7.62x39 for Deer

I have some of this but heard it breaks apart violently, I prefer a bonded bullet for hunting that's why I am leaning to go with Hornady Black SST.

All deer were chest hit out to 175 yards farthest and none went 25 yards after...DOA
 
Nice to know manufactures use different terminology for their stuff.

INTERLOCK® RING
This Hornady exclusive design mechanically locks the core and jacket together to maintain bullet integrity during expansion, ensuring maximum weight retention and increasing the chances of complete pass-throughs.

Both the basic Interlock and the SST have the Interlock Ring. The big difference from what I can tell is an exposed lead tip vs a red plastic tip.
 
The way I see it 123gr is so close to 130gr, and 140gr is so close to 150gr that there is little point of trying to split the difference.

by your logic there would only be one weight for every caliber..... but there is not and that must be for a reason. Terminally, there will be a difference between 123 ,130, 140 ect and these are the reasons ammunition and bullet makers offer darn near every caliber with a weight range and not just one standard weight like we see with the x39.
123gr is the bullet weight that was decided upon way back when the AK and SKS type rifles were being designed and then manufactured..... I have not studied any material on this though.
Why did they decide on 123gr?
Some years ago there were more offerings for the x39 , notably Black Hills Ammunition used to make and sell 150 grain hunting bullets in x39 but try as I might I can't seem to find much written info on use and performance.
Would just be nice to have some options to play around with in different bullet weights

When I'm hunting those blacktails I don't want a bullet that "guarantees a pass thru" ....... I want the bullet to expand and dump all it's energy in the animal.
I have found that this is preferable in steep mountainous terrain as a bullet that dumps it's energy like that tends to put the animal on the ground much faster and less chance of them running somewhere I will have a nightmare retrieving them from. 20+ years of hunting those deer and my favorite caliber/bullet combo is a .303 brit with a 180gr.... generally federal but I am starting to reload my own.
Now a x39 in 140 gr...... I can see that performing much like the .303/180gr combo but in a lighter , handier package.
 
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Looking forward to trying the Carcano in M43 flavor... if of course PP rolls back the 5 round limit. Otherwise... I'll be travelling a lot by Canoe. Lakes, deep lakes...practically bottomless.
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Could always modify it to take 5rd CZ527, CZ58 or AK mags. Some even did the Norinco BA mags.
 
by your logic there would only be one weight for every caliber.....

That is not even close to what I said.... There is plenty of reason to have different weights, but 7 grains in bullet weight is not going to make a noteworthy difference in real world hunting situation.

There is a clear difference between, say, a 150gr 30cal and a 180gr 30cal bullet - that is a 20% increase in weight. 123 vs 130 is only a 5.7% increase in weight, and 140 to 150 is only 7%.
 
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That is not even close to what I said....

not to argue with you bud..... but sure it is.
essentially you said that the difference between 123 and 140gr is not worth splitting the difference...... and to me.... if the manufacturers of ammo and bullets thought that way..... there would be one weight for every caliber instead of a plethora of options to choose from as we have today for nearly every caliber produced.
 
not to argue with you bud..... but sure it is.
essentially you said that the difference between 123 and 140gr is not worth splitting the difference...... and to me.... if the manufacturers of ammo and bullets thought that way..... there would be one weight for every caliber instead of a plethora of options to choose from as we have today for nearly every caliber produced.

So I'm wrong, but also very few companies make 130 and 140gr 30 cal bullets? lol
 
I shot a whitetail with my SKS years ago using 123gr PPu softpoints.

The shot was broad side but a little high in the lungs, deer ran about 70 yards before piling up.

I'm sure if my shot was better place the deer wouldn't have gone that far.
 
Lolno. It's a tipped interlock basically.

The interbond is hornadys bonded bullet.

That's what I thought but also thought maybe their black ammo had something different. I have lots of SST loaded for our various 7.62x39s but it's for coyotes and other varmints only. Based on past experience and observations of SST performance I would never use them on big game given a choice. Bonded or the TSX made specifically for the 7.62x39 is the way to go IMHO.
 
Did you use handload? What velocity did you get?
I've never ran them over a chrony. No idea on velocity. Can't even remember the powder I used but its written down for whenever I need to load the next batch. All I can tell you is they shoot sub moa and penetrate. The only one we've recovered was from a quartering frontal shot on a whitetail buck and it was recovered under the hide just before the hind quarter. Shot distance was about 75yds.
 
That's what I thought but also thought maybe their black ammo had something different. I have lots of SST loaded for our various 7.62x39s but it's for coyotes and other varmints only. Based on past experience and observations of SST performance I would never use them on big game given a choice. Bonded or the TSX made specifically for the 7.62x39 is the way to go IMHO.

I think the Black ammo is just a line designed to appeal to "operator" types - it is specifically designed to run reliably in "black rifles", hence the name. The bullets used are standard hornady bullets - interlock, vmax, amax, sst, etc. (depending on the cartridge etc)
 
I shot a very respectable WT buck back in the day when Canada was still free with a VZ58 and 123 grain PRVI SP. It was open sights at 90 yards and the deer was DOA. Those rounds seem to be loaded quite hot. My daughter used that rifle to slay her first two bucks - but opted for the Hornady 123 grain SST's. Great performance in both cases. First one took took two shots even though the first would have killed it. The Hornady SST in my experience works just plain outstanding at the 7.62's velocity.
 
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