7.62x39, 7.62x54

[Dbax129]

So I have a 7mm Remington mag foryself to use, but a friend of mine was hoping to use one of my extra rifles this season. He in turn is going to suppply a lot of the food and gas for our trips. Anyway, I have a mosin nagant 91/30 that I could finish sporterizing with a long eye relief scope, or I have an sks with a scope rail I could scope or I have an ak-47 that has a weaver rail attachment that slides on the side and is L shaped, so the rail sits directly above the rifle. I also have a red dot for the AK that sits on that weaver. What's the best option for elk?

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

What gun is chambered in 7.62x59?

[Wazukie]

The Mosin hands down if those are your only options.

[Special T]

7.62x39 has the equivalent ballistics of a 30-30 win... no need for a scope for that gun cause its only good to 150yards with good ammo. The Neg ant would be my choice and you MAY be able to find some Soft nosed ammo for it... My Bro deer hunted with his AK one season... OK for a brush gun.

[Dbax129]

There is soft point for the mosin. I have tons of hollow point for the al and sks

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

I was thinking the mosin as well.  If sporterized.  Throw a scope on and it should be fine for elk if the shooter does his job. Bullet selection will be important, make sure it's a hunting bullet.

[hillbilli]

If those are the options, use the nagant 7.62x54r.. it is .308/30-06 power level, and good sp ammo should be available for it.. The 7.62x39 is a decent deer caliber.. but almost all ammo for it is 125gr weight range.. and most of the ammo for it is foreign ammo.. The foreign SP 123gr opens, but usually core/jacket separates.. will kill deer, but not the best option, and may not exit. the wolf 154gr sp (which when i chrono'ed was 2100fps) is a heavier bullet but no better construction, it opens reliably-both in water jugs and deer. we always saw expansion and core-jacket separation in water jugs, and expansion and exit on smallish Okie whitetails, even when somebody hit one through the hams and hit the femur. The Foreign HP rounds are fine for varmints, coyotes, etc, but at long range they sometimes dont open, and in water jug tests almost alway fragmented-I had a buddy bring in a big nebraska doe hit behind the ear with it..the skull was mush, but there was no exit. The win, federal and rem 123-125sp rounds always opened, and held together, with the remington CL being my choice of them. (PMC opened, but showed core-jacket separation in water jug tests) I have a nephew who has killed at least 7 deer with the rem bullet out of the SKS, (2 of them bucks that dressed over 175lb), and hasnt recovered a bullet yet.
To summarize, yes the 7.62x39 does have the same level of power as a short barreled .30-30 (.30-30 is usually quoted as from a 24" barrel, but most .30-30's arent 24"), but there are no current factory loads for the 7.62x39 that approach the level of penetration and big animal perfomance offered by the plain 150gr .30-30 load like the corlokt. I does fine for deer within it's range limitations, but I dont know of any factory load for it that I would consider appropriate for elk.     

[slim9300]

7.62x39 is a very poor choice for elk IMHO. That leaves you one option.


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[dawei]

No contest, use the 762.54R Mosin Nagant. This is my son's primary elk rifle and it hits like the Hammer of Thor (w/180gr JSP bullets). The cartridge is every bit as good as the 308 & 30/06 IMHO.

[hoyt2002]

If it was me I would go with the Mosin Nagant. Sporterizing it should be fun to do as well good project.

[j_h_nimrod]

I have taken a number of blacktails with the 7.62x39 and unless you reload for it there is not a readily available factory load I would recommend for elk. Even with reloads and good bullets I have a hard time recommending it for an animal as tough as an elk.

The 7.62x54 is a much better elk gun IMHO.

[coachcw]

I'd try to unload the both of them and pick up something that fits the task a lil better