Let's say you've been wanting to put some venison in the freezer, and you're out on the ranch doing chores. All you've got is your 7.62 AK (or SKS). Out walks one of the vermin. Would you take the shot; and, under what circumstances? Would yours have an optic or would you feel comfortable with just standard irons?

I do know that the SKS was regarded at one time as "the poor man's deer rifle".

What if your "Truck AK" was a 5.45 AK?

I know, I know. Dirty steenkin' filthy 3rd world commie guns with inefficient ergonomics. The simplicity of the AK and SKS always sparks my interest, though.

One of my filthy commie rifles:

Yepper

Yes I've shot coyote with 762 before

I've done it, DRT, 20 feet away.

47/SKS - Yes.

74 - I'd be a little on the hesitant side.



Irons would do fine. There's not too many places here with wide open views for anything more than a few hundred yards.

It's probably possible with 5.45, but I'd be exercising the same cautions I take when hunting with my AR. Range, shot placement, etc. I rarely see a deer farther than 150 yards away, anyhow. I know that some people have trouble with the AK and SKS irons.

ETA: There's also the "you don't need no inaccurate AK for hunting" crowd.

My first deer was taken with an SKS.

Dropped where she stood.

Forgot to ask what ammo were y'all using? Surplus, new manufacture steel case? Winchester or Remington brass cased SP rounds?

Thinking about getting some of the latter brass cased SP rounds, putting them on a couple SKS stripper clips and loading one AK mag with them.

Ballistics of the 7.62 x 39 closely match the thuty-thuty Winchester, which has put alot of venison on America's table.  Why would you have a problem with that?

Figured GD would have a stroke about someone taking their AK out of the trashcan and using it to hunt.

Got my one and only deer with a sks when I was sixteen.  Dropped where it stood.

I always thought the SKS was kind of like the Russian version of a 30-30.

Most shots around here are well under 100 yards. I wouldn't have a problem doing that with iron sights with either an AK or an SKS if I knew the sights were accurate.

7.62 107ur?

DRT!!!

yes

Pics?

I really want an Arsenal 107cr for a cool little brush gun.

Watch the documentary Happy People: A Year in the Taiga. All those trappers carry are beat to shit SKS.

I think I might've seen a glimpse of that. I don't know if it was that particular one; but, it was about the supply runners that went from village to village delivering goods and news. One of the Ural trucks got stuck and the driver jumps out with a Rusky SKS.

"This is for if we see bear!"

The 7.62x39 almost perfectly matches the ballistics and the trajectory of the .300 BLK. They are nearly identical in all aspects.

The bullet construction available for the .300 BLK that expands at a lower velocity, and a superior BC gives it an edge, though slight.

The 7.62x39 does very, very well with hand loads with the 123gr Winchester projectiles, and can actually be very accurate in a good AK like a milled receiver Arsenal. 1.5 moa was not a problem with hand loads, and that particular bullet was good for 200 yards give or take a few.

Winchester sells it loaded, and 2365fps.

My load was 2450fps from the 16.25" barrel.

Hornady sells the SST for it as well. It's plenty capable at the ranges it was intended to be capable from. that's the thing, know the capabilities of your ammo, your gun, and yourself.

I'm not sure about that scene. Seems familiar but I can't place it in Happy People.

The scene that stood out for me in Happy People was the old trapper lamenting about how short the life span is on quality hunting dogs. Then it shows him making the 150km snow mobile ride back to town with the dog running behind him! "Some hunter let dogs ride with them like children. This makes the dogs lazy like children."

Damn dude! Give the dog a lift and he might last longer!

I'd take a deer or small to mid sized hog with my SKS or an AK-47. My 74 I'd have to make sure I have the right ammo loaded up, but I'd probably do it also.

Yes.



Love the 123gr. Powerpoints from Winchester but hated the 154gr soft points from Wolf. The 154s had core separations, jackets that came completely off the core on impact, and failures to expand in any sort of predictable manner while not going fast enough to fragment effectively.

I find the AK to be a pleasure to shoot, so yes, I'd be very comfortable taking a deer with one.

I've killed 3 deer with an SKS. Soft point bullets, pretty sure they were Winchesters. Never needed a second shot.

Sounds like a true Rusky.

Also, this thread could use some more pics, please.

I would consider it an outstanding deer rifle at moderate ranges, as long as you are using expanding bullets.

Not that deer can't be killed with fmj, I;m sure many have been, but here, in Florida, fmj is illegal, and with good reason.

I learned that lesson the hard way some years ago.

I walked into the LGS and told the man behind the counter I wanted to try some moly coated ammo in my tired old .308, as someone had told me the moly would fill in the rust pits to a degree and help with the accuracy.

So he handed me some Hornaday FMJMSLSABCDEFG, which I didn't bother trying to decipher, but opening the box confirmed they were .308 moly coated bullets, and since I had explained I wanted to get the old girl back in the deer woods, I assumed the nice man had handed me a suitable ammo.

Sighted in and indeed got good accuracy with them and happily headed off for opening day with an old friend who had been stuck in the back of the gun safe for years.


Second day of the season found me sitting in a tree with deer running under me in the morning darkness, obviously a buck running a doe. Soon after daylight, a doe popped out and rushed by me, I got ready and sure enough a six point stepped out 40 yards away.

Good enough for opening weekend in a National Forest, so I planted one behind his shoulder, and off he went.

I called my buddy on the radio to get him to come start the track while I steered him from my tree, SOP for us in heavy cover; while we were talking, a deer stepped out at 70 yards.

I glassed him, looked to be the same broken horned six, a bit wobbly, but still on his feet.

So I put another one on the opposite shoulder, and off he went.

My buddy wanted to stay up since the deer were moving, so we hunted another couple hours, then started tracking.

500 yards, and 4 hours after being shot, we found the deer bedded in some pines, still alive, my friend finished him with one to the neck. WTF?

the autopsy revealed two crisscrossing , knitting needle size holes, behind the shoulder, both penetrating both lungs, and breaking two ribs.

Zero expansion, and minimal damage. The deer would have died, eventually, I think.

Full Metal Jacket. Not appropriate for hunting.

Soft points in an SKS though, GTG.

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Good job!

What's up with the tape on the magazine cover? Latch broke?

The 7.62X39 is a good cartridge; however, I would need quality optics.  I'm not sure what kind of mounts are available for the SKS.  I would not want to ruin mine with drilling and tapping.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I've always known FMJ wasn't a great choice for deer. I've used to to good effect on hogs; but then again, I usually give them 2 rounds around the shoulder / head area.

It's tactical anti-rattle tape on the magazine . The sling swivels are wrapped in tape too. Don't wanna sound like Mr.T walking through the woods.



The one I pictured has a fixed 4X scope mounted to the rear cover with a rail built onto it. I have the original cover unmolested so there was no perminant modification. I don't recall who sells them because I bought it 10+ years ago, but it was pretty cheap and works well enough.

The ones sold in Russia by MOLOT have built-in Warsaw pact mounts on the side. I wish we could get more imports from Izhmash. If we could get SVD rifles here I'd just say 'fuck it' and go big with x54r.

It also appears that Kalinka optics sells the Warsaw mount adapter for the SKS. Looks like you drill/tap the receiver and mount it on the left of the rifle. Would be an interesting write up you could do for ARFCOM since y'all have them $80 SKS' still.

Seeing as how I've killed 20+ deer with a 22lr, I'd say yes. Anything that kills a human reliably will kill an overgrown pest reliably.

I've heard the SKS was a very popular rifle for deer in certain areas, especially when they were coming in cheaper than hell.

It's even got less recoil than the old thuddy-thuddy.

OP, this is a terrible question.

The only considerations that would concern me are suitable ammo and range to target.

Nothing wrong using either

Shit, my Norinco seems like it only has muzzle rise. Barely any felt recoil for a 30 caliber cartridge. My old Yugo 59/66A1 I used to have was even milder due to the added front end weight of the grenade launcher spigot, ladder sight, and gas block cut off.

You shot someones dog?!!

OP.

No prob here.  Its all about shot placement anyhow

You should get one. When I got mine everything in it seemed brand spanking new with cosmoline. I really almost didn't want to shoot it. Even had a certificate from the Zastava factory.

I've shot several hogs with an AK, if going for deer be sure to use soft point ammo.

Any would work fine for those little Texas deer. I have seen many deer taken with an SKS. I would hesitant up here with an AK unless it was close. My AK is accurate to a minute of man at 200yds.

I don't think I would ever even touch an SKS, I consider them to be trailer park guns.

yeah, 7.62x39 should do the trick just fine.

Absolutely.  We were having a great time popping silhouettes at the Whittington Center with irons on an SKS.  Wish we had brought more soft point ammo since we were having a much fun with it.  I wasn't as accurate as I'd be with a scoped deer rifle, but it would do the job.

I ve taken a Deer with an SKS at my Uncles land down south.

shot many of deer with the sks, its probably my favorite brush gun. drop it, rack it off a tree still stays zero.

I hunted with a guy in the late 90's that used a Chinese SKS with Remington 123gr soft points with good success.  He had lost his ass in a nasty divorce and this was only rifle he had.  

Where we hunted, 75 yards was a long shot.  Over the 5 or so years I hunted with him, he shot 5 deer, all with one shot each.  All were recovered.