HuntingNet.com Forums - View Single Post - 7.62x39 effect on deer
View Single Post
Old 11-06-2019, 09:42 AM
  #40  
hardcastonly
Super Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
Default

we all develope personal preferences due to field experiences, and yes shot placement remains the critical factor!
over the last 5 decades, many of the guys I hunt deer and hogs with here in florida have found a semi auto, or lever action carbine;s in mid range calibers to be very well matched to the rather fast and close range hunting,
that is very common around here.
ranges rarely exceed 70-80 yards, you rarely get the opportunity to get off more than one or two shots, hunting from climbing tree stands is common but still hunting thicker brush is also done all the time.
when most of us have used several of these carbines we eventually find we prefer one over the others.
Ive used the marlin 44 mag lever action for decades, the best load I found was the lee 310 grain hard cast bullet over 21 grains of h110 powder
this is quite effective up to about 120 yards but its trajectory is not conductive too much further accurate shot placement with iron sights.

for the last few years Ive used a 7.62/39mm sporter carbine , its accurate and shoots a bit flatter shooting and every bit as effective when loaded with 150 grain .311 diam bullets
it may not look traditional but its slowly winning me over from the marlin 25 grains of accurate 2015 powder seems to work ok in my carbine. cast bullets have up to this point proven to be less accurate so I stick to jacketed in this carbine.


Ive owned and used a ruger semi auto carbine but was never able to get consistently better than about 3" 100 yard groups so I sold it to a buddy that loves it , and hes not concerned as I doubt hes ever shot a deer or hog at over 50 yards in 4 decades

Last edited by hardcastonly; 11-07-2019 at 09:13 AM.
hardcastonly is offline