A few months ago I purchased this little rifle for my dauhgter's 12th birthday. I scoped it with a BSA 1.5 X 4.5 and bought 500 rounds of Russian hollow point hunting ammo at a local gun show figuring it would be good enough for target practice and our small local whitetails. It turned out to be a very accurate, smooth and well finished little carbine. Despite putting in many hours on the stand with me she never got a chance to shoot her rifle at game this season. This past Sunday both of my daughters decided to take the day off from hunting with Pop and I hit the lease and see if I could fill a doe tag. At the last minute I decided to take my daughter's rifle as it is light and very compact and I planned to cover a bit of ground as none of the other members were going to hunt that day. Wouldn't you know it...I don't have either of my girls with me and just at sunrise I see a large doe and manage to take her with a left handed shot (I'm right handed) at about 110 yards with a shot through the top of the heart. After a 20 yard run she went down having left a very good blood trail. The 123 grain bi-metal (that is what it said on the box) hollow point bullet plowed through both front shoulder and seemed to have expanded to about 60 caliber leaving a very good exit wound. I gutted and dragged this deer to the road and fetched with the truck. About 10:00 am I met up with my brother to begin pushing some brushy draws. On the first push after having gone about 50 yards a small war breaks out behind me. Appearantly, hunters on a neighboring property saw the buck get up behind me and opened fire as it attempted to escape out the back door. The eight shots they fired drew my attention their direction and I managed to see a buck break cover from a tree line behind me and run through a winter wheat field. As the buck drew about even with me but some 75 yards out I fired and it appeared I missed (it was later discovered my first shot had just nicked the buck). This turned the buck and he began quartering my direction. I fired my next shot which broke his on-side front leg and passed completely through his chest striking the bottom of his heart. This shot put him down and when he tried to regain his feet I fired a third shot into his neck which broke his spine and exited. All three hits showed good penitration and expansion. He was a cull with a 3 main points and a split brow tine on the left side and three short but heavy palmated points on the right side.
All in all a good day what with being able to fill both tags in a few hours and giving the rifle, scope and ammo a good field test. By the way...both of my daughters were very disappointed they decided to take the day off, but we still have a late anterless season in December for them to fill their tags.
Perry
Posts: 1144 | Location: Green Country Oklahoma | Registered: 16 December 2003
Do you, or for that matter, does any one know if these rifles have a .308 bore? I thought I read somewhere that most of the 7.62X39's had a .311 or a .312 bore dimension. I couldn't find on the CZ-USA website.
Thanks, knobmtn
Posts: 221 | Location: central Pa. | Registered: 29 November 2002
Knob, I have one as well and I called CZ with the same question. They told me the bore was .311 but several fellows with this rifle have stated they get good results with a .308 cal. bullet.
My RCBS dies came supplied with both diameter sizing plugs, although I haven't shot any .308 in mine yet.
Posts: 19677 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: 23 May 2002
PWN I like it. You buy your daughter a 7.62 for her 12 th birthday and then you shoot all the bucks with it. I feel Angie needs a nice .450 Double for Christmas, in time for you to test it on an ele in Feb
For the reloaders - Zim,s vet department used a lot of Lee enfield .303's converted to 7.62 Nato, by the simple expedient of turning the barrel down a few threads and rechambering. .308 bullet in a barrel that ranged from .311 to .318. In the tighter bores they gave pretty good accuracy out to 300m, and the tsetse and vet department "magotchas" employed on the various game erradication programmes in the 1980's shot thousands of head of soft skinned game with these pretty sloppy coversions.
Similarly, I use Horniday .32 cal (.312") XTP bullets in my .303's They shoot more accuratly than anything else I have ever tried. They should work a treat in the 7.62x39. I have used them on Impala and baboon and they hold togeather well enough for that work at 3000fps (impala run from 50- 100lbs max)
Posts: 3026 | Location: Zimbabwe | Registered: 23 July 2003
and I managed to see a buck break cover from a tree line behind me and run through a winter wheat field. As the buck drew about even with me but some 75 yards out I fired and it appeared I missed (it was later discovered my first shot had just nicked the buck). This turned the buck and he began quartering my direction. I fired my next shot which broke his on-side front leg and passed completely through his chest striking the bottom of his heart. This shot put him down and when he tried to regain his feet I fired a third shot into his neck which broke his spine and exited. All three hits showed good penitration and expansion. He was a cull with a 3 main points and a split brow tine on the left side and three short but heavy palmated points on the right side.
