Anyone use an bare bones stock semi auto AK to hunt with.

Not an AK

I retired my LE/.303 and have used an SKS as my deer rifle for the past 5 or so seasons, I've gotten a deer (or 2) every season. :cool:

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MythBuster, got the joke and laughed, most of my barn cats are Maine Coon's at around 15 pounds, trying to get my head around fitting them through the hole..........:eek:
 
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If you do use an AK to hunt big game with be sure to use soft point ammunition. Most 7.62x39 ammunition is not considered soft point ammo by the Idaho Fish and Game, even if the tip is exposed lead. Simply put, military type ammo is not designed for the expansion you need for deer, elk etc.. There was a story going around up here about a couple of guys elk hunting with their Ak-47's. They ended up shooting something like 8 elk before they realized that they weren't missing but that their ammunition was just putting little holes in the elk. So the elk would run off and then die a slow death later. I dont recall if those guys got thrown in jail or not.

I would be sure to check regulations for your state, and even call the local fish and game officer if needed, to be sure about the ammunition thing. If your not careful, it's a good way to get fined and end up in jail etc.

If the AK is all you have then I guess you could make it work.
 
Don't let the naysayers get to you. Just because it's a Commie designed assault rifle doesn't mean that it's a bad choice for hunting. The 7.62x39 is similar to a 30-30. Therefore, if you do your part and get the bullets on target, the target will be dead. In my experience, most AKs are at least minute-of-wild-hog, and the steel case soft points are just fine. Makes me wonder why people waste money on medium powered brass cased stuff for shots inside 150 yards. Anyway, if I were hog hunting in areas where they've taken over or if I were going after other medium game at medium range, I wouldn't hesitate to take an AK that I could shoot well. I would avoid the 5.45x39 variant for a multitude of reasons.
 
I have been hog hunting with a ak47 before..we ambushed a group of them while there where destroying a neighbors corn field..it was awesome :)

And when im moving around ill leave my safety on but when I sit down it comes off :) if you think it is unsafe, better not ever buy a glock :)
 
CatFishMan , you are right , the safety should be on till ready to shoot ! Unfortunately there are many like the guy that made that post ! We have to live among them , but I'll be damned if I'll hunt anywhere near them , if I can help it !
 
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I consider this to be unsafe and unnecessary.

Simple rule: The safety is always on until I get ready to shoot. I thought that was everyone's rule.
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This makes no sense at all to me. With handguns, you are expected to keep a round in the chamber, and with many modern handguns there is no manual safety. Yet, you walk around with that handgun strapped to you, or keep it in your home for home protection. No worries there.

But, when you are sitting in a tree stand or behind a blind with your bolt-action rifle - not even walking around, you consider it unsafe to keep the safety off???? Why?
 
The average AK is safer with the safety off than a lot of US made bolt guns are with the safety on.

Since so many hunters lack any real world rifle skills they assume they have to have a trigger that breaks if a slight breeze blow on it and so many modern hunting bolt guns have manual safeties that only prevent you from pulling the trigger these guns are NOT safe. There are FAR more idiots in the woods with these guns than with perfectly safe AK rifles.

You can take the average AK and chamber a round leave the safety in the off position and proceed to beat the thing around a tree and it is less likely to fire than many high dollar hunting rifles being dropped on the soft ground of the Forrest with the safety on.

There is NOTHING wrong with a man with an AK sitting in the woods with his safety off. No one is recommending that he keep it that way at all times.
 
7.62x39 for deer, but no AK kill.........yet

I hunt the x39 ctg quite a bit for deer, as does bamaboy. No kills with an AK, but in a pair of Rugers, a Mk77-II and a Mini-30, both w/ low powered scopes. I feel quite comfortable in advising that the x39 is entirely suitable for whitetails in the 150 yd range from those rifles. We typically use a handload topped w/ the now defunct Sierra 135 SSP bullet, which was a dandy. The comparison to .30-30 is apt. We get pass-throughs and good expansion, have not lost a deer, and some are DRT. The biggest buck of I will likely ever kill was taken w/ the Ruger 77 in x39, a monster 5-1/2 year old approaching 200 lbs with a dandy rack. Heart shot at 19 yds, he ran about 50. Wish I'd had my bow that morning ..sort of.

I've carried an AK into a deer stand exactly once, just to say I had. It was basically a bow tree, shots would have been well under 50, and I'm sure it would have sufficed, but no opportunity. With the 5 rd box, it was not too clunky, and had I dropped the rifle from the tree, it would not have bothered me (or it)! I used the Brown Bear 125 SP round, which is alleged to actually perform like a true SP. I would avoid the assorted JHP bulk ammo for deer. I have not tried any domestic x39 ammo, or my reloads in the AK. The Tapco trigger I installed is actually very useable and helps in shooting mine well a good deal.

The sights on an AK give my 50+ eyes fits, and I would never hunt w/ it in the afternoons, as the PM light (lack there of) would prove an obstacle. A dot or scout scope would help, but I do not want to make the investment. An optic on an AK is sort of a turn off for me as well.

For some reason, zeroed at 100, my AK prints pretty high at 50, enough that I need to remember to draw a "fine" bead. I suppose it is related to the high sight plane of the design . One hundred yard 5 rd groups are pretty sloppy, about 6 MOA, but adequate for the stands and shots I would ever take with the AK.

The M77 is a different story, 1.5 MOA and the Mini is about 3 MOA
with the best ammo.
 
Safety

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Also as long as you are sitting still there is no need to even have it (the safety) on.
I consider this to be unsafe and unnecessary.

Simple rule: The safety is always on until I get ready to shoot. I thought that was everyone's rule.

+1 I agree with Catfishman
IMO and training the safety is always on until sights are on the target.
 
Be Safe Out There

Safety lies between the ears of the person handling the gun ! A mechanical safety is just a back up to safe gun handling ! So theoreticaly I guess you should never need to use a safety , if there is never a lapse in your muzzle control ! If you don't take your safety off when you aren't firing a shot , you will not forget to put it back on , PERIOD ! In 20+ years of teaching hunter safety here in VT , none of my students has ever been involved in a firearms related accident ! That's all the validation I need thank you !
 
I don't think I want to hunt with someone that can't spell the state they live in ! Thanks anyway though , appriciate the invite !
 
I don't hunt with or own an AK but I do hunt with a bone stock SKS. 7.62x39 is just what I need for where I hunt. Just get some soft points and go at it.
 
AK 2 deer 0

I have taken my AK-47 deer hunting. It works good in think trees and brush where my shots are expected to be 35 to 100 yards. I chose the 7.62 OVER the 5.45 because its 'deer legal' (in my state). I have taken 2 deer with it. One of them was running "flat-out" about 75 yards and drop where it was hit. The ballistics are similar to the 30-30, so I use it in similar situations that I would the short lever guns.

I don't like the Wolf hollow points; they don't seem to expand. I use the Silver Bear or Brown Bear soft points (123 gr). But I have not tested the Wolf 154 gr soft points.
 
Overstating and exaggeration while common place in the firearms commutnity, do more harm then good.
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Yes but funny.

"...left a hole you could throw a cat though"

I shot a stray cat with a .270 that left a hole you could throw a cat through.

But seriously...the 7.62x39 softpoints are a good round for deer. Either through AK or SKS. Jumped a small herd that was bedded down and got 2 before the others got away. Dropped them like a bad habit. With iron sights at about 40 yrds.
 
What do you guys do when you are hunting near a guy who is hunting with a rifle like an old Winchester 94 or Marlin that doesn't have a safety? Leave the woods? :)
 
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