.308 vs 7.62x39 for 300 yards and less

[ajax]

I've been pretty much set on getting a ptr-91 for a while now but now that I think about it, due to the terrain in my local 300+ yard shots will hardly ever be called for.  is it worth it to go .308 for the power?  accuracy?  7.62x39 is lighter, cheaper, and higher capacity...

thoughts?

vepr vs ptr91 in my mind.

[Swamp Fox]

7.62x39 has a ballistic trajectory not unlike a rainbow.

.308 will be much better for that.

If you want to go with a civilian rifle, better than the .308 would be a .243 Winchester.

[christo]

i would say to go with the .308, it's what I use for any shots over 200yards. But that's just my own biased opinon since i just picked up a HOWA 1500 in .308.

[gunz]

The military rates the 7.62x39 as being effective to about 300 yards, I think it was 330 meters or some such.

  The .308 would have an edge after say 100 or 200 yards in being faster and flatter.

[crackshot]

7.62X54 does pretty good for long shots.

[convert]

I have 4 sks's and 2 AK's, i love them but i also love my .308 CETME, what if i need a little extra power at say 350yds to punch thru a wall or maybe a vehicle at that distance? i dont know if a 7.62x39 will do it,but i think a .308 will,this argument goes thru my head plenty! where i'm at 300yds will be a fairly long distance due to brush,shrubs,big pine trees,oaks etc. so an AK or sks will do nicely,but what if i needed to make that one 400yd shot and inflict serious damage? what about just using an M1 Garand in .30-.06?..man dont i hate this question....well hell i'll just go buy one of them Barret M82A1's in .50cal, i did see a 'LAHTI anti-tank rifle' in 20mm at a gunshow once,but those .303 Enfield are a nice shooter too! i want to try out one of those Russian Mosin-Nagant in 7.62x54, i dont even like the looks of the .223, hhmm mix a .243 round with an AK and that sounds good too!,is any of this helping?

[DRman]

Years ago I came across a Ruger 300 Win Mag with a 3x9 Leupold on it at a gun show. It had a lot of carry wear and a chip out of the stock. I got it for a good price and fixed it up a bit. I worked up some 200 grain Nosler loads for that and packed it away with 200 rounds. I figure if the SHTF and I feel I'll be needing to make long shots I'll pull that out and put it in the battery.

[ajax]

well I dont see any shots in my area ever needing to be more than 300 yards so I'm trying to decide what to go with for a MBR, and intermediate cartridge or a full rifle cartridge.

[handyrandyrc]

i want to try out one of those Russian Mosin-Nagant in 7.62x54

You NEED to try one.  I was given a 1931 Mosin-Nagant 91/30 for my birthday.  Just shot it over the Christmas holiday weekend.  WOW -- recoil is not bad whatsoever -- hardly more than the SKS.  Shoots straight out to 100 yards (furthest I've tested so far).  More 200 yard and 300 yard tests to come eventually.

Ammo is fairly inexpensive -- Wolf 7.62x54R was 6 bucks a box of 20.

Randy

[Swamp Fox]

You NEED to try one.

+1

I was given a 1931 Mosin-Nagant 91/30 for my birthday.  Just shot it over the Christmas holiday weekend.  WOW -- recoil is not bad whatsoever -- hardly more than the SKS.

That's because you were shooting a 91/30.  M38 is going to be a different story.

Shoots straight out to 100 yards (furthest I've tested so far).  More 200 yard and 300 yard tests to come eventually.

I want to get a second 91/30 for "Project Bubba Zaitsev" ... take a 91/30, anything goes, make it a long range tack driver.  Will keep the other one bone stock.

Ammo is fairly inexpensive -- Wolf 7.62x54R was 6 bucks a box of 20.

440 Rounds of Hungarian Yellow Tip - $29.99 online.  Yellow & silver tip (heavy ball, steel core) is $39.99 online for 440 rds.  Add a little bit for shipping.

[Slivers]

7.62x39 is a very, very, very proven effective mankiller. Good enough for me for anything from point blank to 100 meters.

[ZapThyCat]

What about 30.06?  How does that stack up?

Anyone?

[Swamp Fox]

Very heavy.  Very effective.  More effective than .308.  But you carry less of it.

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-ping!

[ZapThyCat]

... you mean you can carry less?  Because it's so heavy?

[Swamp Fox]

... you mean you can carry less?  Because it's so heavy?

Right.

Rule of thumb... though it is not necessarily this simple... is that more effective cartridges tend to weigh more.  A .50 BMG round is pretty much a sure thing way past 1,000 meters if you can hit your target.  But how many of them are you carrying in your web gear?  Not many.

.30-06 is awesome out to at least 800m, more if the shooter & gun are up to it.  But it's a big cartridge.  It weighs a lot.  You will feel it carrying 200 of these, so you probably won't carry that many.

7.62x39 weighs a lot less than .30-06.  OK so it's not much good past 300 meters or so (some will say 500 meters, but that's from a benchrest and under otherwise ideal circumstances in my opinion).  But I can carry 300 of these on stripper clips without feeling burdened.  180 in 6 AK mags is not hard to carry at all.

5.56mm NATO is even lighter still.  Though I don't think it's as much of a difference in weight as the difference between 7.62x39 and .30-06.  Somewhere between .30-06 and 5.56mm is a compromise, which is going to be different for everyone.