A few years ago, Mossberg introduced the MVP line of bolt-action rifles. The thing that made them successful is that these rifles can take magazines for the AR-15 (for those chambered in 5.56mm/.223 Remington) or the AR-10/M1A (for those in .308 Winchester). Now you had a bolt-action rifle that used the same magazines at your semi-auto rifle of choice, and for this reason the rifle line took off.
Recently Ruger got in on this action by making the Ruger American Ranch in 7.62x39mm--the AK-47 cartridge--and designed to use the same magazines at the Ruger Mini-30. This will, and has, had a similar--albeit lesser--effect (lesser due to the Ranch also having the Mini-30's problem with non-brass ammo).
Yet the AK-47 remains very popular in the US, albeit in a semi-auto only version (for legal reasons), as does the cartridge (it's a good substitute for the .30-30 Winchester, America's most popular Deer hunting round). Why no one has a bolt-action rifle out there that takes AK-47 magazines yet is beyond me; whomever put one out that--like the CZ 527 Carbine--can chew up cheap steel-cased ammo all day every day will succeed beyond all measure.
And yet at the SHOT Show nothing of the sort got announced. Fail. Big Fucking Fail.
Mossberg, Savage, someone- get on that. The first one to bring a bolt-action rifle that uses AK magazines wins.
Bradford
ReplyDeleteI've never fired the Soviet 7,62 version. Is it a good hunting cartidge for deer? What other animals would the cartidge be suitable for?
xavier
7.62x39 has the same terminal ballistics as .30-30 Winchester, the most common deer hunting round in North America. Get yourself some hunting loads (look for soft point rounds in a brass casing), see what works best in your rifle, and try it out next Autumn.
DeleteThis means that your 7.62x39mm rifle has the same effective range: 100-300 yards, i.e. a brush gun, same as a Winchester 94 or a Marlin 336, so you're good for places like the Upper Midwest or similarly wooded land.
Bradford,
DeleteMany thanks.
xavier