The russian military rifles seem like good buys for a hunting gun. Which would be better? 7.62x54 or 39? I think the 39 has about the same power as a 30-30?

I think you can pick one up for $100 bucks or so and the ammo is like $2.00 from cabelas.

I don' t think they have a very good range. Maybe 200 yards at the most. I wonder where I could pick up a scope for one at?

i have used my sks while at college for close brush hunting, the 125grain sp shoot great outta my gun and i noticed that corbon makes a 150gr load too.

my roomate used a 7.62x54 and that;s a good round, alot more powerfull than the 7.62x39

i think with the 7.62x39 if you watch your shots and keep em close under 100yards you;ll be in the meat

I' ve used SKS' s for deer many times, have had a lot of luck, but very similar to a .243 or a .30-30, a lot of people consider it a marginal round at best. The main problem is that SKS' s aren' t very consistent in manufacture, many of them couldn' t group on the same side of a barn twice from 5 feet, while others, like mine, group just as well as many bolt action " stock" rifles. THe 7.62x39 is capable of taking deer out to 200yrds, as long as you can get the bullet to the right spot, it would best to limit yourself to under 150-175MAXIMUM yrds. I bought a BEC 3-9x42mm for $60 at a gun show, and a buddy bought me a Leapers scope mount from Cabela' s fer $25, and my gun LOVES the set up, The scope is 5-6" long, and even with the large front objective, the mount allows me to use my open sights under the scope, no drilling or tapping is required to add or remove the mount either. Only thing that must be said, is surplus ammo is A)very dirty B) very inaccurate and C)cannot be reloaded because it' s all either steel cased or berdan primed. It' s a blast to slap in 30rnd mags one after the other and shoot until your heart' s content and only spend $20 doing it, but as far as hunting goes, it' s best to stick to quality rounds. I think EVERYONE should own at least one SKS, they' re a whole lot of fun, even moreso because they PI$$ off liberals.

The 7.62x54, however, is much more capable, but I' ve never liked the guns they were in, so I' ll never own another one, plus, I have a 7.62x39mm, 7.62x62mm, and a 7.62x51mm, so I don' t really need a 7.62x54mm at the moment, at least that' s what my fiance tells me!!!!