7.62 x 39

profind1

A friend is building a bolt action rifle in this caliber. Wants to know what bore size to use, .322 or .308? Thanks.

profind1

I've been shooting bolt guns for 50 plus years, but I'm not up to speed on AK's, SKS, Mini 30's etc. I'm considering buying some such critter, for the bad-guys in my front yard, should they show up. Also, sounds like fun out in the boonies. I know a bunch of you guys are virtual experts on such pieces. Any info., recommendations on mfg.. cal. would be appreciated. I like the looks of the Ruger Mini 30, but also hear some bad things about reliability, with it THX in advance

profind1

How does the 7.62 stack up as a hunting calibre..........(vs. 270, .308, 7mm)I purchased a few cases years ago and am looking for a ruger77 in 7.62........any other bolt action rifle recommendations I could use?

woodsrunner

The 7.62x39 is generally considered to be just a little better than the 30-30 or 32 win special. So if you're looking at Deer sized game out to 125-150 yards you'll do ok with proper shot placement. I passed on a Mark X mauser a couple years ago in this caliber. Still questioning the wisdom of that move. WOODS

Der Gebirgsjager

You have two similar post, so I'll answer this one. You haven't specified which 7mm (Rem. Mag.?), but it really doesn't matter, as all the calibers you have named are superior to the 7.62x39mm for both range and energy delivered to the game. Of the calibers you have named my personal choice would be the .270 as I have never been afflicted with"magnumitius"; but I have to agree with another post that my personal choice is .30-06. If you peel out some ballistic tables you will find that the .30-30 Win. has a slight edge over the 7.62mm; although this may not always bear out in actual use. Either makes a good 150 yard deer rifle with iron sights, but much beyond that I think you'd be wise to choose one of the other calibers.

Kadaver

wasn't the 7.62 developed as a military caliber to hunt "us".

Phil

Yep,the 7.62x39mm was orignally designed to be used in a full-auto firearm.Its ballistics are slightly inferior to the 30-30,especially since you can buy a lever-action 30-30 for less than $200.00 whose tighter lock-up will provide superior accuracy.

luger01

Woodsrunner,I think you got that backwards. The 7.62x39 is considered by some to be nearly as good as the .30-30.Actually, if you look at the velocities and energy, the .30-30 is better than the 7.62x39 at all ranges. You can take a deer or similar sized animal with it, but shots should be limitied to 125 yards or less and good hunting ammo (does anyone make this?) used. If it were to be used for hunting, I would recommend handloading a 125 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip over a suitable charge of powder.The .30-30 easily handles bullets up to 170 grains, while the loads for 7.62x39 for the max. weight (150 gr.) are way less than optimal for hunting.The 7.62x39 was designed for human targets. Since it is a rimless cartridge, it is suitable for autoloaders - for laying down lots of 'lead' to kill and injure humans.

woodsrunner

It depends on how your looking at things. The question wasn't about an sks or ak. It was based on a nice strong ridgid bolt action rifle. one readily scoped and easily capable of 1.5 m.o.a. With pointed or hollowpoint bullets. I'll consider that a "little" better than a lever action 30-30 that's lucky to do 4 m.o.a. with flat point bullets. Paper ballistics aren't everything. If you reload I'm sure you could load just about any 30 cal bullet in the 7.62x39. compared to the two choices of flat points in 30-30. As for being designed to kill humans, modern military thought is to wound not kill. You take 3 people off the battle field by wounding one. You only remove one by killing him. Just look at the design trends of small arms since WW2. things have gotten progressively smaller and less powerful, with less training. You ever notice the elite corps don't carry 9mm's or 5.56's Maybe because their job requires one shot followed by absolute death, not wounding.Now back to a deer rifle I wouldn't trade my Krag or my back up 45-70 lever gun for the world.WOODS

Phil

Don't know where you got that idea about modern military thought.Not true.The reason why the U.S.military went to the 5.56x45mm cartridge is that they saw the need for a rifle that would be more effective against the "human wave" type assaults the asians employ.The M1A,while being an excellent long-range semi-auto,is virtually uncontrollable in full-auto mode.The M16 will spit out a large number of bullets,while still being able to be held on target.The 5.56 caliber cartidge is light,controllable,and very lethal,producing only slightly less energy with a 55 grain projectile than the 7.62x39 does with a 123 grain projectile,with vastly greater accuracy at longer ranges.

luger01

woodsrunner,Not to start an argument or anything, but if you compare the powder capacities of the .30-30 vs. the 7.62x39 cases, you will see that there are significant differences, which correspond to bullet weight, velocith, and performance.Yes you could load a 170/180 gr. bullet in a 7.62x39 case, but in order to keep the pressure at a tolerable level, the amount of powder would be small and the resulting velocity very low. Plus, no reloading manual I've ever seen has data for anything heavier than a 150 gr bullet (for this very reason).If you would chamber both cartridges in a quality bolt action rifle (comparing apples to apples), you would see that the separation between the two cartridges becomes even more distinct. (Plus, the .30-30 in a bolt or single shot rifle can use spitzer bullets and enhance it's longer distance performance!).There is a reason that there are not a lot of bolt guns chambered in 7.62x39 - it's simply not desirable as a hunting round. Performance is too poor to be much good in the field and there are too many better options available. Kinda like making a hunting gun in .357 magnum. While it CAN be used successfully, it is a marginal cartridge for that purpose.BTW, I agree that .30-40 Krag or .45-70 Gov't are both excellent rounds! I prefer the .30-06, but I wouldn't sneeze at someone using the Krag. As for .45-70: it's best with the original loading of black powder in a single shot rifle. Love that smoke and smell![This message has been edited by luger01 (edited 11-11-2001).]

JustC

Back to the original question, don't waste your time with a 7.62x39mm. Yes they are CAPABLE at 150 yds but, I will recommend you buy the 308 or 270 if you get a good deal. they are faster, flatter, and hit much harder, the object is to put the animal down fast and to find it easily, not just to kill it. Hit Em Hard!!! To be quite honest, I would rather hunt with a 243 and 75-80gr hollow points or balistic tips. They won't let you down either.