Hey, my spring bear this year was a through and through, double lung with an SKS and a PRVI 125gn bullet from 30yds away. 200lb boar. He went 30yds into the woods and died (a total of about 75yds if you count the running around in a circle scraping his side on the ground and sh!tting everywhere). But, hey, what do I know? Besides the limits of my rifle, cartridge, ability...?
spring bear: sks or 12ga slugs
- Thread starter safehunter
- Start date
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
people talking about inaccuracy with the sks out to 100 yards I can put my reloads into a fist sized group this is with 2 different rifles both bone stock a Russian and a type 56. not every gun is going to shoot well with factory ammo inaccuracy can also be blamed on the shooter. also stock fit is a big thing the Russians made the stock short not because Russians are shot but because of winter clothing and the fact that the rifle had to fit both men and women I deal with it by using a slip on recoil pad.
The scenario is "Baited Bears", ergo the range is 5-25 yards... Not 20-100 yards... And the recommendation is 12 gauge slugs WITH either an optic or fiber optic sights... Which IS a solid recommendation for bears... If the range was 100 yards, I would have said "neither."
To the OP................
At the risk of repeating myself, if you are not comfortable with what you have available
and dont want to miss the hunt.......................................
If you get near Ottawa before spring bear, you are more than welcome to borrow
any of my rifles. I have several that you might want to try out.
Hell, I'll even reload a few boxes for you.
All I ask is that you return them with a couple of nice, juicy roasts.
(YES, I'm serious)
Happy new year !!!!!!!!!!!
At the risk of repeating myself, if you are not comfortable with what you have available
and dont want to miss the hunt.......................................
If you get near Ottawa before spring bear, you are more than welcome to borrow
any of my rifles. I have several that you might want to try out.
Hell, I'll even reload a few boxes for you.
All I ask is that you return them with a couple of nice, juicy roasts.
(YES, I'm serious)
Happy new year !!!!!!!!!!!
Given the original question asked I too would suggest the 12 gauge over the SKS.... Many of you who are reccomending the SKS are experienced shooters and reloaders while the OP is neither... OP will not be shooting off a bench or sandbag with tested and built loads... completely different scenario....
Now, what I would do if I were the OP would be to sell the sks and add a bit of funds and get a Handi rifle or a Rossi single in .30-06 or .308 and equip it with suitable factory ammo... Buy it used off of the EE, take care of it and you will always get your money back for it... also, the wife won;t get so excited about it if you sell one to buy one... If I were the OP I would consider the hunt to be more important than the rifle and would look at the rifle as simply a tool to get the job done and I would make sure I had one that would perform as expected...
Now, what I would do if I were the OP would be to sell the sks and add a bit of funds and get a Handi rifle or a Rossi single in .30-06 or .308 and equip it with suitable factory ammo... Buy it used off of the EE, take care of it and you will always get your money back for it... also, the wife won;t get so excited about it if you sell one to buy one... If I were the OP I would consider the hunt to be more important than the rifle and would look at the rifle as simply a tool to get the job done and I would make sure I had one that would perform as expected...
I know that it is really fun to hunt with our Red Rifles, but bears are often shot in low light. Go with a 12 gauge and a good slug such as a Challenger or Brenneke. I have fiber optic sights on my shotgun and it enables me to shoot as long as there is legal light around. Red dots work too.
Well, in actuality, my opinion is that no one should take real time shots at game animals using rigs they have just bought. It is fact that shooters miss shots, no matter what they are shooting.
I have seen seen hunters miss game right in front of them. I have asked why and been answered "I don't know how that missed, the gun came certified it was bore sighted and had a target with it!" They never checked it or even fired it before the hunt.
I have seen brand-new $2000 rigs brought to the gun club range for sight-in days. These guys expect their bore-sighted rifles to hit the bull at 100yds and brought a WHOLE BOX OF 20 CARTRIDGES to sight in and hunt this year! AND THEY'RE MAD WHEN THE ROUNDS DON'T EVEN PRINT ON THE TARGET FRAME! Are these guys better shooters than a guy who shoots 1000 rounds through his SKS and then takes that hunting? Or is the $2000 rig and a poor shooter the "shakier" platform?
A 125gn bullet from an SKS traveling at more than 2300fps hitting a bear is different from a 130gn 7mm bullet traveling at 2300fps hitting that same bear?
My post, and the BS call, was set to show that the SKS is more than capable of decent accuracy. None of my SKSs are "hopped up". They don't need to be. The one used here was not tricked out other than a 4x scope and a synth Butler creek stock (to increase the LOP). Yes, I did use a bench and sand bags. I was, after all, working out a load.
3 of my 5 SKSs shoot 2" or better, but I have tweaked them a bit. So could the OP. A trigger job is not beyond anyone. Touching up the crown is easy as well. He could also remove the operating rod to increase accuracy.
I have one SKS that has received "extensive" work. When it was given to me, it shot like crap so I counter-bored it and burnished the crown inside. Went from a 6MOA to a 3MOA rifle, which is still adequate for close range hunting. With a trigger job and "doctored" milsurp rounds, it shoots 2MOA easy.
I am no gunsmith. I am no machinist. But I can use hand tools.
You are correct, though. I should not have introduced handloads into the thread knowing the OP did not gave that ability and I DID step on my d!ck there. You are also correct that your opinions may be based on more experience than I have and are therefore as much fact as my own, but, I, at least accompanied my opinions with some proof.
I know you no more than you know me, yet somehow your internet stories without backing must be taken as more legitimate than mine. I, too, have tracked animals I and others have missed or shot poorly, as well as helping lots of friends (seems I get lots of calls). No, I haven't owned an outfitter business, but I worked with a guy who did own a black bear guiding business (I was supposed to work with him over a 5yr period, eventually taking over the business, but he had a heart attack and had to sell in the second year of our agreement and I was in no position to buy it). Yes, many times I have crawled around with a light in my teeth looking for spoor (BTW, the old single mantle Coleman lanterns eliminated the hard work. The radiation that the mantle was treated with somehow lit up blood sign. Didn't do much for actual tracks or spoor, though, and now that method is gone).
Perhaps the real answer to the OP's question should have been:
take the 12ga loaded with 000 buckshot. That will give you 8+/- 36 calibre pellets traveling in excess of 1200fps, covering an area a foot and a half or more (depending on type of choke) at 25-30yds. That way, no matter how inexperienced he is, he will hit it with something.
No, gps, that wasn't the best group of many shot. I shot 6 rounds, the first printed low and right as you can see, scope adjusted and the next five was the group. I figured that was good enough.
The thread is not "what is more accurate at 100 yards- sks or shotgun?". Please stop posting how accurate your sks is. We get it. Everyone and their dog owns an sks. We know they are fairly accurate. The guy wants to shoot a bear while baiting- look up the specs of the energy between a 12 gauge slug vs a 7.62x39 at 20 yards.
Wow, for a bunch of grown ass men you sure do sound like a bunch of hot headed school girls arguing over who's boyfriends #### is bigger. Remember op just asked for your opinion on his situation not what you thought about some other posters opinion. Who gives a rats ass if you dont agree with the previous posts, that's why opinions are like #######s, everyone's got one.
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TheCoachZed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I dont know about everyone else but I wouldnt advise a slug over an SKS at 50 yards. But at bait ranges, my beaded Winchester 1300 is more than accurate and I dont have to worry about groups because the first shot is exactly where I point the bead, every time, and no bear is going to sit around and wait for shot #2. In fact, it is more accurate than several rifles I have owned, so why wouldnt I use it? At greater ranges, though, its no contest. The SKS wins.
My personal experience from 12ga slugs:
I shot my 1st black bear in the fall with a slug. approx 250lb male.
3" magnum winchester super x fired from an 18.5" rem 870 at 40 yards
Entered behind the shoulder, missed the heart but destroyed lungs/liver.
Bear ran about 100 yards then dropped.
upon skinning, we recovered the slug in the hide on the other side of the bear. it was millimetres from exiting, and remained fully intact.
I can gaurantee that penetration at that trange will be sufficient, as long as you can put it in the kill zone you will be fine.
I cant speak for the sks, but hope that helps.
I shot my 1st black bear in the fall with a slug. approx 250lb male.
3" magnum winchester super x fired from an 18.5" rem 870 at 40 yards
Entered behind the shoulder, missed the heart but destroyed lungs/liver.
Bear ran about 100 yards then dropped.
upon skinning, we recovered the slug in the hide on the other side of the bear. it was millimetres from exiting, and remained fully intact.
I can gaurantee that penetration at that trange will be sufficient, as long as you can put it in the kill zone you will be fine.
I cant speak for the sks, but hope that helps.
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I really dislike hearing that- no they are not. 170 grains and a bunch more sectional density compared to 123 grains, and the 170 grains from the .30-30 is moving even a smidge faster than the 7.62x39 123 grain generally. The .30-30 is a substantially better hunting cartridge, and will move a 7.62x39 weight bullet at almost 2,600fps- about 500fps faster than the 7.62x39.
I took my biggest Black Bear with a 12 gauge slug, it works, but you need to get close. In BC, no bait, so had to stalk and that's not always possible, at least to get to shotgun range. All depends on the type of hunt, neither are ideal tools, but it wouldn't stop me from going afield. I'd take the one that suited the terrain and hunting situation.
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
why over bait a 12ga loaded with 00 or 000 buck that's been patterned would work well and since its a fixed range in thick brush on a black bear I don't see a problem buck will take out the heart/lungs easy enough
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
You need to know a little bit about antiqueguy, and how old he is, and hoytcannon to make this judgement fairly. I haven't read anything but the first question in this thread and a few posts on this last couple pages, but hoyt has taken many, many big bears over many years and antiqueguy is well known for misguided advice and statements and what appears to be a fairly acute lack of experience. Nothing wrong him as a person I'm sure, or being new to something, if only his opinions reflected that and didn't instead attempt to cover it up.
canadaman30
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Far from the City
7.62X39....123g@2350
30-30.......170g@2200
Where do you get your numbers from????????????
He said the .30-30 will move a 7.62X39 Bullet Weight or a 123gr bullet at 2600 not a 170gr. At least that is what I gathered from his post...
Mind you the blunt nose .30-30 will shed velocity a lot quicker than the 7.62 spitzer thus evening it out quite a bit at distance. Still I think this thread has been flogged enough. I think the OP has probably made a decision by now. Just my opinion though...
