Lee Loader

Looks good. I looked at them when I bought the Mini-Mauser and the workmanship looked pretty good. The only thing it need was a little Tru-Oil on the stock set.

Now gas is pooring fuel on my kind of fires nice looking ak my sam7 is minute of pop can at 100 yards with irons plenty accurate and the main reason I always skip getting a bolt gun in 7.62x39 though I love the idea of a 7.62x39 bolt gun. Someday I'll make the plunge.

akuser47 wrote:I'm liking it need reviews on it.

Here is a good review.

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Although I have two SKS rifles I have never thought of the 7.62x39 as a hunting cartridge. Of course shot placement is everything but the expansion and penetration capability of a loading are also pretty important. Ballisticly it is inferior to brush gun favourites like the 30-30 or the 35 Remington. Does anyone have any experience using it for small and medium sized game?

I've killed a bunch of hogs with it and one whitetail. Where I took a shine to it was when I hosted youth hunts on my ranch. The very first question that came up was how did I feel about the 7.62x39? I told them my only experience had been in the military and it was a hell of a lot more effective than what I had been given to shoot so as long as they used ammo with an exposed lead core, I was good. The Texas Youth Hunting outfit said that was good because the most common rifle a kid was going to show up with would be the SKS. They weren't kidding. All tallied, I suspect something around 100 whitetails have been killed on my ranch with the 7.62x39. As a note, I ended the use of anything small the 243 Win. I've killed deer with both the 222 & 223 Rem, but in the hands of an inexperienced hunter, it is not an effective tool. We lost deer shot with it, and those that we recovered died a miserable death.

With properly constructed bullets and against our Texas-sized whitetails, I consider it an equal to or better than the 30-30 Win given the bolt guns the cartridge is available in. For my use, I would not hesitate to use it with any mule or whitetail deer or antelope. Beyond a doubt from my experience, the Federal Fusion factory ammo is the best offered for the cartridge. Their bullet causes a whitetail just to fold up. The only limitation for the handloader is one bullet weight offering, 123-grains. I've used the Speer SP offering on big game, hogs, and it folds them up. Speer does offer a .311'' 150-grain bullet, but I have not shot it. I should add here that a very common 30-30 Win bullet loaded here in South Central Texas is the Speer 125-grain FP. There is no telling how many whitetails that bullet has taken in my part of the world.

I feel the cartridge is a reloading dream with cast bullets. The chamber cut and case neck length begs for a 150-grain bullet. My Savage 10FCM Scout has a .308" groove, so just a hair more leade in the chamber cut to get there and the 165-grain bullet I designed for the 300 Savage is a perfect fit with it. The pressure limits of the cartridge itself, 45K PSI, is ideal for a water quenched bullet.

As a hunting arm, I do think its usable distance is 150-yards based on its terminal performance. That is not to say it is not accurate out beyond that distance. I have this thing that I do on my range where I bang the gongs with my Savage at 100, 200, 250, & 300 yards just as fast as I can work the bolt. I do this with the ghost ring sights.

If I was given the choice of a 300 Blackout over the 7.62x39, I would choose the latter if I was shooting supersonic. If given the choice of the 300 Blackout over a bolt gun chambered in 30-30 Win, I would choose the latter.

Here is the whitetail I shot, a spike, with the Rossi Single Shot chambered in the cartridge. The buck was about 125-yards out. I believe I used the PPU bullet on this deer.



Savage Scout with a cast bullet.



Check this piggy out. 150-grain cast with the Rossi. I recall about a 100-yard shot with it.



I have no count of the number of hogs I've taken with the Mini-30 and a 150-grain cast bullet. The average shot of nighttime hunting is about 70-yards. I have killed some as close as 30 yards but that is outside the norm.



The Zastava M-85 Mini Mauser is a beautiful and accurate hunting rifle. The Federal Fusion ammo delivers sub-MOA performance but I hunt with my 150-grain cast bullet. Unfortunately, I find it a bit too compact for my build so I don't shoot it much. That would be my consideration with the Ruger. I would want it to be a big boy rifle vs. a youth rifle. I was going to sell it but decided to prep it for long-term storage and save it for my grandson's first deer rifle.



This hog looks a bit funny but I shot him from the back porch of my house on a night down into the teens. I ran out and set him up for a picture and left him. I figured he would freeze quickly and he did. I took the picture in the morning, let him thaw out, and then cleaned him. Beat staying up at night and working in temperatures below freezing with high winds!

My personal preference for a bolt gun in 7.62x39 would probably be the Howa Mini Bolt over the Ruger American. On opening weekend of deer season last year a couple of my friends and I went on a public hunt, one fellow had the American and I was not impressed with the finish of the rifle. I do like the fact that I could use my Mini-30 magazines with the rifle. I don't care for the "earth tone" stock.

Locally, the Ruger American Ranch is $439 and the Howa Mini Bolt $533. That $100 difference would be tough to reconcile but I dislike the light colored stock enough to probably go with the Howa.

Ranch Dog wrote:My personal preference for a bolt gun in 7.62x39 would probably be the Howa Mini Bolt over the Ruger American. On opening weekend of deer season last year a couple of my friends and I went on a public hunt, one fellow had the American and I was not impressed with the finish of the rifle. I do like the fact that I could use my Mini-30 magazines with the rifle. I don't care for the "earth tone" stock.

Locally, the Ruger American Ranch is $439 and the Howa Mini Bolt $533. That $100 difference would be tough to reconcile but I dislike the light colored stock enough to probably go with the Howa.

There is also this thing in my head regarding a telephone contact I made with Ruger after the American was introduced. I called and asked if it would be offered in 7.62x39, the guy that I had been transferred to was pretty sure and full of himself and adamantly stated: "ain't EVER going to happen." It was just a simple question; he didn't have to be an ass, so I'm okay with it never happening for Ruger.

My newly finished 300BO AR project was shot yesterday and is a way easier on the body and way easier to control than my tank Yugo O-PAP in 7.62X39.

Neither rifle is properly sighted (the AK has an aftermarket rear peep that I'm hating and the AR has a cheap red dot holograph) so I probably should have kept it to myself.

Cheap steel commercial (the entire point in buying a mid-level AK) ammo is a beating in the AK. Remington supersonic commercial 300BO was like shooting .223.

GasGuzzler wrote:My newly finished 300BO AR project was shot yesterday and is a way easier on the body and way easier to control than my tank Yugo O-PAP in 7.62X39.

Neither rifle is properly sighted (the AK has an aftermarket rear peep that I'm hating and the AR has a cheap red dot holograph) so I probably should have kept it to myself.

Cheap steel commercial (the entire point in buying a mid-level AK) ammo is a beating in the AK. Remington supersonic commercial 300BO was like shooting .223.

Gas, I have a psychological gun tangent related to .300BLK too!!

Just funnin' - Adam