7.62x39 deer loads?

flashman2 said:
I think the included ones are all the same, no? IE extra high... Mine are marked #5. Mine's a 583 series, dunno if that has any bearing on things.

Not a big stress anyway, I've come to prefer it lighter and handier with just the irons. I had a Nikon mounted for a while but eventually just took it off.
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flashman2 said:
Ohhhhh... duh. Now that I look closely, actually it's not the exact same scope. Mine is the illuminated reticle version with the extended turrets for BDC and windage adjustments. They're a fair bit longer than on yours.
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Had my Bushnell Elite 3200 10x40mm on my Mini-30 also. No issues. My ring mounts don't have the stamped number and could be double extra high(?).

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Slamfire, those Woodleigh bullets are fine looking to me. Especially in their recommended impact velocity range. I will have to look for a couple of boxes or get some brought in for me.
 
Has anyone found the round nose privi bullets available for reloaders? The 123 (?) grain ones offered as a factory load. I can only find spitzers online
 
Thanks but I'm interested in the traditional weight. Usually a heavy for caliber guy but it doesn't seem right in the 7.62x39. For a short range setup/ caliber I like a round nose bullet, just because I guess, I keep reading they punch above their weightclass
 
Slightly off topic but please share the basis behind your belief (empirical or otherwise) that SKS has a weaker action as compared with "late strong" bolt action rfiles. Has anyone actually seen a blown SKS action due to excessive pressure? Like have seen it with own eyes rather than (my cousin's frend's father in law heard that ... yada yada..)
 
SAAMI maximum average pressure is specified as 45,000 psi likely in deference to the strength of the SKS carbine action for which the 7.62x39 is most commonly chambered. Modern bolt action rifles chambered for x39 are also chambered for rounds that have much higher pressure ratings. Also have noticed that when loading my SKS near maximum in accordance with published data there's a fair bit of case stretch.
 
edojan said:
Slightly off topic but please share the basis behind your belief (empirical or otherwise) that SKS has a weaker action as compared with "late strong" bolt action rfiles. Has anyone actually seen a blown SKS action due to excessive pressure? Like have seen it with own eyes rather than (my cousin's frend's father in law heard that ... yada yada..)
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Yes, I have seen my own SKS with the top of the receiver blown off, action bent, stock broken etc. The cause was definitely over pressure and the reason for this were some rounds with a load I was developing in a Mauser Mark X mini action got into the SKS box. The results were a Ka Boom that destroyed the rifle. This SKS had never been used for surplus ammo to my knowledge. I had purchased it new when the first Chinese commercial offerings came into Canada from International Firearms.

These loads were developing close to 60,000 psi. The SKS should have been tested to that range with a blue pill pressure round. Maybe it was or wasn't. Still, the rifle came apart.

That was around twenty years ago. I have been meticulously careful since then.

From what I could discern was there was some ignition still going on when the case was being extracted. Still it did happen and I'm willing to bet it isn't a one off.

IMHO the SKS is a fine rifle whose pressures should be limited to original design specs. Once changes are made to the basic components, just about anything can and will go awry.
 
Never had an issue with my SKS following the Hornady load data for 123gr and 150gr bullets which they developed using an SKS. Speer used a Ruger M77 Mk II for load development with very similar results for their 123gr bullet and they state pressures are held to 50,000 cup / ~45,000 psi. Not sure if the Mk II is capable of safely handling higher pressures.
 
bearhunter said:
... The results were a Ka Boom that destroyed the rifle. This SKS had never been used for surplus ammo to my knowledge. I had purchased it new when the first Chinese commercial offerings came into Canada from International Firearms.

These loads were developing close to 60,000 psi. The SKS should have been tested to that range with a blue pill pressure round. Maybe it was or wasn't. Still, the rifle came apart.
...
IMHO the SKS is a fine rifle whose pressures should be limited to original design specs. Once changes are made to the basic components, just about anything can and will go awry.
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60k psi is probably too much. All other things being equal a standard issue Russian sks would most probably have survived this pressure without a hiccup. Early Chinese commercial sks rifles were notorious for being all over the map as far as quality was concerned.

Here is an excerpt from an old article by Butch Thompson on Chinese SKS (appeared in 1996 compilation "Practical Gunsmithing"

" It also helps to understand how the guns are made. There are seven manufacturing facilities in China that “make” SKS rifles, but in reality, they are little more than assembly points. Most of their parts come from hundreds of small shops all over China, and almost all have to be fitted at the point of assembly. Good parts are mixed with bad. Some rifles will have good barrels but bad receivers, or it may be the other way around. This is true of all the parts in the rifles.


There is also a lack of uniformity on chrome-lined barrels, ranging from the merely inconsistent to a point that the linings have come out of the rifles. We have even been told of a threaded barrel that was driven into a non-threaded receiver and pinned in place.


The SKS rifles are not only inconsistent in the way they are assembled, the metal used for the parts varies widely, too. Cheap Chinese steel is made the way we did it 100 years ago. China also makes a top-quality steel, but it obviously will not be used in rifles they sell us for $37. To illustrate this point further, we took seven Rockwell hardness tests up and down the same barrel and got seven different readings. I’ve had the same experience with receivers. As we go along, we’ll go a little deeper into the metallurgy of the different parts and how it affects what you’ll be doing to the rifles.


Soft metal is to blame for a majority of problems you will encounter with the SKSs—most commonly, broken extractors followed closely by feeding and ejection failures. Your biggest problem won’t be mechanical—it will be justifying the high cost of professional repairs when you didn’t pay much for the gun.


Your major problem will be getting parts. I have found—and other gunsmiths confirm this—that the ones you will get actually fit less than 20 percent of the time. They can be made to fit only about 70 percent of the time. For this reason, the SKS will show who is a gunsmith and who is a parts exchanger."


Needless to say that none of these problems are present in the Russki rifle
 
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Reasons enough for me to support not trying to hot-rod loads in any SKS rifle. Inherent weaknesses show up real fast when things are stressed. Assumed these have proper integrity and meet minimum quality specifications but you never know.

I've heard of Tokarev pistols with Russian markings that originated in China. I wonder if there are Russian SKS's that are actually knockoffs?
 
I have seen six or so deer fall to the 7.62x39 in the last couple of years at the hands of my kids and nephew/niece. All were shot with a 123 grain SST with distances varying from about 80 meters to 155 meters. I believe all but one were complete pass throughs with a good wound cavity except for one whereby the little bullet punched through a shoulder and lodged just under the hide under the far side. I think this little bullet - whether in factory loads or handloaded does quite fine. A good dose of CFE Black or H4198 would probably fit the bill for the majority of deer hunting to 200 meters.
 
The dies and cases are not cheap. If you are only using the rifle for hunting, It's better to buy the Hornady steel case SST ammo. They are very cheap, about $1 per round. The range on 7.62*39 is fairly low, I don't see the need to practice at gun range. So you won't need to burn through too many rounds... unless you use your cz for varmint hunting.
 
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