Probably, every person who is at least a little interested in weapons and their history has heard about the ammunition 7, 62 54 mm R. Which is not surprising - for half a century it was the main cartridge of the Russian army. And even now it has not lost its popularity - it is actively used both in the army and in hunting. That is why it will not be superfluous to tell about it in more detail.
History of ammunition
Let's start with the fact that the cartridge was first developed in the Russian Empire in 1890. Colonel N. Rogovtsev became the developer. Of course, that cartridge was significantly different from what we are used to. But it was he who became the progenitor who survived many changes. Originally produced at the Tula Cartridge Plant.
A few months later, in 1891, the legendary Mosin rifle, also known as the "three-ruler", was developed for this cartridge, without exaggeration.
At first, the 7.62x54 cartridge had a blunt, rounded bullet weighing 13.6 grams. A significant mass provided serious injuries when hit, but reduced the flight range, and also complicated the calculation of the trajectory. Soa few years later - in 1908 - the ammunition was modernized and received a pointed head familiar to contemporaries. The mass at the same time decreased to 9.6 grams.
The development of new modifications was very slow - the conservative monarch confidently refused any innovations. Only in 1916, another modification was adopted - a cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet Kutovoy.
But after the revolution, the end of the Civil War and the restoration of industry, everything changed. Over the years, several successful modifications have been developed. For example, Kutovoy's armor-piercing bullet was replaced by a more advanced analogue of Boyno-Rodzevich. A cartridge with a weighted bullet also appeared, used when firing from a machine gun and the first Russian tracer ammunition, incendiary and combined. It was still produced at the Tula Cartridge Plant - significantly modernized and improved.
Subsequently, many other modifications were developed - we will talk about them a little later. Ammunition has also changed in other directions. For example, instead of a copper sleeve, they began to use stainless, and then bimetallic. Of course, this also had an impact on weapons using 7.62 54 mm R ammunition. The most complex evolution, a chain of improvements led to the fact that today you can see one of the most sought-after cartridges in the world, created almost a century and a half ago.
Features
Now let's study the main characteristics of cartridge 7, 62x54. Since different modifications vary greatly, for example, we will take only a standard cartridge. We will consider ithere and beyond.
The total length of the cartridge is 77.16 mm. In this case, the bullet weighs 9.2 grams. A powder weight of 3.25 grams provides a huge muzzle energy - 3840 joules. Thanks to this, an experienced shooter can confidently hit a target at a great distance - about a kilometer or even more. At the same time, the weight of the cartridge 7, 62x54 is 23 grams.
The muzzle velocity is about 860 meters per second - a very good indicator, thanks to which the shooter can take relatively small corrections when shooting at moving targets.
In a word, it is not surprising that this live cartridge immediately gained immense popularity and became the main one in the Russian army. And today, almost 130 years after its development, it is still popular.
Main advantages
Of course, one of the main advantages of this cartridge is its high power. Indeed, it can be called one of the most powerful cartridges used for light small arms that do not belong to the large-caliber category. As a result, most wounds are either severe or fatal.
Penetration is quite high - this is provided not only by significant power, but also by a pointed bullet.
The combat distance is simply huge, and the corrections when shooting can be taken relatively small - the high speed of the bullet in total with the low weight provides excellent ballistic characteristics.
With all this, the cartridge is simple, which means it is unpretentious andreliable.
Current shortcomings
Of course, any cartridge that has advantages will also have certain disadvantages. And 7, 62x54 is no exception at all.
The main one, and, in fact, the only significant one, is a very strong return. Well, this is the price for high power. Of course, modern weapons, due to their significant and correctly distributed weight, or due to a complex recoil damping mechanism, reduce this unpleasant indicator. But still, the accuracy of light small arms is reduced. In addition, even an experienced shooter takes longer to aim at a target than when using weapons with a weaker cartridge.
However, a good shooter with a decent shot is always ready for it. And I am ready to put up with such a disadvantage, more than offset by numerous advantages.
Penetration
One of the most important indicators of any ammunition is its penetrating power. And here 7, 62x54 can boast of very impressive performance. Of course, in some cases, special steel-core ammunition has to be used to hit the target - they are most often used by snipers. But the numbers speak for themselves.
For example, when firing at a distance of up to 200 meters, any ammunition of this caliber confidently pierces brickwork up to 12 centimeters deep. That is, from fire from a machine gun or a sniper rifle using 7, 62x54 cartridges, it is clearly not worth hiding behind an ordinary brick wall.
Moremore impressive results can be obtained when shooting at a tree. Dry pine timber with a section of 20x20 centimeters can be pierced right through by a bullet fired at a distance of up to 1200 meters.
The parapet, erected from carefully packed snow, breaks through at a distance of 1000 meters to a depth of up to 80 centimeters - and this is when using conventional cartridges.
Slightly better protection from fire from this weapon is an earthen barrier made of sandy loamy soil, poured freely, without tamping. In it, the bullet simply gets stuck, but still it will break through the barrier by 30 centimeters even from a distance of about 1 kilometer.
A standard steel helmet used by the military can be penetrated by a 7.62x54 caliber bullet equipped with a steel core just at a huge distance - up to 1700 meters.
Finally, if we consider the effectiveness of armored vests of the fourth class of protection, then we can say with confidence that a special cartridge loaded with a bullet having a steel core penetrates it at a distance of about 200 meters.
Marking
As mentioned above, the cartridge has been significantly modified in order to successfully perform various combat missions. Of course, many different modifications have appeared - their total number is approaching fifty. They differ very much - in shape, weight, type of bullet, weight of gunpowder, even the material of the bullet and cartridge case. To describe them all, one would have to write a full book. But not all are actively used today. For example, some of them, developed before the war, were replaced by moregood modifications. Therefore, we will analyze some of the most popular and briefly describe them.
- Easy. It is also ordinary - it is used in most cases when firing from machine guns. Provides a good range of combat and allows you to take minimal corrections when shooting. But it has a relatively small breakdown power. No markings.
- Heavy. It is marked with a yellow nose. Solid, without additional inserts. It differs from the light one by its large weight, which is why it has the worst ballistic characteristics. But it provides better penetration of obstacles.
- With a steel core - indicated by a gray paint mark in the head. Perfect for defeating enemy manpower protected by bulletproof vests and helmets. It also effectively penetrates car bodies and other obstacles.
- Tracer - used when aiming weapons and target designation. The back of the bullet is filled with a special combustible composition, thanks to which it leaves a clearly visible mark in flight. Marking - green bullet nose.
- Armor-piercing incendiary. A steel core is located in the front of the cartridge, providing excellent penetrating properties. In the back is a small cup containing an incendiary mixture. Thanks to this, the bullet effectively penetrates serious obstacles and easily ignites combustible mixtures. It is used to disable enemy equipment - from cars to air equipment. Marking - red stripe on the bullet with a black nose.
This is a very general classification. At least becauseonly armor-piercing incendiary cartridges, there are five pieces. They differ not only in the shape and composition of the bullet, but also in the sleeve itself. The latter can be made of brass, steel or alloys. However, it’s not worth going so deep into the jungle - most people interested in weapons will only need to know the main purpose, features and marking of cartridges 7, 62 54 - cartridges for machine guns and sniper rifles.
We should also say about blank cartridges 7, 62x54. Separately because they are never used in combat. But they are often used during solemn and mourning ceremonies - they salute with them. In addition, blank cartridges are often used in training. Many inexperienced soldiers are first given a weapon loaded with safe ammo to get used to the recoil without hurting anyone around.
Military use
Now it's worth telling what weapon cartridge 7, 62x54 is used for. The list is quite extensive, so let's talk about military weapons first.
Of course, the most famous weapon produced under this cartridge is the Mosin rifle, which was already mentioned earlier. On its basis, many modifications were created. For example, a rifled carbine, which was distinguished by its shorter length. Special sniper rifles were also created, with which our snipers confidently mowed down the ranks of enemies during the Great Patriotic War. Today it is not produced, as it was replaced by much more successful samples.
SVD or sniper rifleThe Dragunov is the most common weapon used by snipers in Russia. Developed in the late 50s of the last century, it still has not lost its relevance. On its basis, several more rifles were developed: SVU (shortened, with a bullpup system) and SVDS - with a folding butt, used by troops.
Other sniper rifles were also developed: VS-121, MS-74, SV-98, SVK. They were not even put into service and, accordingly, were not put into mass production. Others are the latest developments and are being tested in the field.
If we talk about machine guns, then it is worth highlighting the PKM (modernized Kalashnikov machine gun), which is the main machine gun in the army of Russia and many other states of the post-Soviet space. High penetrating power, reliability, unpretentiousness - all this makes it a truly terrible weapon.
It is worth noting that this cartridge was also used by the Maxim machine gun, which was once a true legend.
This also includes AEK-99, MT, DP, RP-46, PKP (aka "Pecheneg"). Of the easel and aviation machine guns, SG-43, GSHG, ShKAS can be distinguished.
Rifled carbines and rifles were also developed, which enjoyed different levels of popularity: SVT, AKT-40, ABC-36.
Hunting use
Having studied the characteristics of the ammunition, it is hard to be surprised that the hunting cartridge 7, 62x54 is in great demand today when hunting medium and large animals - from wild boar and roe deer to elk and bear.
The most famous example is the "Tiger" - a sniper rifle developed on the basis of the SVD. Accordingly, it retained almost all the advantages of a military counterpart. There are a large number of modifications that differ mainly in the material of the forearm, the type of stock.
A terrible weapon in capable hands is the KO-91 Hammer, the creation of which was based on the usual three-ruler.
VPO rifled carbines can be called quite successful. Their design strongly resembles a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Accordingly, reliability and ease of use are very good.
It's hard to imagine, but even such weapons as the Degtyarev machine gun and the Maxim can be purchased today as hunting weapons. They are slightly modified (they are not able to fire bursts) and are freely sold in many specialized stores.
Which countries use
After the collapse of the USSR, a huge number of weapons designed for cartridge 7, 62x54 remained in the entire post-Soviet space. Not surprisingly, in most cases, these countries use it. The B altics are an exception - they are actively trying to switch to NATO models, but due to the extremely meager budget for a quarter of a century, they have not been able to cope with this task.
This cartridge is used in many countries of the Warsaw Pact. Some of these states have even developed their own weapons. A prime example is the Romanian PSL. China also created the Type 80 machine gun using this cartridge.
In general, inas a hunting (and not only) this ammunition is used in almost all countries of the world. It is no coincidence that for many years it has remained one of the most popular, second only to the NATO counterpart 762x51 mm.
Conclusion
This concludes our article. In it, we tried to tell in more detail about the legendary cartridge 7, 62x54. Affected by his history, modifications and weapons created for him.
