds thats with chinese ammo and not even trying.  I know it can do better. Buy it even for a fun plinker I first got one because I wanted something bigger than a 22 and cheap to shoot and not have to reload and when the ammo goes on sale its $69 for 1000rds.  It is one of my favorite guns. I use it as my camp gun when i'm at my camp every trip. When sks's first came into the country they were high priced and considered junk and did not sell. Then they offered a case of ammo with the gun for $59 and they started selling. I have had others refer to it as junk so to shut them up and teach them a lesson I gave it to them to shoot with a 30rd mag and after they experienced the FUN it was to shoot it was "Were can we get one??" And then they said they cost how much?Now I see my same gun used at shows selling for $200 to $300+ now.  I do not use oil to lube the moving parts or on any gun for that matter I use a "moly anti seize" with very little oil on all moving parts less friction and no wear the gun just bangs away trouble free. if you shop around you could possibly find a "sino sks" for a cheap price its a chinese assembled using russian parts. Yes russian quality for a chinese price. There is a website that tells you what to look for on the gun like, norinco, first letter in the four digit serial number, upside down "U" on the rearsite, no chinese markings, threaded barrel, blade bayonet, and the bluing is a deep color "russian blue" is a give away this is  just a few things but checkout the site. The last one(sino) i bought I paid $175 for it the russian ones go for $400+. Or you can pickup other sks's too there is alot of great buys out there right now. But remember one is not enough these are habbit forming??  I do not pass up any sino sks's at shows if they are like new and cheap I grab them. Even if you see a "norinco full chinese sks" I have one that I just shoot all the time and it never has failed me yet.  I think any sks will do as long as you lube it correctly.                                                                   BigBill

Any othe sks owners want to add anything feel free to.

[Mikey]

Huntsman:  You can definately hunt whitetail with the 7.62x39 cartridge.  You mentioned using an SKS as a 'stalking gun', where I will assume your ranges will within the 100 yd mark.  That cartridge is on the low end of the 30-30 range some would say but to be honest I believe you can reload that cartridge to do as well as the 30-30 with 150 grain loads.  

Some of the best and most accurate ammo for that caliber that I have seen is the steel cased softpoints from Sellier and Bellot.  I have encountered a few fellas in the woods with the SKSs, scoped or otherwise, and they just love em. Most keep their shots to within 100 yds on whitetail and don't seem to have a problem with performance.

If you intend on purchasing hunting ammo please make certain it is in the 310/311 diameter.  Some American brands used 308 diameter bullets a while ago to shoot through that 308 bore version of the 7.62 that ruger manufactured.  

Also, if you haven't finalized on which SKS you might purchase, please consider a Kalasnikov (AK) action with a longer barrel.  Norinco used to make a hunting model with an ugly as could be thumbhole stock and a longer barrel (actually an SKS barrel) that was a pound or two lighter than the SKS.  I have had one for a number of years and enjoy it - I changed the wood on it back to the original AK stock and she is a lightweight carry piece for the woods.

Have fun. Mikey.

[1911crazy]

There is a norinco sporter sks too it took ak mags. And there is cheap hunting ammo made in russia the "barnaul" same as the 7.62x54 but in 7.62x39 both in soft point. The 7.62x54 shoots great I think the 7.62x39 would be good too and its $5 a box. I have to get some from SOG and try it.                                                                BigBill

[PaulS]

The SKS is on the low side of the 30-30 ?
The case is smaller, it's ideal bullet weight is 83% as heavy as the 30-30 light bullet and the accuracy of the 2 SKS's that I own is marginal at 100 yards for effective deer hunting. They are great little plinkers if you're close and don't want to reload for a semi-auto rifle (spelled "chase brass")
It can be used on deer but only at close range and NOT with heavy bullets because there isn't enough room for powder to drive the heavy bullets.

Enjoy the weapon and if you have to use it on a deer then give the animal it's due and kill it cleanly.


PaulS

[huntsman]

Thanks, guys, for your input.

As to the question of the 7.62's effectiveness on deer, I'd like to unmuddy the water a little, if I may. I am not a handloader and won't be concocting any special loads for this rifle. I'm looking strictly at the available factory ammo for the 7.62. With the Rem 123 grain pointed soft point load, I'm looking at about the same killing power as in the .30-06 load of that same bullet weight downrange from 200 to 350 yards as what I will get from the muzzle of a 7.62 out to 150 yards. Not a smack 'em silly round, by any means, but I think enough velocity and mass to effectively kill whitetails within this limited range.

Remember, I want this as a stalking gun; most of my shots will be under 100 yards, but I may occasionally need to reach a little past 100 yards. This will not be a 'beanfield' rifle where I'm regularly going to be shooting at deer past 100 yards. If I can attain accuracy (with a scope) in the 3" range at 100 yards I will be satisfied.

[Mikey]

Huntsman, I think you are slightly overstaing the comparable powers of the 7.62x39 and the 30-06 downrange a couple of hundred meters.  You can probalby get the 125 grain 06 load to move almost a thousand feet per second faster than that SKS round and I would not compare any loading of those two calibers.  

The SKS round is more in line with a low end 30-30 round.  Some of the single shot guys load the 7.62 with 150 and 165 grain bullets for their Encores/Contenders and the velocity listings are close to where you wouyld find a 30-30 with the same weight bullet.  If you can find and chronograph some 125 grain 30-30 rounds you will find that they move out way faster than the 7.62 round does.

You are correct to limit your use of that cartridge to within 100 meters.  It might be able to punch holes in military uniforms beyond that range but I don't feel it has enough 'whumf' to do well enough on whitetail beyond that range.

Mikey.

[huntsman]

Mikey,

I understand your concern with a comparison of any load in .30-06 to any load in 7.62 x 39. Maybe I just didn't clarify what I meant.

Yes, the .30-06 generates a heap more velocity than the 7.62. That velocity, however, begins to diminish the moment the bullet leaves the barrel. And the .30-06 load I was referring to is the Rem 125 grain pointed soft point (p. 484 column 1, item #7, Shooter's Bible, 2003 Ed.) At 200 yards DOWN RANGE, according to the data, the velocity has diminished to 2447 fps.

OUT OF THE MUZZLE of the 7.62, the Rem 123 grain pointed soft point (essentially the same bullet minus 2 grains) load pushes the bullet at a velocity of 2365 fps. Not exactly the same mass and velocity, but very close for comparison sake. We could go down range a bit more, say 27 yards or so, with the .30-06 bullet and we would have virtually the same mass bullet at the same velocity.

As a matter of physics, these two speeding bullets would have virtually the same momentum and energy (slightly less of course for the 123 grain bullet, but only by a few ft/lbs). Thus they would have virtually the same effect when striking a game animal. That was the point I was trying to make - not that they would be the same energy at the same distances. The 7.62 lags behind the .30-06 in this example by by about 230 yards in terms of energy. So, a deer standing 30 yards away would get hit by the 7.62 bullet with the same force as if it were standing 260 yards away when struck by the .30-06 bullet.

Anyway, we agree that the killing energy of the 7.62 on whitetails is pretty much limited to around the 150 yards or less range, which was the essence of all the ballistic comparisons anyway. I do appreciate your feedback.

[The Happy Kaboomer]

I have killed several deer with my mini-30 using PMC's soft point ammo. No long shots. However it killed them dead as anything else I would have shot them with.

[wolfy]

It'll knock 'em cock-stiff at anywhere under 125 yds...as good as the ol' thutty-thutty.
wolfy

[volshooter]

I've owned quite a few SKS's and all their cousins. I have used an SKS to take over 20 deer, all with Russian hollow point ammo bought by the case at a gun show. If my range is under 125 yards and I want speed and reliabablty, an SKS is my choice. ( Once I killed 3 running deer using my SKS, they tried to run over me during a drive, we had plenty of doe tags that hunt, ironically these same 3 deer ran past another stander 3 minutes before they tried me. He was using a scoped  Remington .280 semi-auto, he got off 3 shots but all missed.) I endorse the little SKS and the 7.62 x 39 for white tail.
Rick

[Jose Grande]

The 7.62x39 is good to 150 yds. because of its ballistic coefficent. If it didn't have that pointed bullet it wouldn't be as good as the 30-30. But it does & it is. I'm not a fan of the SKS ,I prefer a pre-64 30-30 mod-94 but those SKs are cheap & the Ruskies function well. When we were mil-surplus dealers we sold the heck out of'em because they are a good buy for the money. Just my .02, your milage may vary. :-)

[jim21]

I got my first SKS back in early '80s.The first year I got 2deer,my son got
a deer also with my sks.All the deer were within 90yards.My son now
uses the SKS as his deer rifle.Myself I think its over-rated for a huntting
rifle.(i can't tell my son that)To me its lower then a 30-30.I wish u luck.

[jgalar]

I find they are easier to shoot well with a change of sights....

http://www.williamsgunsight.com/image_sks.htm
http://www.tech-sights.com/index.html
http://www.mojosights.com/ak47_sks.html

[Plink]

I've hunted deer with SKSes for a number of years. They make a nice brush gun for close range. They'll do pretty much anything a .30-30 will. They might not start off with as much oomph as the .30-30, but their pointy bullet lets them hold velocity a little longer. By 100 yards or so, there's not much difference in the two.

I prefer a 150 grain soft point over the 123's. Cor-Bon makes an outstanding 150 grain hunting load, though it's too pricey for general target practice. A box or two is a good investment. Use a few to sight in and the rest to hunt with.