Anyone use an SKS to hunt?

To the OP, check out the Hunting thread and search for sks.
I know there are several guys there who did well in the fall of 2011 hunting both deer and black bear.
The round has a few limitations, but nothing that practice and researching bullet info.
It can be done, but taking the word of a few here suffice to say shooting and recovery of game with iron sites over 100 yards is a challenge both in feat and recovery of a dead animal.
Tight Groups.
Rob
 
If hunting is your purpose, I would think that a sporterized 303 would be the way to go. Cost about $75 in a gun show and shoot a much more powerful cartridge. Guns designed for spray and pray shooting at targets or for wars are fine for that purpose but I would think that an ethical hunter would much prefer a single accurate shot with an effective bullet

cheap surplus military shells are fine for practice but as others have said, you need to check your sights with hunting ammunition as well

cheers mooncoon
 
Ballistically the 7.62 X 39mm.cartridge is close to a 30-30 cartridge.Plenty of power to kill a deer at 100 yards but don't try shooting at moose with them.My two cents.
 
Is it not possible to modify the surplus ammo by say filing the ends to make able to be used for hunting or is this not legal?
 
"Is it not possible to modify the surplus ammo by say filing the ends to make able to be used for hunting or is this not legal?"

No.

Most milsrp is steel core. With the nose filed off you still have a non expanding bullet.

If it was lead core, the jacket would be much stronger than the thin brass jackets on hunting bullets. Just buy a box of soft points, pull the FMJ and stick in the SP.
 
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wgamble89 said:
Is it not possible to modify the surplus ammo by say filing the ends to make able to be used for hunting or is this not legal?
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Nope. For many reasons. By altering the shape of the bullet, espesially with a file. You have reduced the accuracy to who knows what.
 
that and with old milsurp lead core some of the cores have been known to blow through the tip leaving jacketing behind in the barrel for a nasty surprise on any follow up shots:eek:
 
Joe549 said:
If you do a lot of practice with surplus ammo and then switch to a modern soft point load for hunting, just remember to adjust your sights for the different ammo. When I switched from surplus to sp my poi at 50 yards was significantly different from the surplus.
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Would the hunting ammo be the Hornady, 50 brass to a box n.c. soft points?

If roughly, what the the dufference in the surplus and the hunting loads?

Thanks
 
fiddler said:
The CZ 527 will put 5 shots through a dime at 100 yards, but its 800 bucks plus. The SKS is one or two hundred bucks but shoots an 8 inch group at 100 yards. One is an economy rifle, one is not. Either rifle, its still a close range bullet and has rapid loss of power and energy after 150 yards. The bullet is good for nothing bigger than deer, shoots well for a small lady, junior, or man who is effeminate. The SKS is an ok rifle to have under the seat in your truck or quick to shot off the quad, but after that, most adult males should have no problems shooting something bigger . The SKS is awesome for cheap gravel pit fun, but don't confuse it with a good hunting rifle.
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My 1954 Tula has way tighter grouping that that... 4 to 4.5" @ 100 yards... A lot of it depends on just how used up your surplus rifle is... Mine is factory new never issued so it was quite erratic before i got approx. 700 rounds through it, then it began grouping very well..

:D
 
mooncoon said:
If hunting is your purpose, I would think that a sporterized 303 would be the way to go. Cost about $75 in a gun show and shoot a much more powerful cartridge. Guns designed for spray and pray shooting at targets or for wars are fine for that purpose but I would think that an ethical hunter would much prefer a single accurate shot with an effective bullet

cheap surplus military shells are fine for practice but as others have said, you need to check your sights with hunting ammunition as well

cheers mooncoon
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Spray and pray...hate that word. Its the reason people think an AK-47 cannot hit the broad site of a barn!!! Its the person behind the gun, not the gun that makes up 90% of the ability.

As for a sporterized .303 ...I have seen 100s, most of them have irons cut off and an extremely poor drill and tap job, and if you luck out and do get one drilled and taped correctly you still need to mount a scope and thats $$$.

And don't even get me started on head space issues and all the pitted barrels out there...
 
wgamble89 said:
Is it not possible to modify the surplus ammo by say filing the ends to make able to be used for hunting or is this not legal?
Click to expand...

$20 will get you 20 hunting rounds for 7.62x39...pretty much the same price for all "standard" hunting rounds. Buy 2 boxes, shoot a few rounds to make sure they shoot to the POI your used too (if your using 122-125gr hunting rounds that should be pretty damn close!) and then you have enough hunting ammo to last years!!!
 
Using decent hunting ammo in an SKS makes you good to go on deer up to about 100 yds distance.

Most surplus ammo isn't accurate simply because of the production method - which is "crank out as much ammo as you can and to hell with quality control".
 
And to those who say 762x39 is no good for anything bigger than deer, I have a set of black bear claws around my neck that say different.

SKS or CZ858/Vz.58 isn't going to take an elk at 300yds., but for a bush/backup gun while hunting or even as a primary close-range hunting rifle, SKS is totally versatile.
 
Like others have said, the sks makes a good bush gun at 100 yards or less. I use my Remington 700 in .308 for shooting across my farm fields and the sks for walking through the bush. :sniper:
 
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