Rifles762

Interest in defensive carbines has grown so much that aftermarket catalogs such as Brownells (www.brownells.com), now mail a separate issue dedicated to the AR-15 platform. But the AR is not the only available long gun and 223 Remington/5.56mm is not the only round available for self defense-for instance, theres the 7.62x39mm. This round was developed by the Soviets circa 1943. According to some loading manuals, popularity of this cartridge in the United States saw a boom when GIs returning from Viet Nam brought home Communist Bloc weapons. Since then, other more American designs have been chambered for the 7.62x39mm. For example, our test weapons were the $966 Ruger K-Mini Thirty-P/20 No. 5853, and the AR-15 style DPMS Panther 16-inch 7.62x39mm No. RFA2-762-16 carbine, $850. Pitted alongside those two guns was a Standard SKS Type 56 with an aftermarket stock, the Advanced Technologies Incorporated Fiberforce unit. The addition of a synthetic stock has become a popular choice for those wanting to modernize their SKS rifles.[IMGCAP(1)]To perform our tests, we traveled to American Shooting Centers in Houston. Here we had our choice of benches facing towering berms at distances of 50 yards to 600 yards downrange. Since we would classify none of our test guns as match-grade target rifles and we would be firing with only the supplied iron sights, we set up at the 50-yard line. Our shooting team consisted of a third generation U.S. Marine on the trigger and an experienced spotter with a High Definition Swarovski Optik 10x42mm binocular to provide instant feedback without the shooter having to dismount.For test ammunition we began with three different rounds. Winchester USAs Q3174, Federals A76239A, American Eagle, and 124-grain soft point Military Classic ammunition from Wolf. The Winchester rounds were topped with a 123-grain full-metal-jacket bullet, and the American Eagles featured 124-grain FMJ slugs. But we were forced to switch from the Wolf soft points to Wolf 122-grain copper-jacket hollowpoints to complete our tests. Both of the Wolf rounds were Berdan primed and utilized steel cases. But we found that neither of our modern guns would reliably break the primer on the soft points. The only visual difference between the two Wolf rounds, aside from the bullets, was sealant surrounding the primer of the 122-grain ammunition. In contrast, our SKS shot reliably with every type of ammunition we could find.Accuracy data was collected by delivering 10 shots to the target. We then used a measuring technique that determined the center of the group. Our accuracy chart lists Average Group Radius, the average distance that each shot printed from dead center, Maximum Spread, the widest separation between dead center and a single shot, and Maximum Shot Radius. Average Group Radius and Maximum Spread were measured to the center of each bullet hole and these measurements express average group size and largest group, respectively. Maximum Shot Radius was measured from the furthest edge. If a circle was used to "lasso" every hit on target, Maximum Shot [IMGCAP(2)]Radius would equal the diameter of the circle.But theres more to a rifle than shooting from a bench. Here is what we learned.

Despite its being the most prolific rifle in history, Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47 is still being manufactured in a vast variety of offerings at locations all over the world. One of those locations is Houston, Texas, where the Arsenal USA Co. assembles AKs using parts from Hungary and some made in Houston. We got one of that company's rifles for a recent test, pitting the hybrid U.S./foreign product against an imported wire-stocked Romanian-made rifle from Southern Ohio Gun. To complete the group of 7.62mm Russian rifles, we got a VZ 2000 from Ohio Ordnance Works. The VZ-2000 can be mistaken for an AK-47 look-alike, but is actually a close semiauto copy of the Czech Model 58.

All of these semiautomatic rifles fired the .30 Russian Short, which the 7.62x39 is sometimes called. We've recently noticed bargain-priced surplus rifles in odd calibers, but two boxes of ammunition can cost as much as the rifle. Not so the .30 Russian Short. We found 7.62x39 ammo to be plentiful and generally not very expensive. If you want to have fun with your AK, it's nice to know the fodder won't break the bank.

The SKS is a homely brute, and many of its simple mechanisms are largely outdated by today's weapons' standards. But it works. It, like so many rifles based on the tapered 7.62 x 39 round, catches the cartridges that its two-piece bolt strips out of that fixed, ten-shot magazine with great ease. It fires them reliably and slings out the empties like an outraged matron encountering last week's garbage. The accuracy isn't generally good enough to be called that, unless you've got a lucky specimen on your hands. On average, they seem to shoot M1-Carbine-size groups. They'll put most of their shots into a four- or five-inch circle at a hundred yards, and that's plenty good enough for their intended job. But you'd never write home to mama about how attractive a rifle an SKS is.

These days one hears of the 7.62 x 39, also known as the .30 Russian Short or the Soviet M43, as commonly as one used to hear of the .30-30 a few decades ago. Even in out-of-the-way locales, the short Russian thirty pops up, and plays a major role in survival batteries and in hunting camps. Gun shops regularly stock ammunition for it, often at near-give-away prices. There are several good rifles made in the U.S. today for this cartridge, but the very inexpensive surplus semiauto rifles imported from China in stupendous quantities have started to dry up. A few years ago, they commonly sold for under $100. Today they bring about twice that. When they first appeared, they were new, fairly good guns, and there were so many of them that a significant aftermarket of stocks, scope mounts, high-capacity magazines, and other add-on parts appeared on the gunny scene, and many if not most of those parts are still available, if not everywhere still legal. Occasionally seen were the somewhat higher- quality Russian versions, complete with bayonet.

Along with the SKS types, the AK-47 clones in semiauto version also appeared, carrying names like MAC-90 and PolyTech Legend. There were, and still are in some areas, many rifles available for the Russian short thirty for not a lot of money. The proliferation of the cartridge and guns to shoot it made this generation of U.S. shooters very much aware of the cartridge, its potential and limitations. Many still wonder, however, about the 7.62 x 39. How good are the best pre-ban clones of the AK? Is the SKS, in any of its many variants, a good rifle? Are they reliable? How well do they shoot? And what about modern semiautomatic rifles chambered for this cartridge?

We thought it would be interesting to test some of the finest military-type versions of this cartridge alongside one of today's modern U.S. offerings, to give the reader some idea of where the cartridge came from and just how good the rifles are.

Ruger's Magnum takes the cake as a dangerous-game gun, and we also like Sako's 75 Hunter. Pass on the Winchester Model 70 Safari Express.