Gourt Home::Gourt :: 7.62 x 54 mm R
The 7.62 x 54 mm R (The 'R' stands for 'rimmed', referring to the rim around the base of the cartridge.) rifle cartridge is a Russian design dating back to 1891. Originally designed for the Mosin-Nagant rifle, it was used during the late Tsarist era and throughout the Soviet period, in machine guns and rifles. It is still in use by the Russian military in the Dragunov and other sniper rifles and some modern machine guns. The round is colloquially known as the '7.62 Russian'. The name is sometimes confused with the '7.62 Soviet', which refers to the 7.62x39 cartridge. An easy way to remember the difference is to bear in mind that the 7.62x54R was developed in the late 19th century in Tsarist Russia, before the 1917 Soviet Revolution, while the 7.62x39 was first developed in 1943 (Hence the first version's designation: M43)
The 7.62 x 54 mm R is one of the oldest cartridges still in use by any military in the world. In general performance, it closely parallels the .30-06. It is also one of the few (along with the .30-30 and .303 British) rimmed centerfire rifle cartridges.
Specifications
Dimensions
- Round length: 76.70 mm
- Case length: 53.60 mm
- Rim diameter: 14.30 mm
- Bullet diameter: 7.87 mm
- Bullet weight: 148 or 185 grains. (Heavier bullets are intended for use in machine guns such as the PKM)
Nominal charge
Types of Ammunition
- Full metal jacket
- Hollow point
- Soft-point
- Light steel-core armor piercing
- Heavy steel-core armor piercing
- Tracer
- Super-incendiary
- Sniper (Снайперские)
The photo on the right shows, from left to right:
- Sellier & Bellot hollow point boat tail
- "Czech silver tip", steel core light armor-piercing
- Hungarian silver/yellow-tip, heavy armor-piercing
- Wolf Gold soft-point
- USSR 1986 steel core light ball, Factory 60. Ballistic Information
- Yugoslav surplus (1953)
- USSR 1940s lead core light ball Ballistic Information
Please see this page for information on additional variants.
Surplus Ammunition
Most surplus ammunition available uses corrosive primers. An exception is some newer-production ammunition made by Wolf Ammunition. One of the most reliable and accurate surplus -54R is Czech "silver tip"Pic, which is Czeckoslovakian surplus from the 1960s.
See also
External links
"7.62 x 54 mm R"