sks for deer hunting

There are ways to improve safety and reduce the risk of slamfires in your sks. Before I hunt with my sks this fall I am putting in a firingpin with spring from Ben Murray (murraysguns.com/sksown.htm).

I will also be getting trigger work done by Tom Prince aka Kivaari because I have negative engagement of my hammer/sear with very little creep...since the safety only blocks the trigger and not the hammer/sear this is an unsafe condition allowing the gun to fire even with the safety on if it is dropped or banged hard enough. For a much better explanation of this and his trigger work check out kivaari.com.

While slamfires at the range are one thing and not that big of a deal I sure would prefer not to have it happen when out hunting! I know lots of people can do this trigger work themselves but I am not one of them so yah I am paying someone else to do it for me. ;)

Also check out sksboards.com for as much info as you could ever dream of on every aspect of sks rifles. :)
 
The right tool for the right job at the right price. The SKS is a battle rifle designed to sling lead at less than a 100 yards. Thats it, thats all. You can get a Remington 710 in 30.06 and other calibers for $429. Thats with glass.
Enjoy the SKS for what it is: a fun plinker and a important contributor to firearms evolution. I like the SKS, I own two. But it is not a hunting/accuracy rifle and any mods other than a new stock are a waste of money.
 
when i had my sks-d i had alot of fun with it. the accuracy was ok, at 100M i would say 4 inches in average....i can tell you i would not feel comfortable hunting with it tho. (except maybe coyote slaying)
 
NEVER, EVER buy a Remington M710! EVER! It would be more effective to chase the deer down and beat it to death with it than to shoot it. Those things are CRAP. And I personally think an SKS would work fine for deer hunting as long as you get accurate, expanding ammo and test fire it at the range to make sure it shoots at least around 2".

-Rohann
 
I am curious what makes the SKS a better deer rifle than the 710? The reviews I read of the 710 indicated it felt cheap with a poor trigger.. BUT it is cheap and got the job done, which appears to be what we are discussing. Did you own a 710?
 
my brother has taken a few deer and a few moose with his 710, no problems, seems to be a decent rifle. I have taken MANY deer with my sks, also with no problem. I did spend a fair bit on some custom work to my sks that has made it an effective hunting tool, I consider it money well spent. It does boil down to the right tool for the right job. I only use my sks for ONE of the areas I hunt. This area is steep slopes and thick bushm shots come quick and at times, very close. Closest shot has been 30 ft out to about 100 yards. Everytime I have squeezed the trigger on an animal with this sks, it has ended up in my belly :D
As a general all around rifle, forget it, but for a brush gun in areas where you know the shots will be close, a decent grouping sks is defiately an option to consider. One thing I have noticed though is that guys put those stupid ass receiver cover scopemounts on and trying to maintain any semblance of accuracy with them is retarded. If you are serious about using an sks for any kind of hunting, have the receiver drilled and tapped to accept a proper scope mount. I wonder how many of the "anti sks" crowd have tried shooting a properly scoped and zeroed sks.... mine shoots great.
 
TW25B said:
The right tool for the right job at the right price. The SKS is a battle rifle designed to sling lead at less than a 100 yards. Thats it, thats all. You can get a Remington 710 in 30.06 and other calibers for $429. Thats with glass.
Enjoy the SKS for what it is: a fun plinker and a important contributor to firearms evolution. I like the SKS, I own two. But it is not a hunting/accuracy rifle and any mods other than a new stock are a waste of money.
Click to expand...

This is sound advice. Base your decision on the type of area/range you will most likely hunt. If the 710 is not your cup of tea, perhaps a stevens 200 or something from the EE will give you a more comfortable range limitation.
 
45ACP:

Would you kindly post the pic of your SKS group? I just D&T scoped my SKS and I am curious to know the limit of this gun.

Thanks in advance!
 
What 7.62x39 ammo are people hunting with?

125gr soft point or hollow point seems a bit light to me. There is 150gr soft point available and it would be fairly easy to reload with decent 150gr bullets.

I have a bolt action 7.62x39 and am trying to work up loads for both 125gr and 150gr bullets. I also have a cast 200gr round nose hollow point that would be the absolute #### on deer. :)

Supu30.JPG
Supu30HP.JPG
 
Suputin, I would like to see what those 200grain bullets look like after fired into balistic gelitan at 100yards. The 123/125grain soft point is more than adiquate on deer(remember the reduced velocity) I don't think the 150's would expand as well downrange as the 125's Don't use hollow points, especialy russian hollow points... and also I was disapointed in the chinese soft points preformance to.... Both of them droped deer on the spot.... but both apeared to tumble , and not acutaly open up. I know a few people that use nothing but 130 grain bullets in the 308 for deer.

I don't think the sks should be the first gun the kid hunts with... Mostly because of the trigger. I think they should have atleast a good bolt action with irons(suprpluss mauser, would suggest mosin, but the bolt would be to stiff). Or a scoped stevens would be a good starter gun.

Yeah and I never use the safty on my sks(except for disasembly), its either loaded, and your ready to fire, or unchamberd.
 
I feed my sks remington express 125gr 7.62 x 39 SP and federal classic 7.62x39 soviet 123gr hi shock SP. The federal seems to shoot very nice.
It should be availlable at any well stocked gun shop. Several years ago "Black Hills" used to manufacture 150gr SP but they stopped production for some reason. 123gr and 125 gr are very adequate for deer, it is the foot pounds of energy they hit with that is the killer, not so much the bullet weight. Animals with thicker hides and heavier bones may not succumb to a sks bullet but deer go down nicely providing the shot is placed well.
I would only play with reloading hot and heavy loads with a threaded barrel/breech sks as they seem to have a whole lot more steel in the barrel/receiver area. Somewhere I have an old guns and ammo with a huge article on reloading the 7.62 x 39. I was VERY impressed with the loads they were working up but these loads were being fired from heavy barrelled pistols chambered for this round.
As far as groups with my rifle go.... I am hitting the range on monday so I'll blast a few targets for ya's and post the groups.
 
I bought some 110gr VMax bullets today. I know these aren't deer bullets but they have other uses and nobody in town seems to have the 125gr Ballistic Tips I was looking for.

150gr Ballistic Tips would probably work really well but I haven't got any decent 150gr loads yet so those'll have to wait.
 
A writer in one of the popular gun mags determines his skill/gun choice by shooting at 8" pie plates placed randomly at various distances up to the max distance he plans to hunt. If he can place all his shots inside the pie plates (representing the kill zone of the animal) at all distances from various shooting positions, he considers himself ready.

Why not try that experiment with your young shooter. Or better yet, try it with both the SKS and a scope sighted rifle. I have a feeling he'll do much better with the scope sighted rifle. Certainly a SKS will kill a deer but the scope sight will allow him to place that first and all important bullet accurately.
 
APR said:
A writer in one of the popular gun mags determines his skill/gun choice by shooting at 8" pie plates placed randomly at various distances up to the max distance he plans to hunt. If he can place all his shots inside the pie plates (representing the kill zone of the animal) at all distances from various shooting positions, he considers himself ready.

Why not try that experiment with your young shooter. Or better yet, try it with both the SKS and a scope sighted rifle. I have a feeling he'll do much better with the scope sighted rifle. Certainly a SKS will kill a deer but the scope sight will allow him to place that first and all important bullet accurately.
Click to expand...

Right on the mark! The 7.62X39 will kill a deer for sure that is not an issue. But you have to hit it!!!!!!
 
david doyle said:
SKS for deer sure no problem.

SKS for a kid to hunt with in the bush? Are you serious! Get the kid a safe rifle.

Sure the SKS saftey is fine but it is a semi, no one in there right mind would give an inexperienced youth a semi to start hunting with. The SKS is not inheriently unsafe but it is in no way the safest rifle and is probabley pretty low on the list.
Get the kid a mauser in 7mm, or a savage 340 in 30-30 or a single shot handi rifle etc etc. They can all be had for a couple few hundred, are safer, more accurate and can be better killers.
I love the SKS in fact worship is not to strong a word, but would not put one in the hands of an inexperienced hunter who is going to be pretty excited and distracted when he blasts his first bambi.
Click to expand...

This is about exectly my view on inexperienced hunters ( espesially young ones) and semis.
Too much emphasis is focused on firepower and not enough on making a one shot, clean kill the first time.

JMHO
Cat
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom