i have been shooting this thing for about 6 weeks now and i am liking it alot. i have been shooting several different kinds of brass cased ammo through it. here is what i have experienced with it so far.

american eagle 124 gr. fmj- this has a .308 bullet and grouping is at 4", i had alot of blowby from this cartridge and i measured the case and it was .017 shorter, shot 2 boxes and all 40 had blowby.

federal power shock 123 gr. sp- this has a .310 bullet and grouped at 1.5"

fiocchi fmj- this has a .310 bullet and grouped at 4"

winchester sp- this has a .311 bullet and grouped at1.5"

lapua fmj- this has a .311 bullet and grouped at 1.5"

remington sp- this has a .308 bullet and grouped at 6", i also noted that these cartridges use small primers

pmc fmj- this measures with a .309 bullet and grouped at 6", i had 2 out of the only 5 ftf that i tried. better suited for my sks as i think they have very hard primers

it is my opinion that anything smaller than .310 bullets will fly all over the paper out of my rifle. i have put over 100 rounds through this rifle and it has functioned great. i have tried only 2 steel cased cartridges and they both ftf the first time. i tried them both a second time and they both went off.

if anyone would like to add their results with this caliber here i would appreciate reading them.

this will be my daughters first deer rifle that she will carry this year.

How old is your daughter? Those rossi breach loaders can kick a little bit.

Also, don't the 7.62 x 39 drop pretty quick after 100 yds?

Keep yer eyes peeled!

i haven't shot this past 100 yards yet, she is 9 and has put about 50 rounds through it so far and loves it. will report back on how it does at 200 yards.

The 7.62 is a short .30 cal. round. I have killed many deer with a russian sks in that caliber, but that was in very brushy country where the shots were 100 yards and closer.

Just make sure you set your scope accordingly.

Keep yer eyes peeled!

i have shot this at a 3d deer decoy at 150 and 200 yards using the lapua cartridge and it hit every time. i held right on target with the scope set at 2'' high at 100 yrds. i will put it on paper pretty soon.

Even sighted in 2" high at 100yrds your still gonna be 24" low at 300yds. That is why it is not a popular cartridge among hunters. I still don't know why Military and Law Enforcement Snipers use it when there are so many better alternatives. I think the best choice for kids (my son is 10) is the .243, a 100 gr bullet out of only drops 7" at 300 zeroe'd at 100, and the have very little kick even out out of a Single shot.

"It takes 32 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, but only 3 for a proper trigger pull."

I agree. I started my son on a .243, and he made some good shots with at at some distance. The biggest factor being he was not afraid of the kick.

Keep yer eyes peeled!

Got my son a .243 for his 1st deer rifle when he was about 10-11.  I've watched him shoot a good number of  Hill-country size deer with it.  For some reason that .243 seems to be magical---all you see is a cloud of dust and four hooves pointed straight up.  Great caliber.

My eldest son started with a .25-06 and had no problem with it, so we thought he'd hunt with that rifle.  Well, for several reasons I sold it and did a little looking around at recoil.  I'm sure there is some subjectivity in the numbers but what I saw indicated that the kick of a .308 was not decidedly heavier than a .25-06, so I got him one.  He did real well with that round and has hunted with it ever since. Of course, he was 12 when he first shot the .308.  For younger kids a 7mm-08 might be a better choice.

Don't want to stir-up controversy, but I wouldn't hunt whitetails with a .243 unless you used a well-constructed bullet (partition, triple shock, accubond, etc.), if at all.  Its a great round for varmints of about any type at any range.  And, I know that a number of people do hunt deer with one.  But, I've also seen several deer wounded with a .243 and not recovered, especially if they're shooting a thinner-walled 'ballistic' or spitzer type bullet.  This is especially true when shot placement is not right on, which is not uncommon for beginners or young hunters.

my daughter took her first deer with this little rifle last weekend. she made a 125 yard shot. she was using a federal 123 gr. power shok soft point. it did a good job.

Congrats Ricky, saw you and your daughter's picture.  Words can't express what its like watching one of your children take their first deer and getting caught with 'the bug'.  Nope...you didn't look happy at all in that photo.  In fact, I thought the camera wasn't going to work with the 2 of you grinning so wide! 

you know, i got wound up tighter watching her shoot than i have ever been on my own deer. funny huh!!! can't wait till next year!!!

Oh, yeah! I think the one thing that's more fun than hunting is watching your children hunt...Again, congratulations on making memories neither one of you will forget.

I just swapped my son out of a Rossi 7.62x39. He's loved the gun and killed a couple of +/- 100 pound hogs with out to 100 yards or so. That was using Federal JHP.

they really are great little rifles!

"I still don't know why Military and Law Enforcement Snipers use it when there are so many better alternatives."

Mike, they don't.  US/NATO snipers frequently use the .308/7.62x51mm.  Former Communist Block countries often use the 7.62x54mm as a sniping round.

Regards,

John