Omg YES!....Tho i doubt it will be as exciting as im hoping.Let me get back to you on the pro hunter at 1800, still got quite a few left, and 1 last frozen pumpkin. I'll set one up at 500 and bring back some pictures.
At any rate what reports I've seen of the x39 160 grain has all been pretty much like that. Killed what interest I had in trying it out.
Is this the first and only animal you've dropped with this load?
I can't say I've ever used or even fired Winchester Soft Points out of any of my x39's. For whatever reason Federal Soft Points has been widely available here while I haven't seen any of the Winchester Soft Points at all. Have you done any hunting with Federal SP's? If so how did it compare to the Winchester?
"Many of the light bullets for caliber are made to be driven hard. At the velocity attainable with 7.62 ×39 expansion may not be great and the blood trail may still be skimpy..."
"No reason to overanalyze something if it already works!"
My sks was still minute of pumpkin at 400 yards but i didn't have more range distance at the time. I do want to do some long distance with my cz527 when i can find time.
Newtosavage's work on good hunting loads is what got me looking at loading for the x39
I also look forward to that 500 yard picture...
http://m.hornady.com/store/30-Cal-.308-140-gr-monoflex/Yes, this is a concern. That a lighter bullet may not be designed for 1800-2000 fps impacts. Again, that's why I was looking at 30-30 bullets.
http://m.hornady.com/store/30-Cal-.308-140-gr-monoflex/
Hornady made a copper for the .30-30 (when you confirmed the .308 diameter I thought of these 2 alternatives as well) and a light hollowpoint.
http://m.hornady.com/store/30-Cal-.308-125-gr.-HP/
And we shouldn't leave out Sierras contribution to the .30-30
https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/2020/308-dia-30-30-125-gr-HP-FN
https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/2135/308-dia-150-gr-RN
I'll definitely check them out. Kinda curious about the accuracy.I can understand why, but if you get a chance, try these 160 FTX's I'm telling you, they are tack drivers out of my 7.62x39, otherwise I would have moved on to another bullet.
2nd but the first was a head shot on a doe at about 100. She was DRT I found this example interesting because I was able to recover the bullet. That doesn't happen very often.
Yeah, they're pretty awesome. TSX is pretty much my go-to bullet followed by the Hornady T2.I'm intrigued by the Barnes mention now. Will try.
between those copper flex bullets and lapua brass you have pretty expensive missiles lolYou're a genius. I completely forgot about the 140 all copper monoflex. Gonna try those next and see if they group as well as the 160's. Sound like a great compromise between weight and speed.
Would be cool if there was a superformance 140gr. load meant for bolt 7.62x39. Maybe hitting 2350fps or so.
Actually playing with quickloads suggest 2300-2350 should be pretty doable with the 140monoflex, from an 18" tube.
between those copper flex bullets and lapua brass you have pretty expensive missiles lol
yes you can always go to the steel cased ammo and have fun. do you know if savage still makes your rifle? I always hear of the CZ model not your rifleThat's what I was thinking. I will get some of those 140 Monoflex bullets and see what I get, but I doubt 2300 will be difficult since I'm already getting 2225 with the 160's out of my rifle, and I chrono'd the factory 123-grain Hornady SST's and Winchester soft point 123's at 2350.
Yea, I suppose so. I saw the Lapua brass as a "one and done" thing though. Doubt I'll ever have to buy any more brass for this rifle.
The nice thing about this caliber is that if I'm just going blasting or if I have a new shooter who needs some trigger time, any cheap steel case ammo will do just fine, and it's still accurate enough that the shooter can gain some confidence. My new shooter in this case was shooting the Hornady SST steel case rounds into 2" groups at 50 yards for hours, and they really felt like they could get the job done once we left the range. That confidence is priceless, but doesn't cost much to earn. Then we load the "good stuff" and go hunt.
I have found a howa mini action in 39 with stirling scope for good price. I forgot they made them in a true mini action not jury rigged short or long actionBTW, if not for a snafu at a gun store a year ago, I would have owned the little CZ instead. Now I'm kinda happy that happened, but I may still buy a CZ anyway. They are sweet little rifles and I hear their accuracy is as good as what I'm seeing from my Savage.
Oh, and Ruger also made a bolt action 77 Hawkeye in this caliber, but they are very hard to find.
I think the load is pretty good but you might want to consider something a bit more stout for those kind of shots.
Omg YES!....Tho i doubt it will be as exciting as im hoping.
So I've been waiting for the perfect day for that 500 yds on a frozen pumpkin, today the temp was 7 Fahrenheit and only a 3mph breeze......so I setup and have the results. My prohunters are 100 gr .243 mv of 2934 20" bbl and at 500 yds are close to 1834. S.d. =.246 so it is a bit different than your 125 but you have more frontal mass and I think more energy as I'm down to 746 out there. It was too chilly to walk the distance just for targets practicing so I drove .3 of a mile and then setup just a tiny bit closer. Before anyone jumps me about how a frozen pumpkin is not a deer, I know this, but it has worked for me as a decent INDICATOR of what I can hope for. The pumpkin was about 7" diameter 5.5" tall. After taking a couple of shots to make sure of wind drift, I dialed in and put 3 through it as best I could. The coffee was my enemy this morning as usual but the nicotine helped level it just enough. I expected full penetration and set up cottonwood pieces behind hoping to catch one to weigh but it was not meant to be. The one bullet that struck the firewood carried through and scattered slivers and chunks almost 8 yds behind. I apologize if the pictures aren't that great it's just my camera phone. It may be hard to see the entrance on one but it's close to my thumb. It was hard to see the screen with tinted glasses and glare so I hope these are OK, as the bullet hit the second wall, it expanded to enough size to fit my ring finger tip easily. Bottom line, deer at 1800 fps with a prohunter? Yes.Or just not take those kinds of shots. To be fair, I was a split-second from tapping this young shooter on the shoulder and telling them to wait. The deer turned away and although the shooter knew it was still okay to take a quartering shot, they panicked a bit and rushed the shot, hitting a bit further back than they intended. I admit it was not an ideal shot angle, and not one I would have taken myself.
Trouble is that with more horsepower, the shooter might not have been willing to practice as much as they had, which could have led to slapping the trigger, flinching, etc. So, I have found this caliber to be a real nice combination of low felt recoil, reasonable muzzle blast and good downrange energy for deer-sized game at reasonable distances.
Thanks for all the advice though. Greatly appreciated. I enjoy learning about this stuff as I have a lot to learn about bullet construction and selection now that I'm handloading.