- Joined
- Sep 11, 2021
Yeah- that's what I kind of figured. There's a bit of an "urban legend" where I live that there's one particular Grizzly on the outskirts of town who got shot point-blank in the face with 12 gauge Buckshot but survived (albeit deformed and freakish-looking) and is royally pissed off and continues to hunt down the odd Cheechako tourist and eats them to this day like the shark from Jaws. Is it a bullshit urban legend? Maybe- but do I want to take the risk?ballistically, 7.62x39 is similar to .30 WCF / .30-30 and will certainly kill a moose with decent shot placement under 100 yards and a Kodiak bear in under 50-60 yards, again with good shot placement. do you want to be that close to dangerous game that is known to charge and regularly kill people / break into vehicles / small buildings rather than flee? humane hunting (with 1-2 shots max) for moose and Kodiak is typically done with a .30-06 at a minimum to penetrate the hide, fat, muscle, bone, pass through several organs, and expend it's energy ideally in the far side of the animal without exiting. i could see it with several shots at relatively close range with spitzer soft pointed 7.62x39, assuming all those shots are good shots. i think it wouldn't be humane though, and may not be legal with a semi-auto in that cartridge with a standard magazine.
if it's helpful, i found a .270 and 7mm-08 required a heavy bullet (around 175gr) at 150 meters or less for a clean kill. strange angles would often have little effect (big shoulders, thick muscles from quarter shots, et c) and result in a either a blood trail or a failed kill.
Like I said- I paid for the AK half with cash and half on my credit card so I'm gonna focus on paying that off first- but I guess for a good "hunting rifle" I'll look at one of those surplus Turkish Mausers (which are apparently extremely cheap) or a Hakim- I've heard alot of good things about the 8mm round in particular. Probably shouldn't be too hard to replace the worn-out surplus stock with something prettier down the road, and if 8mm Mauser isn't going to take down a moose IDK what will.
Also, I just realized the two firearms I own are probably the most iconic (or generic) ones ever.... My carry gun, a M1911 (albeit a Double-Stack Para Ordnance P14-45) and now the milled AK. I know it's weird to use firearms that utilize both NATO and Warsaw Pact ammo- I can't think of that many national militaries that do that (Saudi Arabia? Brazil?) but organized crime groups and guerilla forces might.