[Silent-Snail]

Of these two which is better for bear.

P.S. I don't have the time to go wading through all the search results.

[Sam Cade]

Well, neither one would do the bear any good at all. :evil:

Seriously though, the x39 is a .30-30 class cartridge, the x54 is a .308/.30-'06 class cartridge.

In this case, bigger is better.

[Crosshair]

Go for the bigger round, you need the power to punch though their tough hide. Go for heavy bullets. If you need the gun for defence, you probably are going to only get a couple of shots off anyway.

[Silent-Snail]

Recently I have considered hunting bear, however if at all possable I would like to avoid getting a gun for the sole reason of bear hunting. Which leaves me with either my Mosin or SKS.

[dasmi]

Go with the Mosin.

[killzone]

I think They both are OK for black bear as long as your shot is still over 1000 to 1200fps at 100 to 200 yards.I think I've read somewhere that they are both OK for biggame where you use heavy bullets and stay close to the target.

[Crosshair]

+1 for the Mosin. The 200 grain Wolf SP ammo is actualy a very good hunting round. MV is about 2400 fps.

[Silent-Snail]

No problem on the range issue, I can't accurately see that far anyway. :(

[armoredman]

Mosin....if you're hunting in brushy country, use the M44, and keep that pigsticker extended....just in case you miss - the bear might be upset. :what:
Seriously, the 7.62x54R is comparable to 30-06, and i would feel just fne bear hunting with any of my Mosins.

[Godfather]

I'd say it's a toss-up. For big bear (brownies, grizzlies, Kodiaks) I'd say the 54. But the 39 is a much easier round to rapid fire, both because of the guns chambered for it and the low recoil.

I also have found my SKS to be much more accurate that my Mosin M44, but that's "out of the box" so to speak.

I guess I'd say 54, but carry a backup gun.

(BTW, I think the 54 is closer to the .308 than the .30-06)

[PaulDaisy]

I would go with 7.62x54, unless your weapon of choice is AK-47 full auto, in which case 7.62x39 would do :cool:

-P

[Silent-Snail]

Nice. :D

Edit: The Mosin is a 91/30 and the pointy part will be on. :evil:

[Cosmoline]

7.62x39 with 150 grain hot loads is good black bear medicine. 123 grainers, esp. FMJ, have NO BUSINESS on a hunt for anything bigger than squirrel. I know of one brown bear sow that was illegally shot with FMJ's from an SKS and eventually died. The fellow that did it is on trial now.

The 54R loaded with 180 or 200 grain SP's is good for all kinds of bear. I load mine with 215 grain Woodleighs--which have taken just about every animal on the planet at one time or another.

In fact, the 54R is good for both small game:

http://www.kevos4.com/images/bird%20hunting%201.jpg

And large game:

http://www.kevos4.com/images/bear1a.jpg

(Thanks to Kev Os 4 for the images--it's a fantastic website! http://www.kevos4.com/ )