Ruger mk2 7.62x39 field test

HeadDamage

HeadDamage

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Just shot a deer with 7.62x39 123gr Fed ammo from my Ruger M77 Mk2 and it rocked. Approx 200m from the top of one side of a step colluee to the the other side. Waited for the deer to climb the colluee and when it stopped angled/quartered away from me I slipped the bullet in just behind the last rib on the right side and it passed through the chest cavity and out of the left shoulder. Deer bolted about 50m and dropped dead. The lungs where toast, but there was no blood trail or meat damage. Other than the lack of blood trail I'd say this was a perfect result. I'm very staisfied that this Ruger M77 Mk2 in 7.62x39 with the Fed 123sp ammo is a great little deer rifle and will be perfect for my wife to use or for a back up gun for me when I've buggered up my shoulder like right now, crashed my motorcycle a couple of weeks ago and hurt my shooting shoulder... didn't like the idea of shooting my normal rifle right now, 338win, due to the injury. The 7.62x39 is so mild to shoot anyone could use it with out fear and as an added bonus it doesn't make my ears ring like the 338win always does when I shoot it with out ear protection.
 
Very seldom with this placement will you get a heavy blood trail from a HV round. You'll get a large blow out to indicte a solid hit, bits of lung, and then the chest cavity acts as a reservoir holding most of the blood. You hit the X MARK very little muscle mass to tear up and create that blood trail.
Great one shot kill good caliber for deer.
 
art.h said:
Very seldom with this placement will you get a heavy blood trail from a HV round. You'll get a large blow out to indicte a solid hit, bits of lung, and then the chest cavity acts as a reservoir holding most of the blood. You hit the X MARK very little muscle mass to tear up and create that blood trail.
Great one shot kill good caliber for deer.
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I'll assume by HV yuo mean High Velocity? 7.62x39 @ 200m is hardly high velocity. around 1750fps at that range. 825ft.lbs. with that federal load (ref. federal ammo website)
 
303carbine said:
But in the inaccurate commie crap sks , it sucks.:runaway:
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This is the opinion of many on this board, but I have to say I've never had any trouble hitting what I was aiming at with mine. Maybe I bought a good one, I dunno, but I would take it whitetail hunting anyday in the brush.

BTW, good job HD.
 
Spitzer said:
This is the opinion of many on this board, but I have to say I've never had any trouble hitting what I was aiming at with mine. Maybe I bought a good one, I dunno, but I would take it whitetail hunting anyday in the brush.

BTW, good job HD.
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+1 I grew up on iron sites though. :)
 
Well the 7.62x39 just did another deer in tonight. Right as the sun was setting I jumped a nice 4x4 whitetail buck out of his bed. I took him with a snap shot as he bolted across between two patches of bush. The shot was from about 75m broadside and entered the left shoulder, it apears to have fragmented some what with the bulk of the bulit busting his right leg as it defected down and out. On the way through the front of the chest cavity it severed the main arteries between the heart and the neck. He piled up hard and fast and skidded about 15ft or so before coming to a stop, he was dead before he hit the ground. The best part was that the recoil was so mild that I got to see the whole thing through the scope without wondering what happend. This is a great little round and rifle combination for medium to close range deer hunting :D
 
Too many times we see the comparison made between the 7.62x39 and the 30/30 and it is not a valid comparison...The 30/30 shoots a 170gr. bullet at 2200 fps, the 7.62x39 is a 123gr. bullet at about the same speed, the old .30 WCF is by far the better killer.
 
ben hunchak said:
Too many times we see the comparison made between the 7.62x39 and the 30/30 and it is not a valid comparison...The 30/30 shoots a 170gr. bullet at 2200 fps, the 7.62x39 is a 123gr. bullet at about the same speed, the old .30 WCF is by far the better killer.
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By that logic I should be using a 16in naval gun but that is not the point of this tread. I've just been pointing out that 7.62x39 in a good quality hunting rifle makes a fine low recoil hunting rifle. I've used 303brit, 6.5x55, 338win, and now the 7.62x39 to hunt with. By far most of my game has fallen to my 338win but it is not needed for deer sized game at close to moderate range so as an experiment to see if I could find a nice rifle for my wife and other beginners to shot with I wanted to field trail this combination myself first. It works and it works very well, I didn't say that it worked better or worse than anything else just that it does infact work... simple. Now having said that of the rounds that I've mentioned the 6.5x55 is my all around favorite for deer but it never hurts to thinkout side of the box once in awhile ;) Besides good hunting requires good shooting more than it requires the perfect round so this is another reason I picked the 7.62x39 to try... you can't get a cheaper round to practice with, surpluss ammo is cheap and the round will not burn the barrel out anytime soon.
 
good shooting.

I always advocated that the 7.62x39 is a great round, specially given it's availability and price. Not a first choice and not a prime cartridge, but a great killer. The projectile is not heavy, but it penetrates farily deep. We were taught that is goes thru up to 5 ppl on a frontal shot. Whoever tested this... I do not want to know.

I like the 7.52x54 better - but that doesn't make the round unsuitable.

any pictures?
 
Ok, here is the Whitetail:

Whitetail2006a.jpg
 
ben hunchak said:
Too many times we see the comparison made between the 7.62x39 and the 30/30 and it is not a valid comparison...The 30/30 shoots a 170gr. bullet at 2200 fps, the 7.62x39 is a 123gr. bullet at about the same speed, the old .30 WCF is by far the better killer.
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Well there are 2 deer in Head Damage,s freezer that say the 7.62x39 will kill just as easy as the 30-30:D
 
If you look at the Tailor Knockdown index, the 7.62x39 has a value of 11 at 100 yards, the 30-30 winchester has a knockdown value of 14.05 , if you compare that to the 44 remington magnum, it has a value of 20.3 at 100 yards, these values were computed with standard weight bullets travelling at standard factory load velocities.
 
Taylor Knock down was calculation Taylor used to figure out the length of time it would take to render an ELEPHANT unconsious that was shot in the HEAD when the brain is missed with a SOLID bullet.

People wrongly apply it medium game shot in the body with soft bullets.
 
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