Picture of lead core full metal jacket (FMJ) 7.62x54mm Russian produced in Romania in 2021.
Source: www.globalordnance.com -
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The 7.62x54mm Russian cartridge is a pre-World War 1 rifle cartridge developed in Imperial Russia. The Russo-Japanese war showed the need for a faster spitzer type bullet. With its widespread service out to this day this is one of the oldest firearms cartridges still in active service. While designed for the Mosin-Nagant rifle, it is nowadays mostly known for its use in medium machine guns.
The 7.62x54mm Soviet cartridge uses a rimmed, slightly tapered and bottlenecked case. Initially round nosed bullet was used, this was changed to a spitzer type bullet in 1917. In the Cold War era the production costs were reduced by introducing steel cases and bimetallic jackets for steel core bullets. Various bullet designs were improved as well, such as the tracer and armor piercing rounds. In the late 1960's the first sniper ammunition was introduced.
The 7.62x54mm Soviet cartridge was introduced with the Mosin-Nagant rifle and saw widespread service in World War 1, World War 2 and various Cold War conflicts. The SVT-40 is one of the few semi-automatic rifle designs in this cartridge. The tapered and rimmed case design makes magazine design difficult. In machine gun belts the rimmed case is less of an issue. The Maxim M1910 water-cooled machine gun saw widespread service. The DP light machine gun uses a pan magazine to deal with the rimmed case. Belt-fed machine guns proved more successful and include the crew served SG-43 and universal PK machine guns. These are in widespread infantry service and also feature as coaxial armament on Soviet tanks and armored vehicles.
The standard ball round has a 9.6 g bullet with a muzzle velocity of 828 m/s and about 3.700 J energy. The bullet remains supersonic out to over 800 meters. When used from a tripod or as a coaxial machine gun the maximum effective range against area targets is up to 1.5 km. Armor piercing rounds are mostly cost-effective to produce with their hardened steel cores, but are often less effective than more expensive foreign designs. Sniper grade ammunition is sufficient for the military marksman role, but lacks the choice and quality in match grade loads as its 7.62x51mm NATO counterpart.
The 7.62x54mm Russian is one of the most produced cartridges in the world and has been in service for over 130 years. Initially it was used primarily by Imperial Russian, and later Soviet forces, in both World Wars. After World War 2 its use was vastly expanded by becoming standard issue for machine guns in Warsaw Pact states and China. Subsequently many nations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America that were aligned with the the USSR or China received large quantities. This makes the cartridge used in nearly every conflict for the last few decades.
Russian self-loading rifle produced during World War 2.
Soviet semi-automatic marksman rifle. Notable for being one of the first sniper rifles purposely developed from the ground up for military service.
The Romanian PSL is an upscaled Kalashnikov rifle in 7.62x54mm Soviet for us as a marksman rifle.
Soviet light machine gun using 47 round pan magazines.
Early Cold War era Soviet belt-fed machine gun derived from the DP light machine gun.
Soviet Cold War era general purpose machine gun produced in large numbers.
Vehicle machine gun derived from the PK. Used in large number as a coaxial machine gun on late Cold War era Soviet and modern Russian vehicles.
Soviet machine gun with heavy barrel for use on a wheeled mount and vehicle mounts. Used during World War 2 and throughout the Cold War.
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