7.62x39 hunting ammo 16 inch vs 20 inch barrels

[Joel]

Ended up going with a 22" even though its longer than I originally wanted...don't mind squeezing every FPS out of that little cartridge that I can lol...although compact is always nice too.

Hoping to make the conversion to floorplate soon, should be a handsome little rifle I hope

 

[dan belisle]

I have a 7.62x39 in a 20" Zastava mannlicher. I would have no issues taking deer at reasonable distances. I think the 6.5 version would be a better choice for game of that size however. - dan

 

[Joel]

I have a 7.62x39 in a 20" Zastava mannlicher. I would have no issues taking deer at reasonable distances. I think the 6.5 version would be a better choice for game of that size however. - dan

Awesome, Dan. Those look super handy. Dig the classic style too

They seem near enough to each other for practical purposes to me out until about 150 yards, after which the supremacy of the 6.5 Grendel becomes more evident with each meter...but I'll be picky on shot placement and presentation either way.

 

[WhelanLad]

Awesome, Dan. Those look super handy. Dig the classic style too

They seem near enough to each other for practical purposes to me out until about 150 yards, after which the supremacy of the 6.5 Grendel becomes more evident with each meter...but I'll be picky on shot placement and presentation either way.

Yep- i agree with what ya say here, i'll also add that if your willing to be picky, an place a shot out to 200meters on deers an such, you wont have much issue-
its just a real neat cartridge spec, with the 'big bore' it adds to the overall appearance of the 7,62 .

My Son is finally here on holidays, he has seen the Gun an held it.... little buger (12) said its heavy as he was pointing toward some cows in the distance lol....
i think the weight of the wood an 20 inch metal will aid in the felt recoil for him-- im thinking of loading some min charges for his first few shots so as not to spook the lad...
wil have the faithful .222 out aswell an will be cool to see the difference in the recoil with him shooting on camera slow mo

 

[WhelanLad]

Ended up going with a 22" even though its longer than I originally wanted...don't mind squeezing every FPS out of that little cartridge that I can lol...although compact is always nice too.

Hoping to make the conversion to floorplate soon, should be a handsome little rifle I hope

i replied before scrolling up- Nice one man.... 22 incher will be a sweety!! someone say 30-30 spec.... i think this is where you can play with 150s an be in 30-30 realms from memory??

 

[doctor_meltdown]

I have a CZ527 carbine in 7.62x39 that i stuffed in a Mannlicher stock. It splits the difference at 18.5". Fantastic light walking around rifle. I just need to cut down one of the mags to be flush.
I Bagged a doe near Sherbrooke, QC with no issues. 140 yd is pretty much my limit. I think the 22in barrel isn't a bad idea at all.
I have enough prvi ppu PSP and RN to last a lifetime.

 

[fritzhanzel]

7.62 is only good if you are using the cheap ammo. There is much hype about it lately. I see myself buying surplus ammo, which I never use at the end of the day. For hunting, the 6.5 Grendel or CM are much better, you are not buying a lot of ammo anyways. Most recently people are starting to realize that the 308 is still a more than adequate round for hunting 95 % of the time. The supply market offers plenty of 6.5 rifles and almost nothing in 7.62. But I have a feeling that this will change soon. The CZ are beautiful rifles though.

 

[dan belisle]

Awesome, Dan. Those look super handy. Dig the classic style too

They seem near enough to each other for practical purposes to me out until about 150 yards, after which the supremacy of the 6.5 Grendel becomes more evident with each meter...but I'll be picky on shot placement and presentation either way.

Yes, the drop on the little 30 is more than the 6.5 at longer distances. In practical shooting terms it reminds me of the 30 carbine, though with better bullets. - dan

 

[Joel]

Yes, the drop on the little 30 is more than the 6.5 at longer distances. In practical shooting terms it reminds me of the 30 carbine, though with better bullets. - dan

You said it, Dan. As bullet technology improves, it really does bring out the best in these bullets! Its a stubby lil sucker but if you play to its strong suits, I can dig it! Most of my hunting is either from a blind at around 80 yards or woods walking.

Speer's got data for their 123gr Gold Dot doing 2488 FPS although I'm not sure of the barrel length. Nosler's 123gr E-Tip has the same velocity for a 22" barrel. With those, I feel pretty comfy for the 200 yard max that WhelenLad mentions and has been showing videos of! Just below 1700 ft/lbs at the muzzle, 1350 at 100 yards and 2096 fps for 1200 ft/lbs at 150 yards. At 200 yards its got the energy of thr 30 carb. at the muzzle.

Or, his 150s I bet they do move out of that tube.

Course with the 308 expander button in the die set, you could launch the great lighter bullets made for a 300 BLK like the 110 gr Hornady CX or 110gr Barnes Tac-Tx too.

7.62 is only good if you are using the cheap ammo. There is much hype about it lately. I see myself buying surplus ammo, which I never use at the end of the day. For hunting, the 6.5 Grendel or CM are much better, you are not buying a lot of ammo anyways. Most recently people are starting to realize that the 308 is still a more than adequate round for hunting 95 % of the time. The supply market offers plenty of 6.5 rifles and almost nothing in 7.62. But I have a feeling that this will change soon. The CZ are beautiful rifles though.

What kind of hype?

Really doubt there's any practical difference between a 7.62x39 and a 6.5 Grendel as long as the shooting is done within 150-200 yards. Beyond that, for sure! Not feeling undergunned or done wrong with the 7.62 inside that distance for sure though, and being able to shoot cheap steel case without having to spend more, or the time in reloading ammo, etc is a big plus for me.

I have a CZ527 carbine in 7.62x39 that i stuffed in a Mannlicher stock. It splits the difference at 18.5". Fantastic light walking around rifle. I just need to cut down one of the mags to be flush.
I Bagged a doe near Sherbrooke, QC with no issues. 140 yd is pretty much my limit. I think the 22in barrel isn't a bad idea at all.
I have enough prvi ppu PSP and RN to last a lifetime.

Those are beauties! And good hunting.

Thank you.

i replied before scrolling up- Nice one man.... 22 incher will be a sweety!! someone say 30-30 spec.... i think this is where you can play with 150s an be in 30-30 realms from memory??

Thank you! I'd lend it to you for a bit and find out, if you were closer! be cool to see it on film haha.

Happy hunting/shooting to you and your boy!

 

[Joel]

Oh hey, WhelenLad,

I bet you've seen this before, but these guys were getting 2,259 fps out of a 20" Howa.

https://rifleshooter.com/2017/04/re...load-development-with-125-and-150-gr-bullets/

If we consider a 20" 30-30 to spit a 150gr bullet at 2390 FPS (if you're lucky) than a 22" 7.62x39 probably does at least come close eh?

And if its a 30-30 barrel that's shorter than 20" I'd call it a wash. Same-same, only different lol. 30-30 ski. lol. I'll leave the whole pointed vs flat nose and what that means at 100 yards plus out of it for now. Don't know much about which 150s are strong performers from the lil Russian fireplug.

 

[WhelanLad]

Oh hey, WhelenLad,

I bet you've seen this before, but these guys were getting 2,259 fps out of a 20" Howa.

https://rifleshooter.com/2017/04/re...load-development-with-125-and-150-gr-bullets/

If we consider a 20" 30-30 to spit a 150gr bullet at 2390 FPS (if you're lucky) than a 22" 7.62x39 probably does at least come close eh?

And if its a 30-30 barrel that's shorter than 20" I'd call it a wash. Same-same, only different lol. 30-30 ski. lol. I'll leave the whole pointed vs flat nose and what that means at 100 yards plus out of it for now. Don't know much about which 150s are strong performers from the lil Russian fireplug.

nice article, im not so sure i studied that one- i was more flicking thru numerous forum entrys via google searching an rabbit holing it that way

im good at that haha!

the way i been lookin at it with the 30-30 is,.... to me i think the 30-30 is the "30-06" of the little gun world im in, an the 7.62x is the 308 version...........

does that make sense.?

sure the 30-30 is slightly better....
but for all context considered- the 7.62 is going to do the same on the same critter at the same everythin elses!

so perhaps the 6.5grendal, is the 7mm08 of the little gun world eh

ha ha that will confuse a few maybe!?

yeh bro, loaded 21gr for the kid to shoot this rvo!!

report back

 

[Joel]

nice article, im not so sure i studied that one- i was more flicking thru numerous forum entrys via google searching an rabbit holing it that way

im good at that haha!

the way i been lookin at it with the 30-30 is,.... to me i think the 30-30 is the "30-06" of the little gun world im in, an the 7.62x is the 308 version...........

does that make sense.?

sure the 30-30 is slightly better....
but for all context considered- the 7.62 is going to do the same on the same critter at the same everythin elses!

so perhaps the 6.5grendal, is the 7mm08 of the little gun world eh

ha ha that will confuse a few maybe!?

yeh bro, loaded 21gr for the kid to shoot this rvo!!

report back

That makes sense! Especially when the "big" gun really only starts to shine with much heavier bullets.

Right on! Lookin forward to hearing about it! I'll see if I can get a couple pics of this rifle here tomorrow if its at the post office for me.

Think I'll wait til it ain't freeze yer nutz off cold to work up to max loads haha

 

[dan belisle]

nice article, im not so sure i studied that one- i was more flicking thru numerous forum entrys via google searching an rabbit holing it that way

im good at that haha!

the way i been lookin at it with the 30-30 is,.... to me i think the 30-30 is the "30-06" of the little gun world im in, an the 7.62x is the 308 version...........

does that make sense.?

sure the 30-30 is slightly better....
but for all context considered- the 7.62 is going to do the same on the same critter at the same everythin elses!

so perhaps the 6.5grendal, is the 7mm08 of the little gun world eh

ha ha that will confuse a few maybe!?

yeh bro, loaded 21gr for the kid to shoot this rvo!!

report back

Now you need a 300 Savage because it's slightly "better" than the 30-30. Or the 30-30 AI, which is also "better", in the ballistic sense. There's so many different layers of performance in these cases, each is a very small or thin step. - dan

 

[Joel]

Its a handsome little rifle! Feels very light with the sporter contour barrel...tempted to chop to 20" haha...but I'll leave it.

Triggers great. Bolt sounds just as zippery as a Ruger, but its one piece and all

Barrel favours one side of the channel but I can still pass a thin sheet of paper between barrel and stock. I can still widen it a bit

Overall pretty happy with it.

 

[anglia2]

Its a handsome little rifle! Feels very light with the sporter contour barrel...tempted to chop to 20" haha...but I'll leave it.

Triggers great. Bolt sounds just as zippery as a Ruger, but its one piece and all

Barrel favours one side of the channel but I can still pass a thin sheet of paper between barrel and stock. I can still widen it a bit

Overall pretty happy with it.

That's a lovely little rifle . I've decided I need one , and I blame all of you .

 

[WhelanLad]

Now you need a 300 Savage because it's slightly "better" than the 30-30. Or the 30-30 AI, which is also "better", in the ballistic sense. There's so many different layers of performance in these cases, each is a very small or thin step. - dan

i am hoping the ruger 303 fits that bracket! downlaoded of course

 

[WhelanLad]

Rifle looks awesome Joel, the dark metal finish is neat!

enjoy that thing

 

[MilitaryCollectorMark]

Its a handsome little rifle! Feels very light with the sporter contour barrel...tempted to chop to 20" haha...but I'll leave it.

Triggers great. Bolt sounds just as zippery as a Ruger, but its one piece and all

Barrel favours one side of the channel but I can still pass a thin sheet of paper between barrel and stock. I can still widen it a bit

Overall pretty happy with it.

So your the guy that bought the howa on prophet river? My dad was pondering buying it.

 

[Joel]

That's a lovely little rifle . I've decided I need one , and I blame all of you .

Hahahaha I'm sure you'll get us back with something someday!

Rifle looks awesome Joel, the dark metal finish is neat!

enjoy that thing

Thank you! Will do! Can't wait to shoot it. And get some real floorplated bottom metal and a nice lil scope on it.

i am hoping the ruger 303 fits that bracket! downlaoded of course

Now there's one that can go from mild to wild and with lots of panache!

Especially in that action.

So your the guy that bought the howa on prophet river? My dad was pondering buying it.

Guilty! Sorry about that lol had a feeling I better act fast tho.

 

[dan belisle]

i am hoping the ruger 303 fits that bracket! downlaoded of course

It will be right in the ballpark (cricket field?). Just slightly slower than the 308 with similar weight bullets. - dan