Anyone Reloading 7.62 X 25?
- Thread starter wilkersk
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zxcvbob
Member
You know how cheap surplus ammo is, and how hard it is to find reloadable brass, right? I've thought about pulling some bullets and reloading the cases with my own powder just on principle, but I haven't got there yet (just bout a couple of thousand rounds of milsurp instead)
I'm saving my berdan-primed brass in case I ever need it. I think it can be converted to boxer with a lot of work. (hammer down the old anvil, drill a new center flash hole, swage the primer pocket down a little smaller using a steel ball bearing for a punch)
Those bullets should be fine. AA#7 powder is about right. Maybe 2400, but that might be too slow.
Edit: RC is right, those bullets are too big. (I coudn't figure out how to get "strike" tags to work so I just switched the color to red)
I'm saving my berdan-primed brass in case I ever need it. I think it can be converted to boxer with a lot of work. (hammer down the old anvil, drill a new center flash hole, swage the primer pocket down a little smaller using a steel ball bearing for a punch)
Those bullets should be fine. AA#7 powder is about right. Maybe 2400, but that might be too slow.
Edit: RC is right, those bullets are too big. (I coudn't figure out how to get "strike" tags to work so I just switched the color to red)
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
No, those are for the .32 ACP.
Hornady makes .308" #1502 86 grain, and .308" # 1419 93 grain for them.
Be aware that all of the imported surplus ammo uses Berdan primers and is not reloadable.
rc
NCsmitty
Member
I did reload for the CZ-52, and used the .308 100gr Speer Plinkers with Unique powder in S&B once fired brass. Hard to find the brass in the grass after firing though.
zxcvbob
Reworking berdan brass to boxer will get old fast. Sell the old brass for scrap and use the money towards new boxer cases.
NCsmitty
zxcvbob
Reworking berdan brass to boxer will get old fast. Sell the old brass for scrap and use the money towards new boxer cases.
NCsmitty
zxcvbob
Member
I know. It's one of those "see if I can do it" things. Last year it was making a pound of decent blackpowder. Berdan -> Boxer is down the list a ways. (next item is making 7.62 Nagant Revolver brass out of .223's without a lathe)
snuffy
Member
http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?pageNum=1&tabId=3&categoryId=9271&categoryString=653***691***
Buy the ammo, then use it, save the cases. The starline brass at midway is out of stock. Also, the starline brass I got when I bought my CZ-52 is shorter, MUCH shorter. I also bought some S&B and some wolf gold for the cases. The starline was so short, I couldn't seat an 86 grain Hornady hp in it straight, it would tip upon being seated. Still shot, but accuracy was lousy.
Be real careful trying to get the top velocities with the CZ-52. It's a very weak design, the roller locking system requires the bottom of the chamber to be cut very thin. Not a problem IF the heat treat was done correctly. But sometimes during the rush to get guns to the troops, things were skipped, like heat treating.
Take a look at this page;
http://www.makarov.com/cz52/
Buy the ammo, then use it, save the cases. The starline brass at midway is out of stock. Also, the starline brass I got when I bought my CZ-52 is shorter, MUCH shorter. I also bought some S&B and some wolf gold for the cases. The starline was so short, I couldn't seat an 86 grain Hornady hp in it straight, it would tip upon being seated. Still shot, but accuracy was lousy.
Be real careful trying to get the top velocities with the CZ-52. It's a very weak design, the roller locking system requires the bottom of the chamber to be cut very thin. Not a problem IF the heat treat was done correctly. But sometimes during the rush to get guns to the troops, things were skipped, like heat treating.
Take a look at this page;
http://www.makarov.com/cz52/
I just finished reloading 400 rounds of mixed brass 7.62x25. I used Unique powder ( 5.5 grains ) with a 98 grain bullet. Tested a few because I have not used these before and they worked like a charm for me.
I got these bullets from Natchez Shooters Supplies back in November when they had a sale on them.
I got these bullets from Natchez Shooters Supplies back in November when they had a sale on them.
The 7.62x25mm Tokarev was adopted by the Soviet Union as it's official sidearm cartridge in 1930. The 7.62x25 was chambered in the TT-30 and TT-33 automatic pistol lines, a design inspired by the Browning 1911-seies, but with additional technological advancements. The 7.62x25mm is a high-performance cartridge, generating 9mm Luger-equivalent energy levels with a much smaller bullet.
The cartridge is very close to .30 Mauser (7.63x25mm) specifications in both dimension and performance and will interchange and fire in many cases. An indepth comparison between the 7.62x25 and the .30 Mauser is available at...
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Go...mo.htm
Reloaders new to the 7.62x25mm should be aware that Chinese and Russian ammunition cannot be reloaded, being both steel-cased and Berdan-primed. (With corrosive primers to boot!)
"...Ammunition-test results... indicate the sample ammo in question generated an AVERAGE of 46,000 cup..." http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Go...ad.htm
The cartridge is very close to .30 Mauser (7.63x25mm) specifications in both dimension and performance and will interchange and fire in many cases. An indepth comparison between the 7.62x25 and the .30 Mauser is available at...
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Go...mo.htm
Reloaders new to the 7.62x25mm should be aware that Chinese and Russian ammunition cannot be reloaded, being both steel-cased and Berdan-primed. (With corrosive primers to boot!)
"...Ammunition-test results... indicate the sample ammo in question generated an AVERAGE of 46,000 cup..." http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Go...ad.htm
The 90gr Hornady XTP-HP works well in the 7.62x25. H-110 is a good powder for the cartridge too. These folks make upgrade parts for a CZ-52: http://www.harringtonproducts.com/
I don't know about the CZ-52 being a "weak" design. You can get 1700 fps with the 90gr Hornady and Reed's Ammo loads some pretty hot stuff for this pistol.
I don't know about the CZ-52 being a "weak" design. You can get 1700 fps with the 90gr Hornady and Reed's Ammo loads some pretty hot stuff for this pistol.
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Yep, I got all that info off of Wikipedia. Plus, there's also a warning about loading the Mauser cartridge to the Czech M48 load specs on some other sites.
Thanks for all the help guys. I got what I was looking for. Which was specifically what bullets to buy to reload this cartridge.
snuffy
Member
The above from this thread;
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=117662&highlight=7.62X25
DWfan, go ahead, load your CZ-52 hot. It may take it, some do. If the heat treat was done correctly, it will take those hot loads, if not, you'll be picking parts of the pistol out of you hands and face!
cougar1717
Member
I use the Hornady 90gr. XTP (HRN31000). It's made .309 instead of .308 and has been accurate for me in a CZ-52. Chasing brass is a mess, even with a heavier spring. A lot of times, I'll only find 50-60% of what was shot. Prvi makes good factory ammo with boxer primed brass. The biggest pain for loading 7.62x25 is lubing the cases since you're using steel dies. Others have used a 38 Super carbide die to size the body (since it's close) and then put the unlubed case in the steel die to size the neck. - I've never tried this personally. It's just an option that's out there. The Lee FCD works well for this cartridge because the neck is so short that the bullet doesn't always seat square. The FCD is like the rifle crimp dies Lee makes and is able to straighten the bullet if it's slightly off. Please don't try to hot rod a CZ-52. Before you load for it, take a look at the chamber, especially where the bottom of the barrel is cut for the roller locker mechaism. Look at how thin that part is compared to the rest of chamber. That area is the limiting factor. As for powder, I would first make sure to get several sets of load data since it's not a very common caliber for reloading. Then, I would suggest that you not try to use slow powders like H-110 since it does not like to be downloaded and can cause hangfires even with book loads (ask me how I know!) If you decide to try to form brass from 223 Rem, you will need to turn the necks down to fit the cartridge specs. Just my .02 - hope this helps you avoid some pitfalls.
I reload for my TT-33, because I find surplus and S&B stuff way too powerful for pleasant & accurate shooting, especially in antique military pistol competitions that I like to participate.
I have slugged the TT's bore, it is something like .312", so I use .311" bullets. Commercial hard-cast 79,5grs LRN sits on top of 5.0grs of VihtaVuori N340, and H&N 86grs copper-plated RN goes with 5.4grs of N340.
These are mild loads, the lighter one is just enough to cycle the gun reliably. Cases are not thrown too far, but still I lose about 10% of them every time So now and then I have to shoot some S&B to get more brass.
I have slugged the TT's bore, it is something like .312", so I use .311" bullets. Commercial hard-cast 79,5grs LRN sits on top of 5.0grs of VihtaVuori N340, and H&N 86grs copper-plated RN goes with 5.4grs of N340.
These are mild loads, the lighter one is just enough to cycle the gun reliably. Cases are not thrown too far, but still I lose about 10% of them every time
So now and then I have to shoot some S&B to get more brass.NCsmitty
Member
Gunman21,
Sabots are hard to maintain concentric in the cases because of the soft plastic. I doubt that they would feed well from a magazine, and more likely would need to be fed singly.
Here's a link to some sabots and data for rifles.
www.sabotreloadingpro.com/.30_06
I've loaded sabots in 7.62x39 and 30-30's with mixed results.
NCsmitty
Sabots are hard to maintain concentric in the cases because of the soft plastic. I doubt that they would feed well from a magazine, and more likely would need to be fed singly.
Here's a link to some sabots and data for rifles.
www.sabotreloadingpro.com/.30_06
I've loaded sabots in 7.62x39 and 30-30's with mixed results.
NCsmitty
MulticalinMO
Member
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Sabots can be acquired at http://jdcomponents.com/. They make several and have Great reviews on them.
OKIE2
Regarding posting #13: .223 to 7.62x25
I heard that if you resize first you get quite a few dimpled cases and/or collapsed shoulders and necks. I suppose it may be a problem of over or under lubricating the die. It may also be a case of brass not being clean enough. Are you supposed to clean brass in a tumbler before running it through a decapping die?
Question. What works better for you: cut down length, resize, then trim OR resize, then cut down length/trim?
Regards
Regarding posting #13: .223 to 7.62x25
I heard that if you resize first you get quite a few dimpled cases and/or collapsed shoulders and necks. I suppose it may be a problem of over or under lubricating the die. It may also be a case of brass not being clean enough. Are you supposed to clean brass in a tumbler before running it through a decapping die?
Question. What works better for you: cut down length, resize, then trim OR resize, then cut down length/trim?
Regards
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