Best deer cartridge for 7.62x39

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Mattj4867

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I decided on getting a CZ 527 carbine in 7.62x39. Im debating on which cartridge would be best suited to be used on deer. Would 123 or 154 gr be best. I also want large wounds with expansion but no fragmentation. I was thinking about hornady's 123gr sst or wolf's 154gr soft point. What would be your suggestions?
 
The SST's have a reputation for explosive expansion and poor penetration. However, in a rifle with less bullet speed they might do better.
 
I have killed deer with the 154 wolf load. The bullet go through but don't expand much at all. I believe they are the same bullet that's loaded into the 7.62x54R and they hold up well even at the much higher velocity of the Mosin Nagant round.
I have also used the Russian 123 grain soft points and they work very well. Other than handloads, this is the best one I have used so far.
The 122 gr hollow points are bad. Break up completely and don't penetrate well.
 
I haven't heard any GOOD reports on the X39 154 grain ammo on deer. Too tough and doesn't expand.
I've used PPU round nose and it's OK but I wouldn't even try it in a semi-auto. The SST has more potential if you're using a semi-auto.
 
123 grain SST. The only complaints I've heard about them is that they damage the meat on deer. I took a 50 yd heart/lung shot on a Texas hill country buck and he bucked up and ran about 10-15 yards before piling up.
I use the 123 SSTs from a 16" barrel on hogs and get plenty of penetration out to 150 yds. I don't see how they would under penetrate on deer, especially at 7.62x39 velocity.


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x39mm bullets

I hunt two rifles for whitetails in the x39mm cartridge. For quite some time I shot a reload, but Sierra has discontiued the slug I used, so I went searching for another. I traded into some .310/123 gr SST ammo, and worked up a load. Stuff shot great out of my Ruger bolt rifle, and I settled on a charge that yielded 2225 fps from its 20" tube.

Bamaboy popped a doe with it this season, tight behind the shoulder at about 50 yds. Expansion seemed better than with the Sierra slug I 'd shot previously, and we got through and through wounds. The shot did not hit any shoulder bones, but punched the ribs only. Deer made the typical death sprint (into a fence) and was done.

If you do not load, Hornady offers this same slug as loaded ammo in a steel case, and I think the stuff is reasonably priced. I believe the standard load is in their "Steel Case " line. Hornady also offers the silly "Zombie Max" ammo which is the same thing as near as I can tell, but priced higher due to its novelty factor I suppose.

The SST in the bolt rifle will become my standard load in that rig. I have not tried any in the Mini30. I have enough of heavier Sierra reloads to keep the Mini going for a few more seasons.
 
import

REgards the various import soft points and hollow points, my observations are that they perform all over the map regards expansion/penetration. I suspect the jacket metal varies from factory to factory as well as the hardness of the lead core. The result is some fragment, others punch through and act like a FMJ. I have not shot a big game animal with any of them, but the various gel tests online seem to show a wide range of results.

Good, commercial hunting slugs and ammo are available here in the USA from the big ammo companies and I would go that route for hunting ammo (deer/hogs).
 
"REgards the various import soft points and hollow points, my observations are that they perform all over the map regards expansion/penetration."

Over the years, I've shot a few deer, a coyote or two, and assorted other critters with an old SKS using "hunting type" bi-metal jacketed HP European ammo. At least one of the deer showed that the bullet had tumbled rather than expanded. Dead deer but still not the type of performance I expected.
 
jugs

Not that it proves much, but I've shot the import JHP's into a line of water jugs,and find fragments and every indication the slug just went to pieces.
 
I've loaded up both 123 gr SST and 154 gr SP Wolf both. I've not taken a shot with either,so I can't talk about terminal effects, but both seemed accurate enough out to 100 yards from a 16" Bushmaster AR.
 
For factory ammunition the Hornady 123 SST is really good, it is even available in a brass case, but if you can find it the Federal Fusion and the
Federal SP version should be good also. The Winchester Power Point gets high marks too.

The SST is the most common, but as far as bullet construction the Federal Fusion is bonded while none of the others are.

If you reload get some CFE BLK and a 123 bullet of your choice and SMILE. My 16" AR Stoner upper shoots the SST and Speer Hot-Cor with a max load of CFE BLK at 2485fps. There IS NOT a factory ammo that can match that velocity.
 
distance

If your going to hunt 7.62x39, distance is not the way one wants to be thinking, there are better choices. I zero my x39 rifles on at 100, and select them when I make hunts where I can pretty much predict I will not be shooting past that distance, as I cannot see game in that cover much more than 75 yds or so anyhow. Running my kills, and bamaboys, over in my mind, I don't think we've taken one with the x39 past 60 yds or so, and the biggest was at 19 paces.

At those distances, launched at appx 2250 fps, expansion was fine with the Sierra 135 SSP and now the SST. The x39 is well matched to those conditions. I can pick and choose my rifles and hunts. If I could not, and anticipated seeing and shooting deer size game at further distances, and could only hunt a single rifle, or maybe a pair, I would pick something that shot a little harder and flatter......
 
I've always wondered why it hasn't caught on as a suitable AR platform for deer hunting. One would think it would be better than a smaller diameter bullet

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Fla_dogman:
I've always wondered why it hasn't caught on as a suitable AR platform for deer hunting. One would think it would be better than a smaller diameter bullet
Click to expand...
I think it's because 6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC both stormed into the hunting niche before the 7.62x39 camp had figured out how to feed such a harshly tapered cartridge reliably through the straight mag well in the AR. People have talked about brush hunting with SKS rifles for the past 20 years, so the thought was there, but the platform wasn't ready.

Nowadays, you hear lots about 300 blackout and hunting which is ballistic twins to the x39. Maybe it's time for a comeback.
 
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