Deer Hunting/Optics.

So this year will be my first year going out and shooting myself a deer. I will be using an SKS which is 7.62x39, eventually I plan on upgrading but I am poor so this is the best I could do for now. My question is, is this gun going to be good enough and what would be my best bet for some budget glass to put on top of it. I plan to go out and shoot it with iron sights to see what I can do but I also want a scope regardless.

7.62x39mm is ballistically similar to a .30-30win, it should do the job to 150 yards or so, and iron sights should* be fine to that distance. Don't use a top-cover mount for scoping it, it will not hold zero. If you need to use to sight base you may end up needing a scout-type scope, which is something that won't necessarily be a good thing to mount on a different rifle when you upgrade. Bushnell, Nikkon, and lower-end Leopoulds are decent optics. You might be able to find a VX-II for around $200. If you're going to put glass on a rifle, get something good. Cheap scopes have a way of changing zero on you without warning and for no logical reason, even if mounted on a .22. I don't know where you're hunting, but unless you live in a place w/ a bumper crop of deer and have a doe tag, don't count on shooting, or even seeing anything your first year out there, but practice, and be patient. Shooting is a very small part of deer hunting.

With the SKS, get some ammo that will actually expand, you really shouldn't run the crappy eastern-european stuff. Get a box to check point of impact and for practice, devote 80% of your practice to off-hand and the rest to field-realistic positions (i'm in the hills so open-legged sitting, or using a tree to lean into are likely). An SKS can be pretty accurate w/ the right ammo and if it's a well put together rifle. What's the country of origin and condition? I've been able to achieve good** results at 300 yards with IMI ammo (Branded as Hansen ammo) and I think the Winchester white box stuff at least uses IMI brass. I believe Hornady loads ballistic tip rounds for the SKS and their ammo is top-notch.

*irons work if your eyes are good, scopes help you "thread the needle" in brush and give you a couple extra minutes of shooting light in the day. My first deer was taken at over 100 yards w/ irons on a rifled-barreled 20ga that i've been telling myself I'm going to scope for years.
** Could consistently(80% or better) hit a 12" gong at 200 yards from any position, could consistently hit a steel sillhouette at 300 standing, and make head shots from sitting or prone. The bayo makes an OK monopod as well. I had a father and son watching me shoot the thing as they were having trouble with a scoped mini-14 at 25 yards, ask me a lot about the rifle and showed up with a Yugo a week later that still had so much cosmoline in the bolt it would FTF, they were also afraid to let me take it apart and look at it to find out what was wrong.

7.62X39mm ballistics

1k ft/lbs energy is considered the minimum for deer (depending on size, shot placement, bullet construction etc.) so somewhere between 100 and 200 yards you lose that. That being said, you can ethically shoot a deer at whatever range you can consistently hit the vitals (8" circle) at providing the rifle/ammo is up to the task. The .357 and up thing sounds like it's a handgun restriction, rifle restrictions are usually .24" and up. I'd be strange if a 30-06 and even a .375 H&H were considered illegal for deer. Get yourself a few deer targets with the vitals outlined for target practice. Hornady's SST bullets are great performers. My shotgun load fires a 250gr Hornady SST in a Sabot at 1800fps. In a 6.4lb gun it hits hard on both ends. I wouldn't scope the SKS if I were you, it's a hassle.

I get to sit on my back porch, and deer walk right out of the standing corn and head for a litle patch of short pines in corner of property. Less than 150m. Walked out there and there are a few 'lays' where deer are overnighting.

So my choices are my 1863 .54 Sharps, My M91/30 7.62X54R, My SMLE .303Brit, 1903 30.06, 1873 Springfield Cavalry Trapdoor Carbine .45/70, or get close an my .58 1863 Springfield.

Also Turkey walk the fields in gaggles of 25plus.

rednekk98 wrote: 7.62X39mm ballistics  The .357 and up thing sounds like it's a handgun restriction, rifle restrictions are usually .24" and up

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That's what i'll be running this year, the stock set is new and I'm considering scoping it, still in the process of determining what type of mount and scope i'll use, if any. .22 centerfires seem underpowered to me. Maybe a small deer with something like a 77gr bullet and precise shot placement would do it, but I'd say .243 would be the minimum I'd use for a rifle. 

On the SKS? A nice 4x or 3x9 should be good. Bushnell is decent and relatively in-expensive.

Optics don't help you shoot better, they help you SEE better.

That restriction of .357 + still sounds like they are talking about pistol caliber carbines. Other wise the .338 Lap Mag is also illegal and I doubt you'll find anyone who says a .338 Lap Mag is insufficient to knock down a lil old deer. Even at 800 yards :)

With the minimum and maximum case length it sounds like they are restricting you to only pistol ammo. 1.625" max length?Huh?

That being said, 7.62x39mm is a decent enough cartridge, if you use good ammo and have good shot placement. Like others have said it is a very close range round, and it must be a soft point of some sort.

It isn't a .308 or a .30-06, but it isn't anything to be sneezed at either. Take your time, make your shots count and it should be GTG.

KBK



Edited by Kayback - 15 April 2012 at 4:03am

That makes sense. I'd rather have a pistol-caliber lever-gun than a shotgun in a lot of cases, especially considering ammo prices. Anyways, thinking of this scope for my shotgun.

Ah, that clears it up then. I'd personally get a .45Colt. You can load those up to very decent velocities or have decent bullet weights, and they are common.

Some of the more exotic calibers like .500 S&W or .458 Socom are still a little rare for my liking.

The added bonus is you can easily reload .45Colt.

That being said it is very interesting that the .458 Socom is on the list. They make M4 pattern weapons chambered in that. That's probably the route I'd go for if I wasn't getting a nice lever action in .45Colt.

KBK