I was a bit skeptical about the SKS as a hunting rifle. But here in Ontario deer tend to be shot at under 50 yards. Most of mine were at around 25 yards and only two were beyond 50, so the power of the 7.62x39 is certainly adequate.
I am too old to use open iron sights and the scope mounted on the SKS action cover was a bit wobbly, so it was still difficult to take the rifle seriously.
I have two SKS rifles that I shoot regularly. A Russian with a cheap ($20) 4X scope and a Norinco I bought about 30 years ago. Recently both got modified. A ¼ x 20 tap was run through the cover pin holes and now a bolt holds the covers on solidly. The scope is rock solid. The Norinco has had a peep sight silver soldered into a slot cut ion the action cover, and it too is solid. I have not yet found a black bolt, so you can see the silver bolt in the actin pin hole. It is threaded through the two receiver walls and the cover pin channel.
Today I zeroed these rifles at 50 yards. This seems to be a realistic distance for a deer rifle (although confirmation groups were also shot at 100 – they were less than twice as big ??) For the sake of reference, I also shot my M94 30-30 at 50yards with a handload of 37gr BLC2 and a 150gr RN. This was chosen because this was what was on the shelf. I loaded this ammo for hunting about 20 years ago. The rifle has a Williams peep sight.
In 7.62x39 I shot the two SKS rifles, plus a CZ858 with a SPARC red dot and a VZ 58 with a 15” barrel and a peep sight mounted on the action cover. That is 4 different rifles, plus the Winchester.
I shot several different 7.62x39 loads, including Russian, Romanian, and a Mexican Match with a 1.5 g extra powder under a 123 Hornady soft point.
They all shot about the same. The peep sights on 3 rifles may have done a bit better than the Red Dot and the scope, but all grouped well enough for hunting within 50 yards.
One can look at these 50 yard results and wonder how much of the group is the rifle and how much is the ammo. If the ammo is not capable of anything better, then the rifles are excellent. Or vice versa.
To address this question I built a 7.62x39 test rifle on a Rem788 action, using an old heavy target rifle barrel, cut down to 20" and chambered in 7.62x39. It is throated a bit deep so as to accommodate 155 gr match bullets.
The above ammo, plus some handloads with both 125 gr 308 bullets, Mexican Match with 123 .311 bullets and some 155gr 308 A-Max. This testing was done at 100 yards, and the milsurp shot around 1.5" (very good) and the handloads around an inch or bit less.
I am too old to use open iron sights and the scope mounted on the SKS action cover was a bit wobbly, so it was still difficult to take the rifle seriously.
I have two SKS rifles that I shoot regularly. A Russian with a cheap ($20) 4X scope and a Norinco I bought about 30 years ago. Recently both got modified. A ¼ x 20 tap was run through the cover pin holes and now a bolt holds the covers on solidly. The scope is rock solid. The Norinco has had a peep sight silver soldered into a slot cut ion the action cover, and it too is solid. I have not yet found a black bolt, so you can see the silver bolt in the actin pin hole. It is threaded through the two receiver walls and the cover pin channel.
Today I zeroed these rifles at 50 yards. This seems to be a realistic distance for a deer rifle (although confirmation groups were also shot at 100 – they were less than twice as big ??) For the sake of reference, I also shot my M94 30-30 at 50yards with a handload of 37gr BLC2 and a 150gr RN. This was chosen because this was what was on the shelf. I loaded this ammo for hunting about 20 years ago. The rifle has a Williams peep sight.
In 7.62x39 I shot the two SKS rifles, plus a CZ858 with a SPARC red dot and a VZ 58 with a 15” barrel and a peep sight mounted on the action cover. That is 4 different rifles, plus the Winchester.
I shot several different 7.62x39 loads, including Russian, Romanian, and a Mexican Match with a 1.5 g extra powder under a 123 Hornady soft point.
They all shot about the same. The peep sights on 3 rifles may have done a bit better than the Red Dot and the scope, but all grouped well enough for hunting within 50 yards.
One can look at these 50 yard results and wonder how much of the group is the rifle and how much is the ammo. If the ammo is not capable of anything better, then the rifles are excellent. Or vice versa.
To address this question I built a 7.62x39 test rifle on a Rem788 action, using an old heavy target rifle barrel, cut down to 20" and chambered in 7.62x39. It is throated a bit deep so as to accommodate 155 gr match bullets.
The above ammo, plus some handloads with both 125 gr 308 bullets, Mexican Match with 123 .311 bullets and some 155gr 308 A-Max. This testing was done at 100 yards, and the milsurp shot around 1.5" (very good) and the handloads around an inch or bit less.
Last edited:
