7.62x39 Stopping Power

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rbernie said:
This one weighed in at an estimated 500lbs, and was taken at contact distance. Left/right quartering heart shot (first shot) was a killing shot and stopped just under the offside hide. I put a few more into him for insurance since he kept trying to get back up, but the 7.62x39 did the job.

I've taken a lot more, but this is the biggest.

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Do the bigguns taste good?
 
I was told to expect a gamey flavor out of a hog this big (and I really didn't want to shoot him but I was kinda cornered), but other than being a bit tough he tasted like any other pork. We couldn't drag him out to the skinning shed, so we hacked off the hams/shoulders and straps and left the rest of the carcass for the carrion eaters....

The load was a Sierra 125gr bullet over H4198 in a Rem case, and was a solid MOA shooter in this carbine build.
 
rbernie said:
I was told to expect a gamey flavor out of a hog this big (and I really didn't want to shoot him but I was kinda cornered), but other than being a bit tough he tasted like any other pork. We couldn't drag him out to the skinning shed, so we hacked off the hams/shoulders and straps and left the rest of the carcass for the carrion eaters....

The load was a Sierra 125gr bullet over H4198 in a Rem case, and was a solid MOA shooter in this carbine build.
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Very cool. Congrats. I know hogs in Texas (lived their for 9 years, until my graduation, then moved to Mighty MO) and sadly, we are a bit devoid of walking pork steaks here in Northern MO. However, I've had no qualms using SP Silver Bear at several fat does.

Good kill, sir.
 
Heck, I've even shot deer with Yugo M67 pattern FMJ. From about 50 yards with a Yugo SKS, broadside--nasty oblong exit wound through the offside shoulder. Deer was only about 120 pounds or so and was hit by a car, walking down in the ditch dragging its hind end. Bang-flop could have been it but me being interested in these sorts of things, I had to run down and check out the wound channel.

I have a good friend who was shot through the calf when he was about 11. His dad was screwing around with an SKS when "it just went off." To this day, his calf is missing a softball sized chunk and is horribly deformed. Over the course of several years and many surgeries, his leg bones were grafted together enough for him to assume a close to normal level of mobility. I am assuming it was a JHP or JSP of some sort as the dad was preparing to go hunting, and the incident was logged as a hunting accident.
 
IMO, the 7.62x39 doesn't come close to the 30-30 on deer. No way a 123 or 124 gr bullet is going to do the same job as a 150 or 170 gr bullet. I found the 154 gr x39s lose too much velocity with the heavier loads. Not to say the X39 won't kill deer, I've killed a dozen with it, just saying it is not as good as a 30-30 in comparison.
 
IMO, the 7.62x39 doesn't come close to the 30-30 on deer. No way a 123 or 124 gr bullet is going to do the same job as a 150 or 170 gr bullet. I found the 154 gr x39s lose too much velocity with the heavier loads. Not to say the X39 won't kill deer, I've killed a dozen with it, just saying it is not as good as a 30-30 in comparison.
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I've seen 7.62x39 154gr that goes 1400 fps, I believe doubletap makes it, although I could be mistaken. Isn't that about the velocity of a similar weight 30-30?
 
7.62x39 is definitely highly effective on people. 5.45 is noted for being less deadly by those who use it, although they are both excellent cartridges.
 
Somewhere in a discussion of the AK-47, I read that early-on in the VN war, there was concern about the terminal ballistics. They redesigned the bullet to be less stable, and more like to tumble.

Which supports the rather obvious point that generalities about the rifle are less important than specifics about the ammo.
 
I think there should be no question of 7.62x39's Stopping Power when it revolutionized many countries. The AK 47, the firearm that uses the 7.62x39 has been a symbol of power, terror, etc that a country put and AK on it's flag. You don't hear or see that with any other firearm.
 
It will kill and wound with great efficiency especially in a 154 gr. Soft Point non- military sporting use like hunting deer or hogs.
 
IMO, the 7.62x39 doesn't come close to the 30-30 on deer. No way a 123 or 124 gr bullet is going to do the same job as a 150 or 170 gr bullet. I found the 154 gr x39s lose too much velocity with the heavier loads. Not to say the X39 won't kill deer, I've killed a dozen with it, just saying it is not as good as a 30-30 in comparison.
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I disagree - my 150gr loads chrono'ed out at 2200fps and my 174gr RN loads averaged 1950fps. That's plenty stout for most anything under 400lbs.
 
I have shot a lot of deer with a 7.62x39. Unless I shot the deer several times and put it down on the spot I needed a dog to find the deer. The 7.62x39 does not create a large enough exit wound to create a blood trail that you can follow. After a few seasons I retired the 7.62x39 from my hunting line up.

The 7.62x39 is not even in the same ballpark as a 30/30 as a hunting round. If you are in a situation were you have to cover 100 yards or more neither is effective. I really don't use a paper ballistic chart. My ballistic chart is blood on the ground. I am sure people have killed deer at over 100 yards with both but so has the 22wmr.
 
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One_Jackal said:
I have shot a lot of deer with a 7.62x39. Unless I shot the deer several times and put it down on the spot I needed a dog to find the deer. The 7.62x39 does not create a large enough exit wound to create a blood trail that you can follow. After a few seasons I retired the 7.62x39 from my hunting line up.

The 7.62x39 is not even in the same ballpark as a 30/30 as a hunting round. If you are in a situation were you have to cover 100 yards or more neither is effective. I really don't use a paper ballistic chart. My ballistic chart is blood on the ground. I am sure people have killed deer at over 100 yards with both but so has the 22wmr.
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Sounds like maybe some practice is in order.
 
IMO, the 7.62x39 doesn't come close to the 30-30 on deer. No way a 123 or 124 gr bullet is going to do the same job as a 150 or 170 gr bullet. I found the 154 gr x39s lose too much velocity with the heavier loads. Not to say the X39 won't kill deer, I've killed a dozen with it, just saying it is not as good as a 30-30 in comparison.

I disagree - my 150gr loads chrono'ed out at 2200fps and my 174gr RN loads averaged 1950fps. That's plenty stout for most anything under 400lbs.

And I can crank up a 30-30 with hand loads as well which will still beat the heck out of a x39. So your point is moot.

Back to the original question.... the .30 cal Russian short is lethal enough on people, not as good as other .30 cal rounds on game.
 
No 7.62x39 is going to hang with the 30-30 but it does not have to, it is plenty of umph for general purpose hunting at close range.
 
In Iraq met a guy who was shot in the leg at about 25 meters with FMJ 7.62x39, it shattered his femur and put him out of action for a year.
 
Guy at the range got shot in the leg in Vietnam. It tore his leg up very badly. I can't believe with all the scars from stitches that they were able to save his leg. He said he wasn't going anywhere after being shot. Very devistating wound. Saw an inmate at the prison I worked at who got shot with an AR15 before being arrested. Bad scar, but nothing like that leg wound from the AK. Not very scientific, but there it is.
 
One Jackal said:
I have shot a lot of deer with a 7.62x39. Unless I shot the deer several times and put it down on the spot I needed a dog to find the deer. The 7.62x39 does not create a large enough exit wound to create a blood trail that you can follow. After a few seasons I retired the 7.62x39 from my hunting line up
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Not to insult, but that seems like more of an issue of shot placement than any failure of the 7.62x39 as a hunting round. As a teen, I took several mule deer with the SKS and various loads, and I never hit one that wasn't recovered within 50 yards of impact. I've shot deer with guns ranging from the .223 to the 7mm Rem mag.....and every time I put a bullet into the vitals, I had a dead deer on my hands. Whitetail and even mule deer are not armored animals that are hard to kill. Within reason, most centerfire rounds can humanely take deer. The 7.62x39 is perfectly reasonable deer medicine out to about 200 yards. If you are failing to anchor deer with the x39 round, you are either using unsuitable ammo or are not putting the first shot where it needs to be. When shot within reasonable ranges with proper ammo, theres not a deer in North America that is going to shrug off a hit from the 7.62x39, end of story. Its not, due to its trajectory, my "go-to" deer round, but I have absolutely no qualms about shooting any deer within 200 yards with this round
 
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I think there should be no question of 7.62x39's Stopping Power when it revolutionized many countries. The AK 47, the firearm that uses the 7.62x39 has been a symbol of power, terror, etc that a country put and AK on it's flag. You don't hear or see that with any other firearm.
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Though that is a result of the massive levels of production the Soviets, Chinese, and their industrialized satellite states, and not in any way an indicator of the weapon's performance.
 
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