Hunting with a milsurp rifle

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Hi fellow Gun Nutterz,

I am unable to set up a hunting rifle in time for deer season here in Ontario and may have to resort to using one of my milsurps. I have a few that may be suitable to do the job. I'd like to mention a few and hear you all out as to which I could use and what type of ammo to purchase to fill my deer tag. Please and thanks. The rifles are; K98 Mauser, several SKS, K31, Swedish Mauser, and a Mosin. Any and all input would be appreciated.
 
I use my Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55 for deer every year in Ontario. Not because I have to, because I want to. Great Rifle in a great caliber. Get yourself some decent hunting bullets, sight it in with the decent bullets and you should be good to go for deer in Ontario.
 
If they are all still in their standard chamberings the SKS is the weakest and even for that you can get commercial loads with proper hunting bullets that will be good for the distances at which the vast majority of deer are taken.
 
I would let ammo availability determine which one you use. Assuming you have no trouble getting good quality soft point ammo for any of them, my choices in order would be the Swede, the K98, the K31, the Mosin and the SKS dead last.
 
Gov said military style rifles only have one purpose, "kill the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time" I do not believe old milsurps can be reprogrammed to do anything else, they are too old.
 
If all of the rifles mentioned are in their "as issued" condition, my choice would be the Swede, assuming suitable ammunition is available. Let me say that I have no experience with the Swiss K31 rifle, so I do not include it amongst my considerations since I have no basis of comparison with it. The Swede is light and well balanced for a military rifle, recoil is lighter than either an 8X57 k98 or a 7.62X54R Mosin Nagant, and accuracy has been very good in most of the examples I've owned and used. The #### on close action is a small advantage in that partially withdrawing the fired brass and cocking the action do not occur simultaneously, so running the action requires less force. Arguably the Swede and the Mauser are likely to have the better triggers than the Soviet rifles, which does not relate to inherent accuracy, but to the ease by which one can apply inherent accuracy, quickly and effectively. In other words, the better the trigger, the easier it is to shoot the rifle well in practical applications like hunting.

I don't particularly like the Mauser style rear sight, but its not impossible to mount a receiver sight or an optic . . . if you're not opposed to drilling holes in you rifle's receiver, there is the option of mounting a receiver sight or a scope. Drilling and tapping the receiver and then mounting an appropriate scope can probably be done is less time than drilling and tapping the receiver for a aperture sight, then figuring out how high a corresponding front needs to be, and then attempting to acquire one. By contrast, mounting a scope, and bore-sighting the rifle normally only takes a few minutes. If you intend to use the issue sights and keep your rifles in unaltered condition, it might be worth painting the face of front sight with a contrasting color so it stands out against both the target and the narrow notch of the rear sight.

The real answer is that you probably already know which rifle to use. Its the rifle you like the best, snap shoot the best, and find the easiest to carry. All provide suitable energy to have the expectation of killing a deer quickly with a well placed single shot, so power is not a consideration. An inch difference in group size from slow fire prone, or worse, off the bench, at 100 yards target is irrelevant to hunting. A 3 inch difference in trajectory at 300 yards is likewise irrelevant. Even if there was an opportunity to take a 300 yard shot with a scoped rifle, the target is large enough to be within the margin of error, but its unlikely you would even attempt that shot with the issue sights on the rifle, and almost as unlikely if you had a receiver mounted aperture sight, if the light was poor. If hunting in thick cover, where ranges are typically within 50 yards, and almost certainly always within 150, a fast handling SKS comes into its own with its ability to provide a rapid follow-up shot.
 
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Any one of those should be accurate/powerful enough to take a deer.

What you might want to consider is that there's potential for your guns to get damaged out in the field (scratches, dings, rust). If any of them are in VG condition, they should probably stay home.
 
I've used all of those except the K31 on deer. Obviously you need soft points for hunting.

The Swede is a nice rifle, even better if it is an M38. You may run into issues with the M96 and it's 300 yard sights shooting high.

The 8mm should really be though of as 2 cartridges, with typical American ammo it is a 30-30, with European ammo it is a 30-06. The Mosin is similar to the 30-06 and with S&B 180 grainers it works very well on deer.

The SKS is fine for close shots, but from what I have seen, 100 yard + accuracy is not nearly as good as the others.

I think soft point ammo will be a problem for the K31, I have found Norma in the past but have no idea now.

I'd advise picking the one you like and shoot the best. Failing that, use the one you can get soft point ammo for.
 
I hunt rabbits with this one for fun.It has been converted to single shot 22lr

image.jpg
 
PPU has good 196gn SP bullets for the k98. Federal has a decent round in 7.62 for the sks.

Depends your terrain, if your in the brush hunting less than 100m id take the sks. on open field 100m and plus the Mauser or any other mentioned will be great. The most important is you train to shoot whatever you decide to take so you know your limits and get an ethical kill.
 
PPU has good 196gn SP bullets for the k98.

-snip- The most important is you train to shoot whatever you decide to take so you know your limits and get an ethical kill.



K98, K31, or the Swedish Mauser would do the job nicely. I would personally choose the K31 because there is a 99% chance that it has a better trigger than either of the Mausers Shot placement is king, and a better trigger has never hurt anyone's chances of putting a round into the boiler room. (also because I have a couple hundred rounds of Graf & Sons 7.5 X 55 AMAX sitting next to my sadly dwindling stash GP11. I know the AMAX is not purpose built as a hunting bullet - but for deer I would be completely fine using it. https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/Wound+Database/.30+cal+-+Hornady+A-Max.html )

I also know that PPU and Norma both make soft point ammo in 7.5x55 that is sold in Canada. You should likewise have zero issue finding soft point ammo for either one of those Mausers. Choose the one of the three that you shoot best, make sure it has a good sling, buy a hundred (or two hundred) rounds of quality hunting ammunition, ensure that it's zeroed for a 200 meter MPBR, and practice until you only have a box left. Then go hunting with a smile on your face.

Alternatively get an SKS set up similarly...but the truth is that the 7.62x39 is "okay" for deer only if the range is kept short. Most X39 ammo drops below 1000 ft-lbs of energy right at 100 yards. I would personally choose not to take a shot on a deer with an X39 at any range longer than that. In contrast, the 7.5x55 and both flavors of Mauser are outstanding for deer all the way out to the limit of ethical hunting distance for 95% of shooters, and if loaded with a quality bonded or partition bullet I'd happily use one for Moose or Elk within the appropriate envelope (dictated by velocity and bullet construction).

By the way - if you go deer hunting with a Mosin when you have those three vastly superior options, you're probably a hipster.
 
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Nothing wrong with Milsurp for hunting. I'm using my Grandfather's Jungle Carbine to bag my first deer. I was about two seconds from pulling the trigger but the bugger took off.
 
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