Is 7.62x39 ever a better choice than .308?

[202]

Now that is a gun that NEVER gets old. And a 7 or 8 twist will get you 1000 yard gun/ammo possibility.

Exactly! I have never tried the 1000 yard shot. 500 yards is the max we can shoot around here. One day….

[Ron3]

I decided to pass on 7.62x39. I've been there & done that and that's why I have a .308.

I got another Mini-14 in 5.56 so now I have a pair and they can share mags, etc. One folder, one fixed. Wife really enjoys the fixed stock.

[screechjet]

I'd make the argument that 7.62x39 is more of a ballistic dead end than 5.7. Kind of one of those things that made sense once, became industry standard like a QWERTY keyboard and lives on, especially in places like Africa or South/Central America.

[wanderson]

I have a Mini-14 in .300bo, no regrets. I have several firearms in both .300bo and 7.62x39 and seriously considered a Mini-30. The new Mini 30s have a proper bore and more firing pin protusion.
To me, my Mini in .300 is a modern version of the M-1 carbine in .30 cal. It's almost as accurate as my .300bo AR at 100 yards.

No supressor, I mostly run supersonic loads but found that although subs don't cycle the action, they also don't partially eject and cause a jam. So I can operate it like a straight pull action and run thru a full mag with no jams.

But no complaints with the 7.62x39 round either. I have ARs in both calibers and overall the .300bo has better accuracy but 7.62x39 has more energy. I'd take either .30 caliber over 5.56 but 5.56 will always be the cheaper and more plentiful round.

[mig1nc]

I have a Mini-14 in .300bo, no regrets. I have several firearms in both .300bo and 7.62x39 and seriously considered a Mini-30. The new Mini 30s have a proper bore and more firing pin protusion.
To me, my Mini in .300 is a modern version of the M-1 carbine in .30 cal. It's almost as accurate as my .300bo AR at 100 yards.

No supressor, I mostly run supersonic loads but found that although subs don't cycle the action, they also don't partially eject and cause a jam. So I can operate it like a straight pull action and run thru a full mag with no jams.

But no complaints with the 7.62x39 round either. I have ARs in both calibers and overall the .300bo has better accuracy but 7.62x39 has more energy. I'd take either .30 caliber over 5.56 but 5.56 will always be the cheaper and more plentiful round.

300blk supers usually have a tad over 90% of the energy of 7.62x39 while having a tad under 90% of the recoil while also having 40-60% more energy than 5.56 depending on the specific loads and barrel lengths being compared.

To me, if you aren't shooting far enough to need 308, or if you aren't shooting game large enough to need something bigger than a micro action caliber then the lighter calibers are usually going to be better choices.


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[Ron3]

I have a Mini-14 in .300bo, no regrets. I have several firearms in both .300bo and 7.62x39 and seriously considered a Mini-30. The new Mini 30s have a proper bore and more firing pin protusion.
To me, my Mini in .300 is a modern version of the M-1 carbine in .30 cal. It's almost as accurate as my .300bo AR at 100 yards.

No supressor, I mostly run supersonic loads but found that although subs don't cycle the action, they also don't partially eject and cause a jam. So I can operate it like a straight pull action and run thru a full mag with no jams.

But no complaints with the 7.62x39 round either. I have ARs in both calibers and overall the .300bo has better accuracy but 7.62x39 has more energy. I'd take either .30 caliber over 5.56 but 5.56 will always be the cheaper and more plentiful round.

You probably know that Ruger set the gas oriface to work with open .300 super and suppressed .300 subs.

And that various gas orifices and an adjustable gas block are available.