Sniper & Sharpshooter Forums banner

7.62x39 whats everyones opnion.

11K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  muzzleblast 
#1 ·
Ok guys, whats every1s opnion on the 7.62x39 round, i use them in my SKS for hunting red deer, they seem to do alright, what are your thoughts on them guys?
 
#2 ·
Without comparing it to anything to spark any debates :D I like 7.62x39 for what I use it for. Not too big on people comparing it to the 30-30 until I see it pushing 170 grain roundnoses at 2200 FPS.

1000 rounds of Wolf cost me 190 bucks, so I can shoot a lot. I keep a box of Remington soft point handy usually in case I ever need it, and with 4 inch groups its good to go for deer at 100m for sure.

Not bad for somethin thats been kickin around since 1943...

One thing I gotta tell you though, just in case you didn't know, our Chinese SKS has a different firing pin than the other kinds. Its free floating and inertia drives it back and forth in the bolt. Keep that sucker clean! Especially if you'll be using commercial ammo like me, where the primers are soft. Make sure you don't put it back in upside down either, cause the top and bottom look the same. A good way to know if your pin is clean enough is to shake the bolt. You shoud hear it rattle as it moves back and forth. Not such a concern with mil-spec ammo.

A dude in the states makes spring loaded firing pins...I think I'll pick one up...
 
#3 ·
hey hmm i didnt know htat ill have to have a look and see. i dont know too much about semiauto centerfires, ive always had a bold atcion 270 un until now. im getting fairly good groups out of mine. about a inch and a half to 2 inches, i guess for a mass produced rifle it isint to bad. the furtherst ive shot with mine was 60meters. ill post some pictures in the other gallery of my 1st kill with it.
 
#5 ·
I don't have a whole lot of experience with it, but from my fairly limited use and what I've heard: good general battle round and good for most medium sized game. It's not the most accurate thing in the safe, but it's not the worst either. As far as the 30-30 comparison, I've heard it too. I don't understand the comparison exactly but I get the feeling it's something to do with what happens when it hits it's target. 7.62 does have much better range so that's a pretty limited thing. I repeat it but have my own sort of disclaimer, which it basically the previous line.
 
#6 ·
Could very well be that it hits the same, I never tagged anything while hunting with my SKS yet...I think some of 30-30's impact comes from having a nice blunt bullet though. Would be interesting to see how accurate 7.62x39 would be in a better quality firearm like a good CZ bolt gun. I've only used it from my SKS and it would probably put any round into 4 inch groups lol.
 
#7 ·
haha yeah id say, mine wasnt used much i brought it offa local collector who had had it fort the last 15 years and didnt use it just maintained it and brought it strait from the local hunting shop, who said it was strait out of the chineese military. i too would like to see what it would act like in a bolt action.
 
#8 ·
Yours looks like its finished differently than mine...better....maybe it was military...If so I'm happy its in good shape and it adds lots of charm. Mine has the bayo too, but it was made to export. As far as I can tell with mine, the bedding is iffy, tolerances are loose (supposed to be) but what kills me is the trigger pull and those sights. I suck with em.
 
#9 ·
yeah i can see waht you mean about hte trigger id prefer i nice 2 stage trigger, but then again i cant really be too fussy i picked mine up for a measly 400 here i was stoaked. i quite like the sights on mine then again i had a sluggun and a 22 that had the same type of sights when iwas younger so ive had alot of practice with them.
 
#10 ·
Ah, thats cool. I've never been too good with those kinda sights and with the SKS I have to press my cheek down hard cause its kinda small. That and I feel every bit of grit on that long trigger pull. I just bought a Timney for a mauser I am building and had the smith work on my Winchester Model 70 trigger...spoiled now.
 
#12 ·
ATTENTION CANADIANS,

It is illegal to hunt large {deer,sheep,ect} game other that those considered a pest with the 7.62x39. in Canada
The case dose not meet the requried length as set forth by the government and was deemed not suitable for large game.
They feel that the cartridge cannot deal a clean single shot kill.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT
you will lose your P.A.L licence and fined big time. The government considers this a federal offence and you will then have a federal criminal record and lose your licence to own firearms along with having them confiscated.

I'm not trying to be a jerk. I just would not want anyone to get in trouble especially with firearms in Canada{the RCMP don't mess around with firearm infractions}. I don't make the rules the RCMP just enforce them.
 
#13 ·
lucky im a kiwi then hehe :lol: we dont have any restrictions like that here for big game, all there is is for duckshooting. you have to have decent firepower ge you airnt supposed to shoot at canada geese with a 20g. but the laws here are loosly watched.
 
#17 ·
Cliffy my man, I never even thought about that!

Not trying to answer for Kenshin or put words in his mouth but he said it was an overall length issue, and it wasn't long enough...but neither is 357 Mag, and there are lots of pistol cartridge rifles out there.

Would make the 44 Mag lever gun I have been dreaming of illegal as well...And maybe even 500 S&W?
 
#18 ·
People I'm so sorry
I made some phone calls to some of my friends{one of which is a fish and game officer back in alberta} and I was told that the 7.62x39 cartridge as of last year is now legal to hunt large sized game in Canada.
they changed the law when the new winchester short mags started to become comercial. winchester filed a form with the government and supplied the data and they changed the law. The change also allowed the 7.62x39 to become a legal large game cartridge.

the new law states that large game shall be take with a caliber no smaller than .23

guys I'm so sorry
I promise I will double check my facts before I post anything like that again
with humble regards,
Kenshin
 
#19 ·
ahh hell, dont worry about it.... i usually mess up a fact or 2 a day.

But then again i usually get my numbers from the "Federal Bureau of Pulling Statistics out of my Ass" :wink:
 
#21 ·
Yeah, no harm done Kenshin...I knew the WSMs would have somethin to do with it, eh dude?

Still, even though you were wrong, the law was changed recently...and I still thought it was legal THEN...so, teaches me to do my homework and not just assume. Happy I can hunt with my little rifle. Happy the anti's can't say its "not for sporting purposes" or some other crock of poo like they tried with the Mini-14.


So when 300 WSM came out it was illegal to hunt deer with...LOL. Mel said it right on, I appreciate.

Spade, your cheeks are more accurate than the Govt if your butt only screws up its numbers twice a day bro.
 
#22 ·
HUMDINGER,

The 7.62x39 sure as HELL is not what I would consider a sniping round. I reload these cases for my SAM-7 and i am DAMN lucky to be getting 2 inches at 100 yards sitting down with it, wolf ammo opens up a little more. The round in my opinion is good enough to shoot 2 legged varmints anyhwere from 50-100 yards, after that, better start throwin rocks or use your combat knife! :-D


Tyler Consugar
 
#23 ·
I mentioned this load before, but I didn't mention what it would do:

Back in 1989, I first loaded 25.0 grains of H4198, the Hornady 123 grain bullet in Winchester brass with Winchester primers.

I fired it in an AK and in an SKS. In the SKS, it delivered inch and a half groups at 100 yards. In the AK, it delivered about 2 inch groups.

I am sure that this load will shoot better than that. But the short sight radius on both of these rifles was tough on my old tired eyes.

But please try this load out and see for yourself.

Mad
 
#25 ·
Jesus, people :) it is just overpowered assault rifle round. Neither a machine gun/sniper round, nor small-bore AR cartridge. Though I like it, because army round comes with tempered steel core = good AP. No comparison with standard 5.45 rounds which often stop in 3rd class body armor.
There must be some potential in this round - at least, the bullet is relatively heavy! I had to use AK103 fitted with PSO1 in action (thanks God the gun had SVD-type mount) twice, and was OK out to 350-400 meters.
 
#26 ·
I'm loading for my new CZ-858, I'll try that load Mad and see how it works. The first two powders I have to try are H322, and H335. Hornady 123's and 150's, and CCI primers, with IMI brass. They will get loaded with RCBS dies (including crimp die) on my 550.

Looking forward to trying this gun out.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top