7.62x39 bolt gun which one?

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Tinybear

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Not entirely set but I am contemplating selling my .223 bolt action rifle in favour of a 7.62x39 bolt gun (one less ammo type to stock as I already have a SKS I keep 7.62x39 around for). I really like my .223 (usually does very well accuracy wise) but for my use of just general plinking and punching paper I figure one intermediate cartridge in the safe makes more sense. And additionally the 30cal hole in paper is easier to see than the .22 hole.

My question is what would you all recommend for that or would you recommend at all? Ruger Ranch Rifle, CZ 600alpha, MRX Bison(scout or ranger).……
Will run either Vortex DB HP 4-16x42 or a Vortex CF 6-18x44 on what ever I get (I al ready have these scopes).

Is near MOA accuracy achievable at 100 yard with these rifles?
 
I'd go with the Ranch rifle and not look back, and better than MOA is entirely achievable with those rifles.

If possible, check the actiou out first. Some of em are smoother than others. Handy, compact, light, very accurate. Never had an issue with their feeding/ejecting et. About 1300 rounds through em so far.
 
There aren't a lot of options for 7.62x39 in a bolt. I have a ruger ranch in 7.62. It's ok for what I use it for, but it's very rough and feels very cheaply made. I got mine for $600ish so can't complain too much I guess. If I could go back in time a bit I'd get a CZ 527. If buying today I'd probably go for the CZ 600, though not sure how I feel about the aluminum receiver.
 
If money is no obstacle I'd search for a cz527.

The one thing to consider is ammo availability though. Not much in the way of good quality x39 on the market, whereas affordable match grade 223 is pretty common. The GUN might be capable of MOA, but the ammo on the market in x39 rarely is up to that task.

Handloading would alleviate that, but then you're either shooting hand loads in your sks (which feels like a waste to me) or you are stocking cheap bulk ammo for the sks and handloading for your bolt gun, at which point your entire goal of narrowing your ammo collection is kinda lost.
 
Suther said:
If money is no obstacle I'd search for a cz527.

The one thing to consider is ammo availability though. Not much in the way of good quality x39 on the market, whereas affordable match grade 223 is pretty common. The GUN might be capable of MOA, but the ammo on the market in x39 rarely is up to that task.

Handloading would alleviate that, but then you're either shooting hand loads in your sks (which feels like a waste to me) or you are stocking cheap bulk ammo for the sks and handloading for your bolt gun, at which point your entire goal of narrowing your ammo collection is kinda lost.
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My ruger with red box non-corrosive surplus won't do MOA. S&B soft point gets closer but still not MOA. I'm sure I could get there with hand loading but the whole appeal of 7.62x39 to me is the relatively cheap and available ammo
 
I went with the Ruger American Ranch in x39 a couple days ago. I originally shot one a few weeks ago with some Eastern European lacquered steel cased ammo with some surprisingly good results.

0Jaf0Kf.jpg


I've got nearly 5 figures worth of x39 stockpiled and wanted something to pick away at it with in the event that my x39 WS-MCR and Bren get snagged at a later date. As other have said, the action isn't a Tikka, but its sturdy and the barrel profile is surprisingly heavy.
 
Suther said:
If money is no obstacle I'd search for a cz527.

The one thing to consider is ammo availability though. Not much in the way of good quality x39 on the market, whereas affordable match grade 223 is pretty common. The GUN might be capable of MOA, but the ammo on the market in x39 rarely is up to that task.

Handloading would alleviate that, but then you're either shooting hand loads in your sks (which feels like a waste to me) or you are stocking cheap bulk ammo for the sks and handloading for your bolt gun, at which point your entire goal of narrowing your ammo collection is kinda lost.
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You can do both and keep the hand loads out of the SKS. Works here. The cheap steel case ammo is good for position shooting practice.

Buy brass or shoot pretty accurate Prvi for cheaper than 223 match to get brass.
 
I have a Zastava mini in that calibre. As most owners say, the action is kind of sloppy, but it works okay. Fun to shoot with surplus ammo. I haven’t tried it for accuracy, but it kills rocks okay. Off subject, but I also have a Baikal single shot. Now that one is a boomer!
 
I just started handloading for 7.62x39 and “proper spec*” projectiles in .310/.311 are a little far and few between in a lot of stores. There are maybe 2-3 published loads I’ve found that run a .312 (303 Brit) projectile. (150gr)

You can’t really run a .308 projectile as one may assume. That said there is a campro .308 (.30cal carbine) projectile and a VV load to match im gonna try. But that’s probably for the newly probib mini 14. (110gr) and probably will be moderately inaccurate depending on how the barrel twist stabilizes it at all.

Also I found a VV load for a 200gr Laupa FMJBT on the 7.62x39 list lol could be fun

**But this all comes down to knowing what YOUR gun’s bore exactly measures and some other stuff.
Blah blah.
 
Joel said:
You can do both and keep the hand loads out of the SKS. Works here. The cheap steel case ammo is good for position shooting practice.

Buy brass or shoot pretty accurate Prvi for cheaper than 223 match to get brass.
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But that doesn't solve his original goal. Stocking two types of x39 for two different rifles is only a tiny bit different than if those two rifles were different calibers, at the end of the day he'd still have two rifles using different ammo even if it's now the same cartridge.

IMO it's not a big enough consolidation to bother with. (And this is all assuming he handloads, which may or may not be the case).

Personally my vote goes to keep the 223. If you don't handload it's a no-brainer IMO, and even if you do handload the 223 has a better bullet selection including high BC match bullets which don't really exist for the x39.
 
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My Ruger American Ranch is plenty accurate for off hand and field position practice on clays and gongs with surplus ammo... it sounds like the OP is looking for a fun plinker and casual target shooter.

I think I'd look for a newer CZ over the old one that has doubled in price if I was going that route. The trail hasn't come out yet but handling one of the .223 a while back I was impressed with it's overall vibe.

The BCL's look alright if it floats your boat, the as of yet unreleased folding stock mini howitzer looks interesting.

There is also the straight pull AR's out there as well from Maple Ridge Armoury as a bolt like option straight pull.


As far as reloading 7.62X39, I'm pretty sure the Ruger American will be fine with .30 calibre bullets if the OP want's to chase 1 MOA.... but as I said the accuracy with cheap bulk is as good or better then anything else I've tried.
 
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Mine shot Barnaul like a hot damn. Shame it aint plentiful anymore.

If someone wants MOA or better every time they pull the trigger? Probs not a good thing with steel case. But it was hardly innacurate for me either. Chinese non corrosive shot pretty ugly for me but still great for practicing offhand, kneeling etc.

Since the cheapest available 223 is about $16 a box of 20 right now anyway, buying PRVI doesn't seem like that big of a sacrifice. Accuracy of M855 and M193 aint exactly better than Euro steel case lol. Wish the Hornady steel case SST was still around for slightly over a buck a round.

Having some solid hunting ammo for the SKS never strikes me as a bad thing either. If something ever made me interested in doing that for some reason.
 
My Ruger x39 only has a 3-9x40 Bushnell and gets about MOA at 100, which is about as accurate as my Ruger Am-Std with a 6-18x42 bushnell (in my hands) and Waay better than my SKS with irons. Here's a poster-target at 180 yds with all three from last year after I got the Ruger-x39. The Barnaul SP did a bit better than the Chinese FMJ Milsurp. I did get better by year-end. 100-yd Target to Zero w-Nor-Silver-box.:rolleyes:
Range 12-01-23 Ruger x39 100yds.JPGRange 9-30-23 Ruger-X39 180yds Barnaul SP-ca-MOA Blues !.JPG
100
 
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Thanks all, good food for thought. I am not asking moa every time just don’t want shot gun spread and enjoy striving to better my own shooting. I only have access to 25 or 100 yard ranges so longer range not a concern.

I do not hand load as I just don’t have the space tooling or spare time.

Most my trying for sub moa shooting is done with rimfire but every now and then I like to break out something with a bit more bang to it for fun or even for blowing up the odd bottle or fruits.

My Savage Axis II stainless is a nice shooter and looks pretty good in the thumb hole Boyd’s stock. When fed match grade ammo getting 1/2” groups at 100yards is not uncommon. With more bulk grade ammo it’s more like 1.5” groups. BUT it’s also a light sporter barrel and can only manage the tighter groups for 10 shots or so, Maybe 20 shooting very slowly on a cold day.

Still undecided. Part of me thinks I should just stick with what I have and just stick to buying low quantities of match only ammo for the savage(can’t shoot it too much due to light barrel profile anyway) and the just run the cheap non corrosive red box stuff for the SKS.

But as with anything a new toy sounds fun, the larger holes in target would make seeing impacts on paper at 100yards easier and the heavier barrel profile would make shooting it a little more less tedious (less 1/2hr breaks to cool the barrel).

This is the .223 rifle I’d be selling if I decide to go this route.
IMG-3695.jpg
 
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CZ527M. super gun, knocks my deer over. Correct bore diameter for European ammunition. Reloads work well. Cannot say enough good things about it. A great round time tested and battle proven. For anything more than 100 m, Ill use something else, 223 or 308 or? Common ammunition is where its at. Good luck on your search OP.
 
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