7.62x54R surplus was plentiful and VERY inexpensive as recently as 12 years ago. Friends and I used to literally shoot down trees with the stuff. I got the handguard on an M44 smoldering to the point it had to be actively extinguished. A Mosin Nagant M91-30 to fire it could be had for under $100 in remarkably good condition, with Finnish, rare, and sniper variants authentic, forged, and reproduction being also within the price range of a working man. A lot of that ammo is still floating around. I've noticed more X54R spent cartridges at my local range lately. I think a lot of people are rediscovering their pre-2011 impulse buys and their stashes of spam can ammo given the scarcity of components. I am one of them!
Some of the "heavy ball" stuff firing a 175-180 gr bullet was especially brutal. I had some made in Hungary that had a nominal 178 gr steel core FMJ with a ridiculous ballistic coefficient. It was a lot of fun shooting old silo blocks on a frozen lake up to 1200 yards away with a M91-30 PU sniper.
You will also find various factory codes and case types including Brass, laquered steel, copper washed as you have dating as early as 1950. Makes for an interesting collection for you to find "in the wild". I've since fired my 1950's vintage ammo, but still have a small amount of 1967 vintage Czech made steel cased LPS that I reserve for military matches. Amazing that ammo that old is still remarkably serviceable and accurate.
