best 7.62x39mm hunting bullets

[bsrecurve]

hi guys.
i have a single shot baikal that i will reload for in the future and am looking into bullet options for general hunting use.
mostly hunting pigs and goats, with the odd fox or rabbit a possibility.
so i guess i need a fairly deep penetrating bullet that expands well at the velocities this cartrige developes.
are the various 123gr softpoint bullets available the best choice?
 or is a 150gr SP going to kill better?

what are your experience with on-game performance of the various bullets?

thanks - BS

[3006bluffhunter]

Great question! I'm interested with the responce also from people that reload this cartridge! I use factory 123 grain soft points and have had pretty good knock down on white tail deer at close range 50 yards or less! but would also like a heavier bullet choice in the .310 dia.! Dale

[res45]

I've loaded the 7.62 x 39mm in my SKS rifles for several years now,the Hornady 123 gr. and Sierra 125 gr. SP are the bullets of choice for deer size game up to around 100 yds.  Hornady also makes a .310 dia. V-MAX thats pretty explosive on thin skinned varmint. 

Most of the 150 gr. bullets are .311 dia. and designed to expand at higher muzzle velocity than the 7.62 x 39 can achieve at longer range.  However if you choose to go to a heavier bullet for hunting pigs at close range under 100 yds,I would recommend trying the Prvi Partizan .311 150 gr. BTSP or the Barnes .311 TSX 150 gr. bullet.   The Prvi bullet has a large exposed lead tip and I have never recovered one intact from the backstop or from wet phone books.  Muzzle velocity on the 150 grs. is going to be around 2100 fps at the muzzle and down to 1900 fps at 100 yds. so the closer the better.

The only place I know you can get the Prvi and V-MAX bullets are from Graf & Sons when there in stock. 

[bsrecurve]

thanks for the reply!

hhhmmm - looks like the 123gr SP's may be the best choice after all.
what about the various 150gr SP's by sierra etc. for the 303 brit. - anyone tried them?

[res45]

Before you spend the money on bullets for the 303 you will want to slug the bore to check the diameter,a lot of the old military rifles have varying bore diameters,my Russian M44 slugged out at .313  I use the Hornady 150 gr. flat base SP in .312 diameter.  I don't shoot a lot of Sierra bullets but I believe they only make .311's and no .312 but they may shoot fine in your rifle. 

Another thing to think about is on the 303 the chamber size can vary also,FL resizing the brass can shorten case life.   If you already have FL sizing dies you can set the die up to just neck size and bump the shoulder or add an extra locking ring below the one already on the die and do a 3/4 case sizing. If you do either one of these two you will have to readjust your decapping pin to knock out the old primer. I would pick five random cases from your lot and resize them in either way if you choose to do so and check to make sure they chamber.

How to slug your bore
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm

[Badnews Bob]

The 150 gr .303 bullets shoot great out of my CZ carbine, haven't had a chance to use one on deer yet thou I hope to this fall.

[Lloyd Smale]

the 123 hornady works great for deer and pigs.

[Default]

I havent had alot of luck as far as accuracy is concerned with the 7.62 brass cased loads out of my Para SKS ,AK 47 Or the little Rossi i picked up a while back .. Granted in all fairness of the Rossi it was during the strongest period of panic buying and only had one powder that worked with only one charge recommendation  ...  If the bore on your new rifle will acomadate the .308 bullets i would seriouly consider taking advance of that and getting into the 150 gr bullets out there , A good Hornady Inter-Bond ballistic tipped 150 gr round out of my 308 rifle gave two clean pass throughs on a 1400 pound Buffalo ... Designed to open fast and retain 90% of it original weight , I would think it a good choice for any medium sized game including those tuff piggies ... Corbons listed Muzzle Velocity: 2300 fps     Muzzle Energy: 1762 ft. lbs for a 150 gr SP that they offer .... I think that would cut the mustard just fine

 i know you probably are not or cant use the mil-surp in this rifle , but i have had alot of good luck with the hollow point mil-surp 7.62 in fact killed my first buck ( mature full bodied 8 point) with a frontal neck shot that exited behind the sturnum at a downward angle shot from 25 yards .... Probably was only 15 seconds but he stood there looking at me for what felt like minutes , then rolled over and gave up the ghost .... Projectile weight was 123 gr ... For deer and probably pigs the 123 , 122 and 125 would more then likely serve you well ...
Cor Bon listed Muzzle Velocity: 2400 fps      Muzzle Energy: 1600 ft/lb for their 125 gr offering. Which i think is pretty close to mil spec.

 But my line of thinking is the .30 cals in the 150 range will give you more options ... OH Before i forget barnes is now offering a solid copper triple shock in the 123 gr weight so more options even still .

      Default

[jedman]

I have a short little wildcat round that shoots the 123 gr. bullets @ 2220 FPS, thats probably a little less than you would be getting with the 7.62 x 39.
I have shot a mule deer several whitetails and a couple of pronghorns with this bullet / round combination ( 123 gr. ) and have yet to recover a bullet from any of the game I have shot with it. All of the shots have been between 50 to 125 yards thru the lungs and have performed great. On larger pigs, over 150 lbs. ?
I don't know if they are tuff enough for them . I have some 150 gr. softpoints that I intend to try sometime but have not loaded any of them yet, so I can't tell you if they will expand well.     Jedman

[R.W.Dale]

I use the 125grn Nosler ballistic tip on deer from my 7.62x39's These bullets have a very high BC for their weight and expand well at low impact velocities. Plus the shoot just as good as .310 bullets in all my 310 bored guns

this years 278yd kill
http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,155958.0.html


Watch out using 303 bullets in 7.62x39mm I made the mistake of using them and it cost me a deer and any range beyond 100yds they will NOT expand reliably at 7.62x39 impact velocities


at close ranges don't forget about 30-30 bullets as they're designed to operate within this cartridges velocity envelope

[bsrecurve]

thanks guys for all the info.

sounds like the 123gr SP is the way to go.

or maybe a flatpoint 150gr bullet for the 30-30 if that'll shoot well enough.
will do some experimenting soon....