AR-39 ammo

silvertip-co

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Jun 20, 2007
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1,139
Location
GUNtersville, AL, USA
Does the group have any experiences, good or bad, with Brown Bear or Silver Bear or Golden Bear 125SP 7.62x39 ammo that I'm considering for my AR? I'm starting to get some near cloverleaf 200y groups with Tula 123 FMJ, but when I switch to Hornady 123SST my groups open way up. So I'm thinking instead of using the Hornady for hunting id try one of the the 'Bear' soft point ammos. Thank you.
 
I know some guys in east NC that use SKS rifles in 7.62x39 when driving deer with dogs. They told me that the soft point stuff from Wolf etc. all works good but the HP is no good because sometimes it opens up and sometimes it acts like a fmj and just punches a small hole and the deer can go for ever. I shot a deer about 80 yards away with my SKS with a hand load of a case full of H322, don't have my data handy right now, and a Hornady 123 gr SP lit by a CCI 200 using a Lee Factory Crimp Die to keep the bullet nice and snug in the case. It entered one shoulder and wiped out the lungs and exited the other shoulder and the deer went FLOP. This load is a tack driver out of my Yugo SKS.
 
FWIW I rigged my SKS as a straight-pull bolt action (simply removed the piston assy) for use when deer hunting and accuracy using PMC soft-points was 3/4 to 1" groups @ 100-yards. No long range per this forum intent, haha, but sure was good enough for 1-minute of deer out to 200-yards!

I also recently built and AR in -39mm and used a JP Enterprises adjustable gas block and I tuned it to Golden Tiger ammo, and so far it has fed everything else I can throw through it reliably. I haven't taken a deer with any of the import soft-points less the PMC (good ammo!) but my AR really liked the Brown Bear soft-point stuff too, printing sub-MOA out to 200-yards. But of course that AR was scoped (Trijicon 1-4X, so it has GREAT glass on it) and benched and I took my sweet time.

In a way, I find import/bulk -39mm ammo to be like 22LRs, meaning one must try MANY different brands in their arm of choice to see what it likes ... not necessarily what you like. I had 8 or more brands on hand when I tested mine. Again, I tuned it to the GT just due to the amount I have on hand, but it sure liked the BB too!

I will say, the accuracy potential of bulk -39mm rounds when fired out of the superior platform like the AR (or even a bolt action) sure surprises and stuns a lot of people! I also have a left-handed mini-Mauser (Zastava bolt action) in the -39mm caliber and it shoots really well using bulk ammo. At the price I bought it for ... you cannot reload it cheaper by far ...

That bolt gun is now my dense woods deer gun using the 154-grain soft-point loads, while I use the same in the AR on really bad weather days. Let's just say, for my use in eastern woods, I like the -39mm as a deer cartridge. My Dad, for one, kiled more deer with a 30-30 than any man should be allowed to and a good loading of the -39mm equals if not bests that venerable deer cartridge. But a western-use or long-range hunting gun they are not ...
 
I bought a dozen boxes of 125gr sp Silver Bear. After some re-zeroing shots at 100m on a 3" paste on, I turned my scope down to 2x and fired 5 at a 1.25" orange dot. 3 of the shots were 1.5" high in a 1.25" group and the other two shots made it a 2" group. Not too shabby for hunting ammo. Next Sat Ill try them at 200y if the range aint busy with suppressor people.
 
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