whats a good deer load??

[dubya 198]

Well I'm thinking id like to use one of my 7.62 Saigas for one of the weekends of deer season here in MN. The rifle I'm going to use will have a Chaos quad rail, Magpul CTR stock, MD Arms PG, a Texas Weapons System railed dust cover, some sort of BUIS, and a Leupold Prismatic optic i just picked up. Ill also use the factory 10 round mag. Im just not sure which ammo to use. I have Brown Bear FMJ, Silver Bear FMJ, Tula FMJ, WPA Polyformance FMJ, WPA Military Classic FMJ, Wolf Military Classic 124gr HP & regular Wolf 122gr HP. Obviously one of the HP loads would be best but which one? Or is there a better box of ammo i can buy?

[Lone Eagle 839]

When it comes down to putting food on the table, here's my preferred list:

 

Remington Core-Loc 123gr SP(haven't seen it in a few years, but it gave me the best accuracy/groups out of my 20" SKS years ago.)

Winchester Super-X 123gr SP(Yielded good 1.25" groups @ 100yds in my Saiga. Spendy, but worth it.)

Silver Bear 125gr SP(Yielded some good 1.5" groups @ 100yds. Seems to be loaded "hot" compared to their FMJ or JHP.)

 

I've seen guys use the HP rounds, but it's not an expanding HP like commercial hunting rounds. I have Silver Bear on hand just for hunting alone.

[patriot 7,197]

Any decent soft point bullet in 7.62x39 will work just fine.

[dubya 198]

So I'll probably be better off buying $1/round American ammo as opposed to my $.25/round Russian lol? Ill check online to see if i can find a couple boxes of something.

[ChileRelleno 7,069]

I'll take a good commercial SP hunting round over Milsurp and Eastern European HP labeled for hunting, any day of the week.

Most of the HP seems to fragment much more than expand, and I want good expansion with weight retention.

 

I too use & like the Remington Core-Lokt 125gr soft point for pigs, it will do very well on deer.

I usually find it at WalMart, but it gets snatched up very quickly now.

Good thing I put a few boxes back for a rainy day.

Edited February 17, 2013 by ChileRelleno

[dubya 198]

Anyone know the twist rate of the 16" Saiga 762 offhand? Maybe I'll see if my grandfather in law will help me work up a few loads.

[PFerris 76]

The 154 grain Wolf soft points will take care of it nicely. An inch or two difference in a group will be no problem with a neck shoot or a shot in the lung area.

[dubya 198]

Shoot maybe ill just use the brass cased steel core stuff i got. These northern deer get pretty big. And mean.

[mostholycerebus 415]

Corbon Hunter 150gr?

[YOT 3,742]

I agree about the soft points. They are much better for game. Hollow point surplus 7.62 ammo has an empty cavity in the point, unlike a typical American manufactured hunting HP and is meant to fold over and yaw. This creates a wandering, long wound channel, as opposed to a soft point which will expand and expend it's energy upon impact and in a straight wound channel. Steel core is an unwise choice for hunting as it will likely pass straight through without any expansion OR yaw and leave a small wound channel. While hunting you want to take the game as humanely as possible without wounding and not killing it.

[dubya 198]

The comment about steel core was a joke.... I've been hunting for a looong time. Just never with an AK my Kimber Montana 338 Federal is the usual go to big game rig.

[LuPiN8oR 333]

Ive yet to try it on a deer but after reading some threads i decided to test the tula 124g hp. I checked for the tiny lines on the inside (called pre fail cuts by some) and found them using a needle. I took a pumpkin and shoved two large phone books inside and fired at roughly 60 yards. Normal size entry, fist sized exit. You have to check for the cuts on the inside of the bullet nose tho as there seems to be a qc issue w them. I went through a whole 500 round order and roughly 20% didnt have the cuts. Hope that helps.

[Remek 771]

Chinese water deer loads seem pretty good, though I have yet to try any loads

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn1.arkive.org/media/0E/0E09AAB7-16F0-4FCA-9505-701678C4AD01/Presentation.Large/Chinese-water-deer-droppings.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arkive.org/chinese-water-deer/hydropotes-inermis/image-G36745.html&h=428&w=650&sz=106&tbnid=dRdNgTsqPwI9vM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=137&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpicture%2Bdeer%2Bdroppings%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=picture+deer+droppings&usg=__bOOOVmUgAqqUX_Ps-k-bj7WjIEQ=&docid=xfrN0KrwCZuqQM&sa=X&ei=6eIiUefKOaXT0wG024GIBA&ved=0CDsQ9QEwAw&dur=4194

Edited February 19, 2013 by Remek

[dust feeder 2]

I know this thread is about a month old but I just came across it. Has anyone used hornady Superformance (SST i think)? I've never shot their 7.62x39 but their .308 load is very accurate and did a fine job on the pig I took with it

[dubya 198]

I shot them from my '06 two years ago and the deer i shot went about 7 yards and piled up.

[XD45 7,124]

Shoot maybe ill just use the brass cased steel core stuff i got. These northern deer get pretty big. And mean.

 

You never know when you'll run into a 10-point wearing level IIIA. Keep a mag of steel core handy just in case.

 

And remember, double-taps.

[breid1970 327]

So we can safely assume that the 47 does well enough deer hunting. I have plenty of friends who use a .223/5.56 to deer hunt as well. I wonder how the 5.45 would work on the average white tail. I don't want to tag a deer and then spend twelve hours tracking it only to loose the blood trail and get pissed.

[dubya 198]

So we can safely assume that the 47 does well enough deer hunting. I have plenty of friends who use a .223/5.56 to deer hunt as well. I wonder how the 5.45 would work on the average white tail. I don't want to tag a deer and then spend twelve hours tracking it only to loose the blood trail and get pissed.

The 5.45 isn't legal here for deer, I don't think anyway. I usually use a 338 Federal, it's a 308 case necked up to accept a 338 bullet. About the kick of a 30-06 (in my 6# Kimber), more velocity than similar 308 loads and a TON of knockdown power. Nothing like the old 338 mag but it works just fine all in a short action. I've heard the 7.62x39 is similar to a 30-30 and I've taken 4 deer with an old Marlin 336 r.c. so I have no doubt my Saiga will work, with the right bullet of course.

Edited March 16, 2013 by dubya

[YOT 3,742]

I've heard the 7.62x39 is similar to a 30-30 and I've taken 4 deer with an old Marlin 336 r.c. so I have no doubt my Saiga will work, with the right bullet of course.

 

The ballistics are very similar. The bullets themselves, though, are very different. The 7.62 is a spire point, usually milsurp FMJ or HP, where the 30-30 is usually SFP or the new Horandy LeverEvolution, with a soft ballistic tip. Those work quite wonderfully, I might add.

[dubya 198]

I have brass cased 7.62, it'd be pretty easy to load up 20 rounds with a 150gr NBT