What is the best 7.62x39 ammo for hunting deer?

[Mr_Gixxer]

I have shot deer in the past with hollowpoint 7.62X39, I never thought it was that destructive to the meat, just my personal opinion I suppose.
Way less than the damage I've seen from guys using .338 Win mags and such for deer at 75 yds. But hey, I get what you are saying.

They may not be the first choice, but I was just offering him some options to the $25 boxes of Winchester SP. If he can find SP in cheap Bear, then that's great, if not, HP is legal for hunting, that's all.

Thanks for the advise!

[Dredly]

Lol, many reasons!

-cheaper to shoot
-more fun to shoot with open sights (and i think target aquisition is a little easier as well)
-i can load more in the sks mag than my 4 round box mag of my 7mm08
-faster cycling the bolt on the sks
-and simply because i want to try it out

Those are the main reasons.

good thing "respect for the animal" isn't on your list... going with an un-accurate weapon compared to an accurate one because its cheaper is just laughable. a 1" moa vs 6" moa because it saves you .20 is lame. same with open sights vs scope... lame

why would you EVER need more then 5 rounds (1 in the chamber, 4 in the mag)

faster cycling of the bolt? 1 shot 1 kill doesn't mean much I guess? also I kind of doubt the difference is signfigant enough to matter at all, 1/3 second vs 1/2 second?

good luck with this. I hope if you hit a deer its a perfect shot that drops it dead on the spot. I'm done with this thread

[Mr_Gixxer]

good thing "respect for the animal" isn't on your list... going with an un-accurate weapon compared to an accurate one because its cheaper is just laughable. a 1" moa vs 6" moa because it saves you .20 is lame. same with open sights vs scope... lame

why would you EVER need more then 5 rounds (1 in the chamber, 4 in the mag)

faster cycling of the bolt? 1 shot 1 kill doesn't mean much I guess? also I kind of doubt the difference is signfigant enough to matter at all, 1/3 second vs 1/2 second?

good luck with this. I hope if you hit a deer its a perfect shot that drops it dead on the spot. I'm done with this thread

WTH, why did this all of a sudden turn into this? Everything someone does is not going to be accepted by everyone and i didn't expect it. You disagree with it thats fine, i just wanted to know what the best round for hunting was going to be not find out if the sks is a good hunting rifle and what everyone thought of it.

[Mr_Gixxer]

good thing "respect for the animal" isn't on your list... going with an un-accurate weapon compared to an accurate one because its cheaper is just laughable. a 1" moa vs 6" moa because it saves you .20 is lame. same with open sights vs scope... lame

why would you EVER need more then 5 rounds (1 in the chamber, 4 in the mag)

faster cycling of the bolt? 1 shot 1 kill doesn't mean much I guess? also I kind of doubt the difference is signfigant enough to matter at all, 1/3 second vs 1/2 second?

good luck with this. I hope if you hit a deer its a perfect shot that drops it dead on the spot. I'm done with this thread

-First off, tell me how many animals you have shot that have died instantly?

-Second, I would be saving ALOT more than .20 cents. A single round of 7.62x39 would be around 50 cents a shot. A single round of 7mm08 costs around 1.50 a shot. You do the math. Its my money anyway.

-Third, why would i need over 5 rounds? Same reason why you would need more than 5 rounds in your sidearm.

-And lastly, If your so adament about respect for the animal why wouldnt you support firing another round if the wind shifted and made the bullet hit that animal in the spine or something. Getting that round loaded as fast as possible and getting it downrange would be the right thing to do correct? Or let the animal suffer?

I know I know its the same argument all over again and there are good arguing points on both sides of this issue but lets please get back on subject.

Thanks

[Lycanthrope]

I've shot over 45 deer. I can remember about 5 that took a step after being shot.

You cannot tell if a hollow point will open up in a centerfire rifle. A Sierra Match King is a HP, but doesn't open up all the time. A hornady Spire point will open up and/or fragment most every time in .284 and higher calibers. A boat tail won't matter with the short range ballistics in a 7.62x39.

I'd recommend a typical spire point hunting round. Nosler Ballistic Tips are fine in .30 caliber at that low of a speed....although I reload and couldn't tell you about factory offerrings. No bonded or solid copper bullets....they typically don't kill as fast, even though they penetrate better.

Accuracy is your first concern.

Lycangoodluckthrope

[Mr_Gixxer]

I've shot over 45 deer. I can remember about 5 that took a step after being shot.

You cannot tell if a hollow point will open up in a centerfire rifle. A Sierra Match King is a HP, but doesn't open up all the time. A hornady Spire point will open up and/or fragment most every time in .284 and higher calibers. A boat tail won't matter with the short range ballistics in a 7.62x39.

I'd recommend a typical spire point hunting round. Nosler Ballistic Tips are fine in .30 caliber at that low of a speed....although I reload and couldn't tell you about factory offerrings. No bonded or solid copper bullets....they typically don't kill as fast, even though they penetrate better.

Accuracy is your first concern.

Lycangoodluckthrope

Hmm, thats cool. I havn't seen any nosler ballistic tips sold in 7.62x39. Know where i can find them already loaded? Would you reccommend a lighter bullet weight for better range or a heavier round for more stopping power?

[Mr_Gixxer]

What are the differences between a spire point and a nosler tip? Is it just the material in the tip itself? And if thats the case what kind of advantages does one have over the other?

[Lycanthrope]

7.62x39 ballistics are comparable to a typical 30-30. Not a long range rifle by any means. You are probably limited to 200 yard shots in most instances.

In .30 caliber and on deer, 150gr bullets will kill just as well as 200's. Heavier will have no bearing on stopping power. Stopping power will be basedon vital tissue destruction. Rifles bullets react a lot differently than pistol bullets.

It will mostly depend on twist rate and what your gun will prefer. A 150 will have a different POA than a 200. In fact, a 150 Winchester round will have a different POA than a 150 Federal.

I'd probably start with the 150gr offerings and go from there. Less recoil and more expansion.

Lycansoundslikefunthrope

[Lycanthrope]

What are the differences between a spire point and a nosler tip? Is it just the material in the tip itself? And if thats the case what kind of advantages does one have over the other?

The Ballistic Tip is basically a lead core round with a polymer tip. The polymer tip is more aerodynamic and is more cocentric than a lead spire point....which just has the exposed lead as a point. In that caliber and that gun, it probably won't mean anything.

Once again, in terms of rifle bullets you simply CANNOT look at them and know how they will perform. The polymer tipped Ballistic Tip will expand more than the polymer tipped Accubond bullet. Some hollow points do not expand at all.....some grenade. In 7.62x39, you probably are not going to be able to get enough speed to have a round totally fragment so don't worry too much about that.

Lycankeepaskingthrope

[Mr_Gixxer]

7.62x39 ballistics are comparable to a typical 30-30. Not a long range rifle by any means. You are probably limited to 200 yard shots in most instances.

In .30 caliber and on deer, 150gr bullets will kill just as well as 200's. Heavier will have no bearing on stopping power. Stopping power will be basedon vital tissue destruction. Rifles bullets react a lot differently than pistol bullets.

It will mostly depend on twist rate and what your gun will prefer. A 150 will have a different POA than a 200. In fact, a 150 Winchester round will have a different POA than a 150 Federal.

I'd probably start with the 150gr offerings and go from there. Less recoil and more expansion.

Lycansoundslikefunthrope

I looked around a little bit and most of the bullet weights i found in either the nosler, spire, or hollow point were weighing in at around 123-125gr. Is that too light would you say or not an issue? I have seen some upwards of 150 but none at 200. Not saying they do not exist but i havn't looked for them yet.