Mosin Or Yugo?

[mpace6a]

Looking for a cheap rifle for deer season, like old russian guns because theyre virtually unstoppable and ammo is cheap old surplus. I've shot a buddies mosin nagant alot, and i like it, but ive been looking at a yugo sks now, and, price difference aside, not sure which i'd rather have. Anyone have a yugo that could give an opinion? I'm leaning towards it because its a smaller carbine and would make a decent home defense gun on the side, whereas the mosin would make a better spear since its about a foot or 2 longer. plus less recoil means it would be no big deal for mom or little brother to shoot. Anyone have a yay or nay on it then?

[sinkrun]

Can you use a Semi Auto in your state for big game hunting? And make sure FMJ military ammo is legal as some require soft point hunting ammo. If you can use the semi auto thats what I would choose just because we can't here in PA.

[danbyrambler]

Wrong time of the year for cheap/bargain rifle prices - - - Anyway, nay on both - - - 7,62X39 SKS chambering is a little light for Missouri deer IMO - - It'll do, but strictly a short range number - - The deer population-density or whatever in the river hills south of St Louis has been huge forever & I've filled my farm tags every season for well over 40 years using commonly available rounds from 30 carbine to 30-06 - - Never did enjoy tracking & no/scant blood trail because of no exit wound makes for extra tough going - - - The Mosin sights, trigger, stock & heft all add up to making it ok for still/stand hunting - - -bullet wts of 165 & up will insure complete penetration from any angle out to about 200 yds - - - Missouri requires soft/hollow point ammo for deer hunting & that's about as logical as it gets anymore - - - Air rifles, spears, crossbows, the removal of minimum chamberings & a few other bone heads guarantee lots of lost/wounded deer. If home defense is a concern better off with a shotgun & FWIW if you've never experienced anything concerning you/bad guys - it aint like on tv - still, it's better to be prepared - good luck.

[Comanche County]

Both are good for short range hunting, but best just for plinking at the range.

[JeepcoMJ]

My mosin nagants are accurate over 100 yards. Love them.

[JeepcoMJ]

Do have to say though that our 30-06 cleveland is the way to go, though. The mosin nagant is great but if you want a decent scope setup, you have to either modify the bolt handle, or you are sol. Them you can't use zip strips to load, making it a pita.

[mpace6a]

Wrong time of the year for cheap/bargain rifle prices - - - Anyway, nay on both - - - 7,62X39 SKS chambering is a little light for Missouri deer IMO - - It'll do, but strictly a short range number - - The deer population-density or whatever in the river hills south of St Louis has been huge forever & I've filled my farm tags every season for well over 40 years using commonly available rounds from 30 carbine to 30-06 - - Never did enjoy tracking & no/scant blood trail because of no exit wound makes for extra tough going - - - The Mosin sights, trigger, stock & heft all add up to making it ok for still/stand hunting - - -bullet wts of 165 & up will insure complete penetration from any angle out to about 200 yds - - - Missouri requires soft/hollow point ammo for deer hunting & that's about as logical as it gets anymore - - - Air rifles, spears, crossbows, the removal of minimum chamberings & a few other bone heads guarantee lots of lost/wounded deer. If home defense is a concern better off with a shotgun & FWIW if you've never experienced anything concerning you/bad guys - it aint like on tv - still, it's better to be prepared - good luck.

Had 1 with someone tryin to kick in b

ackdoor, but my dog got ahold of em before I got the shotgun and they took off quick.

Got an 870 for home defense, 00buck in the tube and 3 1oz slugs on the side. Beginning to lean towarss the nagant because of cost and a more powerful round. But until I can afford something better nagant or sks are my only options at the moment

[Slifter]

If you had to pick one or the other eh... If you are in a tree stand go with the mosin and 870. The mosin are heavy and noisy, not good for sneaking up on deer and the safety is horrible. I have not hunted with my sks yet but I plan on it, it's a nice light gun the stock field sights are awesome and the soft point rounds I bought here in Canada will kill a deer easy < 100yd. If you already have a remington 870 that's a deer killing gun as well I use one in the field and get really nice grouping playing around at 50-100 yards with slugs and 00. Got one hanging right now with about 18 holes in its neck. Happy Hunting!

[huck731]

although it is all you can afford right now, I suggest not either. I do have a mosin, but you do not want to hunt with an FMJ bullet, especially if you don't like finding bits of steel and copper in your meet and the fact that the mil.surplus ammo uses a berdan primer w/corrosive powder which equals a biatch of a time cleaning it because you have to use ammonia or some other very strong cleaning solution to fully clean out the corrosives from the rifle because that powder will actually eat away at the barrel. if you do decide to get a mosin though, there is a czech company called Sellier & Bellot. It is a soft point bullet, bulltet wieght is 11.7 grams at 180 grains of powder. Plus that stuff cycles through the weapon way better than the surplus stuff and if you have the equipment, you can reload in S&B ammo whereas the surplus stuff you cannot. The S&B ammo is in a box that looks alot like a box of remington ammo...yellow stripe on tope and green bottom

 

http://www.natchezss.com/Ammo.cfm?contentID=productDetail&brand=ZY&prodID=ZYSBA76207&prodTitle=Sellier%20and%20Bellot%207.62x54R%20180%20gr%20SP%2020/box

 

as an example.

[sinkrun]

I have a box of soft point nomas for sale if anyone needs them (mosin) came with some other hunting items at a auction I have no use for them.

[Backdraft]

I agree with using neither for hunting. If deer is my game, I would grab a Remington .270. A rifle better suited for the task. Combine it with a decent scope and youre good out to a few hundred yards. Also, I'm not sure what the Mosin or the SKS costs, but Academy sports has the remington .270 for under $400. Either way, its your decision and happy hunting. Personally, I'm leaving monday for the hunting lease with a Browning .270 and a Nikon Monarch 6x24 50mm scope, shooting Barnes 130 grain ammo.

[huck731]

an sks will run about 3-4 hundred whereas a mosin can be picked up for as little as 90

[mpace6a]

If you had to pick one or the other eh... If you are in a tree stand go with the mosin and 870. The mosin are heavy and noisy, not good for sneaking up on deer and the safety is horrible. I have not hunted with my sks yet but I plan on it, it's a nice light gun the stock field sights are awesome and the soft point rounds I bought here in Canada will kill a deer easy < 100yd. If you already have a remington 870 that's a deer killing gun as well I use one in the field and get really nice grouping playing around at 50-100 yards with slugs and 00. Got one hanging right now with about 18 holes in its neck. Happy Hunting!

I'd be alright with the 870 inside 35 yards, don't trust my placement with slugs outside of that because i don't have a slug barrel, just using rifled slugs. inside 35 i can hit killzone all day, but i don't want to chase one, i'd rather it be quick and done, for the deers sake.

Didnt get either, had the option but backed off. May get a winchester .30-30, pretty common rifle for deer around here. Same price as an sks as well. Just gonna hold off on anything till i get a good deal. I'd like a rem. 700 in .308, but thats out of my price range.

[mpace6a]

an sks will run about 3-4 hundred whereas a mosin can be picked up for as little as 90

only in a gun shop will an sks be that much, you can get them for less than 250 from a private seller

[Eagle]

I am aware of both and I have read about people using the SKS for hunting deer, but I have no personal experience with either. I have fired an 8mm Mauser, and the recoil was "healthy." The 7.62x54R Mosin-Nagant round is reported to have significantly more recoil than either the 8mm Mauser or the .30-06. It would certainly take a deer ... if you can hit a deer with it. Buying one today off the mil-surp market is VERY "iffy" as to what you'll get. You might get one with a decent barrel, but more likely you'll get one that has a corroded barrel in need of a counter-bore or recrowning.

 

It has been argued that the good old .30-30 has taken more deer than any other cartridge in North America. The 7.62x39 carries less muzzle energy than a .30-30. The 7.62x39 (in the typical mil-surp loadings) has around 1500 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. The .30-30 generally has 1800 to 1900 foot-pounds. Why not look for a used Winchester, Marlin, or Rossi lever action carbine in .30-30? They are out there. I picked up a Winchester Model 94 a few years ago for $90 because the finish was bad. Bore was perfect.

[mpace6a]

I am aware of both and I have read about people using the SKS for hunting deer, but I have no personal experience with either. I have fired an 8mm Mauser, and the recoil was "healthy." The 7.62x54R Mosin-Nagant round is reported to have significantly more recoil than either the 8mm Mauser or the .30-06. It would certainly take a deer ... if you can hit a deer with it. Buying one today off the mil-surp market is VERY "iffy" as to what you'll get. You might get one with a decent barrel, but more likely you'll get one that has a corroded barrel in need of a counter-bore or recrowning.

 

It has been argued that the good old .30-30 has taken more deer than any other cartridge in North America. The 7.62x39 carries less muzzle energy than a .30-30. The 7.62x39 (in the typical mil-surp loadings) has around 1500 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. The .30-30 generally has 1800 to 1900 foot-pounds. Why not look for a used Winchester, Marlin, or Rossi lever action carbine in .30-30? They are out there. I picked up a Winchester Model 94 a few years ago for $90 because the finish was bad. Bore was perfect.

Got a good friend who is a gunsmith, went out to the shop he's worked at for the past 19 years or so and was looking at 2 winchesters, but his boss wouldnt come down any on the price (they were at $350) because he knew he could sell them for that because deer season opens up next week. I actually was out getting some birdshot for some trap shooting last night with some coupons for Dicks Sporting Goods that i got in the mail, stopped to look at rifles just out of curiousity, and they just dropped their price on the mossberg 100 atr to 299 so i bought one in .308 win. took it to the range today to see how good the scope was on it, zeroed it, took it out to 75yds and it shot beautifully. Recoil is definatley less than the mosins 7.62x54, and close to 4lbs lighter. If anyones interested and they are on sale near you, I'd definately recommend one.

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

 

Properly set up, the Mosin has some serious range and power, falling in between the 7.62x51 and the .30-06. It's becoming increasingly popular for deer.

 

Accordingly, I'm hoping this might help some folks in this thread.

 

I apologize in advance for the screw heads; they were taken apart literally hundreds of times. I've since replaced them and found a proper bit for my torque wrench that will not cause damage to the new ones, even over the long-term!

 

 

Front view of the prototype that started my business...

 

... and the rear.

 

The action is shimmed and the barrel corked:

 

 

I also made some cool things like a two-stage Finn M39-style trigger. Instead of pins, it has bearings :D

 

 

 

You can barely see a couple bearings under the sear.

 

I'm not going to risk selling it though. Liability. Dangit. I will, however, share the design:

 

Here is one I did while taking time to record the manufacture. Please bear in mind that this is during manufacture and it does not yet have grease or bluing on it.

 

 

 

 

 

I may manufacture these one day if I can find an insurance provider that doesn't ask crack-smoking prices to insure the product; meantime I have no problems with folks making them for themselves. I'd advise against making them for others just because of liability.

 

These cannot be patented as a very similar product, the Finnish M39's trigger, has been around since at least 1939!

 

One company makes an arguably inferior trigger utilizing a ball bearing. It is single-stage and feels much like a S&W revolver's trigger pull. I believe but cannot prove that their use of the ball bearing is their way of modifying the design enough to patent it.

 

Anyway, even if this were patentable – a doubtful prospect as I said – I'm throwing the design into the public domain so that it cannot be patented due to a preexisting specimen.

 

This is the same reason the Ruger LCP is so similar (the same, even!) to the Kel-Tec design: Kel-Tec never patented those lil' pistols and Ruger picked it up.

 

I want the best manufacturers to make products I buy, not folks who think up the idea then farm it out to China to be made cheaply. There are too many awesome designs out there that are poorly executed, but nobody else can pick these up for fear of patent infringement.

 

If I get the time and the insurance to make these, I will. If not, somebody with a drill press and a few other tools along with a bit of skill is more than welcome to make them. My feelings won't be hurt.

 

As I said, this is a Finnish idea that I just improved on a bit.

 

This rifle is capable of this (or rather, I'm capable of doing this, with my 20/55 sight; I'm sure the rifle's much better):

 

 

I had to work for that group, but as long as I have a target I can see, I can do about that.

 

I know what these rifles can do and I love to see folks wring them out. Heck, a Finnish M39 had to have at least a 1.3MOA capability to be accepted into service!

 

Josh

[xjrev10]

I have dropped 17ish whitetails with a AK47 semi auto rifle. I shot my first deer with a SKS. Same round. (7.62X39) I never lost a deer. In fact they usually dropped in their tracks. But the farthest shot was about 70 yards with iron sights. Perfect caliper/rifle for the brush.

 

I now have a Howa .308 for hunting. 6X24 scope and has shot groups out to 600 yards. Ive shot 2 deer with it. Its a nice gun for stand hunting in open areas..

[Goose]

I used my mosin as a hunting rifle one year. It's sporterized, with a 3x9x35 long eye relief pistol scope. No bolt mod needed. Just hammer out the pins on the rear sight and you have a dovetail mount. To which I mounted a picatanny rail to. I shot 2 does, one at 40yds, one at 130yds. A lot of places online sell soft point ammo. PalmettoStateArmory.com is the one I use.