Opinions on 7.62 x 39 Hollow Points Effectiveness on Game

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Glen

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I am getting to know my SKS better. I have just plinked with it. I find the TulAmmo from Russia is offered in hollow point bullets (122 grain). I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on it for any hunting applications. I must admit I am somewhat doubtful about how great they may be, but maybe somewhat better than FMJ's. I tried soft point American factory ammo and my rifle turned into a machine gun with its free-floating firing pin and soft American primer. Slam fire is possible when not using military ammo, so I was looking at the military type ammo with the HP. The foreign military stuff has never slam fired on me.
Anyway, any thoughts about the effectiveness of this type of ammo in HP are welcome. Thank you.
 
No input on the ammunition you're asking about. But I will say this. I wish my SKS would run full-auto when I shoot American soft-primer ammo! I'd consider that a feature not a bug, as long as it was predictably consistent.
 
Glen said:
I am getting to know my SKS better. I have just plinked with it. I find the TulAmmo from Russia is offered in hollow point bullets (122 grain). I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on it for any hunting applications. I must admit I am somewhat doubtful about how great they may be, but maybe somewhat better than FMJ's. I tried soft point American factory ammo and my rifle turned into a machine gun with its free-floating firing pin and soft American primer. Slam fire is possible when not using military ammo, so I was looking at the military type ammo with the HP. The foreign military stuff has never slam fired on me.
Anyway, any thoughts about the effectiveness of this type of ammo in HP are welcome. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Way back when I hunted Army bases with my SKS - among other surplus rifles - I was very happy with the 1-shot-drop of the ball ammo.

Then, someone came along with a hollow-point which I don't rightly recall the particulars of. Mid '80s if anyone recalls the round. Norma?

I didn't really see a difference on those sad little East-Coast whitetails as both rounds usually simply put two holes in all of them regardless where I hit.

Todd.
 
Just because it has an "open tip" does not mean it is a "hollow point". I'm not really familiar with that specific 7.62x39 ammo. But a lot of newer bullet designs use an open tip. Some of those bullets expand nicely, others expand too rapidly and others don't expand reliably at all. The open tip is simply a result of the manufacturing process.

Most of those bullets were initially designed for target shooting. Some have proven to be good hunting bullets, others not so much. Some, such as Berger slightly modified their target bullets and offer a version for target shooting, and another version for hunting.

I'm not saying "don't use them", I'm just saying to be sure they are designed for hunting.
 
curtste said:
No input on the ammunition you're asking about. But I will say this. I wish my SKS would run full-auto when I shoot American soft-primer ammo! I'd consider that a feature not a bug, as long as it was predictably consistent.
Click to expand...
Well, this only happened twice. I thought the first time was a fluke and it did about 4 in a row. Then the next time, I only loaded a couple rounds and they went quick too and it spooked me and I was done with that! Later I read that this can happen with civilian rounds and the SKS free-floating firing pin. As I said, the military ammo is great for reliability.
 
Glen said:
I am getting to know my SKS better. I have just plinked with it. I find the TulAmmo from Russia is offered in hollow point bullets (122 grain). I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on it for any hunting applications.
Click to expand...

The AK folks are debating how close this bullet is to the "8M3". It might depend on the lot even. I found this quote on another forum:

"The 122 grain Tula Hollow Points were terrible for hunting. All bullets broke up and made large horrific wounds but were only about 8-10 inches deep withh one only going about 8". No exits on even doe mule deer or doe antelope."

Sounds like it was close enough in that case...
 
I was talking with a buddy who hunts hogs a lot. Usually uses a 6.8spc with fancy bullets. he got into hogs thick a few months back and ran out of ammo. the next night he just grabbed is x39 upper and ran cheap brown bear soft points. Said they dropped hogs just as well as his 6.8spc upper did. Now, soft points do not equal hollow points, but don't let the country of origin dissuade you.
 
I have a 7.62x39mm chambered CX 527. Bolt bolt gun and the carbine length barrel.

I've shot the Tula 154 grain bullets (of which I approve for weight) and get an average of about 2150 from the carbine. I have NOT shot a deer with this combination, but it seems to be a bottom end .30-30 kind of thing. Seems a workable idea for me.

I have read claims - and I see no reason to discount them - of people who harvest deer with the lighter bullet. So taking shots with selection and careful targeting should work out. Beat a Weatherby cranked off into the Stratosphere.
 
The Hornady steel cased 123 grain SST seems to be a good hunting bullet. I've taken big whitetail bucks at up to 175 yards, and wouldn't hesitate to go to 200 yards with it. That's from a x39 chambered AR.
 
I like the Tulammo 154 grn soft point or a federal fusion. The 122 grn hollow point, or open tip if you prefer, will kill a deer, but nowhere near as decisively as the soft point ammo. I have shot and killed 3 deer with the 122 grn, and it just isn't dependable enough for hunting deer. Never an exit wound with it.
 
They are not the typical Hollow Point, they are more of a FMJ with an open tip like the ones found in the remington 300blk FMJ supersonic. Do they work? Yes absolutely. Just make sure you are within a reasonable range to hit what you are aiming at and hit in a vital area. shot placement is king Regardless of bullet type.

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"Russian manufacturers Barnaul and Wolf, both produce steel jacketed, lead core 7.62x39 ammunition. Of these, the 123 grain hollow points tend to produce slightly wider wounding than their 125 grain soft point counterparts. This is due to the fact that the jackets are copper washed steel which when filled with lead, tends to display limited expansion on impact. The hollow point bullets in contrast, are prone to tumbling if stability is disrupted, having the potential for broader wounding."
https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/7.62x39+M43.html

I have read ( cant find it right now) that some of the newer Russian FMJ have a cavity under the jacket to induce tumbling as well.
 
Isn't there somewhere that sells a spring that goes onto your firing pin that doesn't allow it to slam fire anymore. What I would do is get that spring install it on your firing pin and use American Made ammo to hunt with.
 
Clean your weapon and add a spring to the firing pin. Shoot soft point American ammo.

Where I live those hollow tip fmj bullets would be of questionable legality for hunting.
 
I don't expect 123 gr HP wolf to act like a top of the line SP bullet, but at the prices it was selling for the last few years it just made sense to lay in a few thousand.
 
Izzy77 said:
"Russian manufacturers Barnaul and Wolf, both produce steel jacketed, lead core 7.62x39 ammunition. Of these, the 123 grain hollow points tend to produce slightly wider wounding than their 125 grain soft point counterparts. This is due to the fact that the jackets are copper washed steel which when filled with lead, tends to display limited expansion on impact. The hollow point bullets in contrast, are prone to tumbling if stability is disrupted, having the potential for broader wounding."
https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/7.62x39+M43.html

I have read ( cant find it right now) that some of the newer Russian FMJ have a cavity under the jacket to induce tumbling as well.
Click to expand...
That may be the case. I just know the Russian HP ammo is not expanding HP. I have never used it hunting.
 
When my son was using his Chinese SKS to hunt deer, he by mistake loaded some of the wolf hollow points. at 50 yards they went right through and left a very small hole on each side even though the bullet hit a rib on the way in. The tula soft points leave a real nice hole going out on shots up to 100 yrds.
 
The slam fires in SKS's have often been attributed to incomplete cleaning of the bolts. Cosmoline, or the Chi-Com equivalent, can hold the pin in place, protruding out, and allow slam fires. Perhaps the same for firing residue.

The original Russian design had a spring on the pin to keep it retracted, which design was later dropped. There are aftermarket companies which sell springs to return to the original design. But a very thorough cleaning of the bolt should help.

I've used Federal and other commercial brands of ammo in my SKS with no problems.

For the record, there was also some soft pointed Chinese ammo that came in with the first batches of Chinese SKS's. I have some, but have never tested them on game.
 
Speedo66 said:
The slam fires in SKS's have often been attributed to incomplete cleaning of the bolts. Cosmoline, or the Chi-Com equivalent, can hold the pin in place, protruding out, and allow slam fires. Perhaps the same for firing residue.

The original Russian design had a spring on the pin to keep it retracted, which design was later dropped. There are aftermarket companies which sell springs to return to the original design. But a very thorough cleaning of the bolt should help.

I've used Federal and other commercial brands of ammo in my SKS with no problems.

For the record, there was also some soft pointed Chinese ammo that came in with the first batches of Chinese SKS's. I have some, but have never tested them on game.
Click to expand...
Wants to sell that Chinese ammo?
 
I have used Federal and Wolf softpoints on deer with good results at close range. Hollowpoints and solids not legal here for deer. I may have used ball or hollow points on beaver but don't recall for sure. In my experience ball penetrates right through without doing much damage, ineffective compared to soft point.
 
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