Skip to content

New staff writer and the 7.62x54mmR

  • by

For a quick introduction, my name is John Bullet. I will be creating a “one stop shop” for reference and information on as many varying types of ammunition as I can get a hold of or research. I will be dividing each subject into three parts, objective, personal subjective and local interviews. From time to time, internet links will be provided to videos and references.

I will start off with my personal favorite round, the 7.62x54mmR. The round was first created in Russia in 1891 and is still in use today. It is a rimmed; this means that the base of the round has a lip. This is one of the oldest types of cartridge and was created to hold the round in place while it is chambered. It is also bottlenecked; the bullet has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the cartridge where the gunpowder is stored. This has two purposes, to hold it in the chamber and to give the same bullet more gunpowder.

The total height of the round is 77.16mm or 3.03 inches. The diameter of the bullet is 7.92 millimeters (mm) or 0.312 inches (in) while the casing has a diameter of 12.37 millimeters or 0.487 inches. The cartridge carries 180 grains of gunpowder and when fired has a maximum pressure of 52,000 pounds per square inch (psi). With a control barrel of 73 centimeters (cm) or 28in, a bullet from a standard 7.62×54 will leave the barrel at 797 meters per second (m/s) or 2610 feet per second (fps) and carry a weight of 11.3 grams (g) and hit a target with 3,593 joules (j).

The round can be fired with a plethora of different firearms. The original usage was designed for the Mosin-Nagant but can be used with the Winchester 1895, AVB-7.62, AVS-36, Dragunov and the SVU redesign in 1991, JS-7.62, STV-38/STV-40, PSL, M91, Berkut-2M1, SV-98, Alejandro and the Russian Vepr. Even though the round was designed for a bolt action, it has been adapted for automatic rifles. These include the 2B-P-10, Degtyaryov, DS-39, GShG-7.62 mg, Hua Qing Minigun, Madison mg, the Pecheneg or the “PKP”, PM M1910, PV-1 mg, Slostin mg, savin-narov mg, SG-43 Goryunov, SHKAS mg, Type 53/57, Type 67 and 80 mg, Uk vz. 59 and the zastava M84.

For the video for my personal thoughts,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62×54mmR