The Soviet Army – 7.62 x 54R Cartridge

The following data comes from Janes Ammunition Handbook 1995 – 1996.

Synonyms:

7.62 x 54R; 7.62 mm Soviet Rimmed; 7.62 mm obr 1891

Development:

This is the oldest cartridge still in first-line service, having been introduced into Russian service in 1891 with the Mosin-Nagant ‘Three-Line’ rifle. It was adopted as the standard infantry cartridge for subsequent rifles and machine guns, and since it has superior long-rage perfomance to the 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge, has been kept in use for machine guns and sniping rifles. It has also been adopted by other countries using Russian weapons, particularly China and Finland, but will be found anywhere where Soviet influence has distributed the appropriate weapons.

Description:

The case is rimmed, bottle-necked and may be of brass or copper-coated steel. The base is part-convex with a Berdan primer. A variety of bullets have been used over the years, but the current are the streamlined Ball LPS, steel-cored with a gilding metal jacket and the Heavy Ball D, streamlined and with a lead core in gilding metal jacket.

Specifications:

Round Length:	76.70 mm	Case Length:	53.60 mm
Rim Diameter:	14.30 mm	Bullet Diameter:	7.87 mm
Bullet Weight:	11.98 g	Nominal Charge:	—-
Muzzle Velocity:	818 m/s	Muzzle Energy:	4,008 J