7.62x39 bolt gun ballistics
 

Well I have a 7.62x39 bolt action that is on loan for a little while and I am curious about how the cartridge will do in a bolt gun. It isn't as powerful as .308 but also seems like it would be much better than 300 BLK. Most data I can find is all for the AK and other semi autos. The manufacturer says it has about 400m effective range but doesn't give data beyond that. So would this be a good caliber for a bolt gun to do some game hunting? Wild boar? Deer?

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No ballistic data here but, sub 400yds is what I have heard also. I think you will be fine with the 39. Now if you want to suppress your gun then, I vote 300 black.

If I recall, 125 gr approx muzzle vel 2350 fps (~1500 ft-lb energy), 200 zero would drop ~15"@300 (~1500fps, 650 ft-lb). Depending on min velocity for expansion, probably more like a 250 yard max deer gun.

^^^ This

Think of it as a rimless 30-30 with pointy bullets. More whitetails have been killed with the 30-30 than any other cartridge, and a bunch of moose have been killed with the 30-30, so the 7.62x39 should be more than adequate for close range whitetails and pigs.

I don't think I would use one on Hogzilla though...

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Pics added.

Punch it into the ballistics calculator I posted

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Here is data from Pigs calculator out to 500 yards. Sight in for 100 yards, and if I read the data correctly then it has 7" of drop at 200 yards, 25.9" at 300, 61.3" at 400. With 1117 ft-lbs/s of energy at 100 yards it should be good fo most Florida game aside from Bear and Gators, neither of which I have a desire to go shoot.

Great for 100 yards or less with probably a max of 200 yards.

I was trying to be generous and gave it a ~250 yard deer round.

Well with a 200yard zero the drop is about 15" at 300 with the same energy.

My concern is the energy won't be enough.

If the barrel length is 20 inches, then I agree that a max of 250 yards is reasonable.

According to Sierra Infinity, the Federal Fusion 7.62X39 ammo at a starting velocity of 2350 fps drops to 1656 fps and 750 ft lb of energy at 250 yards. While 1000 ft lbs is preferred, the bullets should be soft enough to open up at the reduced velocity to do adequate damage.