I was looking for an inexpensive rifle for a secondary weapeon during bear season (primary being my bow) and was wondering if the 7.62x39 could handle a bear. I hear that they are the equivalant to a .243??? (just what i herd from a buddy but he said he was just guessing) i was also wondering how far it would shoot like ethically. thanks for your help.
Not hardly. The 243 Win has more velocity and energy than a 7.62X39mm. The 7.62X39mm is actually a little behind the 30-30 Win ballistically. If you are looking for an economical backup, look into getting yourself a H&R/NEF single shot in a decent cartridge like 308 Win, or 30-06. Better rifle than most surplus military arms and much better cartridges. Still inexpensive too.
thanks frizzellr, just checking on it cuz it was only 80bucks at fleetfarm, but guess i'll keep looking for a single shot somewere. what would you say is the better of the two .338, or the 308? in term of knock down? when i get a rifle it will also be on russian boar next winter gunna try and get a big one next year(first year going my buddy says he can hook me up with a big boy he's talking 350#+)
Between the .338 and .308 comparison of knockdown power, the .338 wins hands down, it's a HECK of a lot bigger case, so it's a no-brainer there...the .308 is a decent bear rifle, for smaller species, i.e. it's a good Bruin rifle, but a little light for grizz-it's been used on them with varying degrees of success for decades...the .338 is a better choice, and certainly would be my choice of the two.
The 7.62x39mm is a lot stouter than people give it credit for, but it's not a primary bear round, as mentioned above, it's slightly behind a .30-30win as far as performance goes, capable of about the same game ranges as a .243, although the energy differences are quite large...I've used one to 280yrds on whitetails over 200#, one shot drops in both cases at that distance-handload a better bullet (find a light weight .308Win bullet .311") and it's quite a handy round.
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As a backup bear gun that can also knock down a big hog and still be cheap there's still quite a few military .30-06 available. Some are Mausers and locally there's a couple 1917 Enfields for surprising little cash.
Also the 8MM mauser is a fine candidate for the job and they can still be had cheaply.
I know that Fleet farm has started selling Mosin Nagants which are chambered in 7.62x54R not 7.62x39! Huge difference, the x39 is a lesser cartridge than a 30-30 but the x54R is close to a 30-06 in performace.
Q? was the rifle you were looking at a bolt action or a semi-auto?
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If it is a surplus Russian bolt is must be 7.62 X 54.
It would be fine for bear, especially if the firearm is checked out and can handle a decently stuffed handload.
I would NOT use the 7.62X39mm for black bear unless it was loaded with my "heavy bullet load" which consists of the 180 grain Speer .311" rounddnose bullet @ 2000 FPS from 28 grains of H335. This is about the equivalent of the early .30-30 Winchester loads, and either would be marginal for bear, IMO.
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As said above the 7.62X39 is in the same performance catagory as the good old .30-30Win. Sounds like a 7.62X54R to me. Don't know much about those, but if I was looking for a back-up gun for dangerous game I would want something with a little more power like a .338.
Just a thought though, what about the surplus 7.62X39 ammo that had a steel core? For close range on bear, I would think that would be quite effective if shot placement was good.
7.62x39 as bear rifle???
