7.62x25 Tokarev

[jehicks87]

I know the American standard for this round is .308 bullet diameter, but I've heard quite a few people reporting (the majority, in fact now that I think about it) .312 diameter barrels, after slugging.

Has anyone reloaded 7.62 Tok with a .312 diameter bullet? What recipe and velocity were you getting out of it?

Thanks for your input, I am buying a Tok and have been wanting to get into reloading for a while. Just for fun.

 

[flyskater]

I use Hornday 100gr XTP .312
My two Yugo M57 slugs at 312 and 314. I use PP 8.2gr. It is loaded 6000 psi overpressure.
The Yugo is built like a tank so I have no worries. If you get a tok variation, make sure to slug it before using any 312 bullet as using a 312 in a 308 bore can cause a kaboom.

 

[Hondo 60]

My barrel actually slugged at .308". So I've been using Berry's .308" rifle bullets.
They're intended for an M1 carbine, but at 110 grains, work very well in for me.
http://www.berrysmfg.com/product-i14669-c34-g8-b0-p0-.30_Carbine_.308_110gr_RN.aspx

By the way I have a Zastava M57 (Yugoslavian).

 

[jehicks87]

Cool. I'll for sure slug the barrel out when I pick her up, I was just curious what others had successfully used.

 

[armarsh]

CZ52's tend to be .308. Most Tokarevs are .311. Berry's sells the same 110 Grain PLRN in either .308 or .311 for your convenience.

I've done .308, .311, .312 both as-is and resized. I shot lots of resized 60 and 85 grain .312 before I found out about the Berry's.

 

[mookiie]

Honda/armarsh - you do not have problems with OAL of the bullets with the Berrys carbine bullets aren't they longer than traditional 7.62x25mm bullets? What load data do you use, just data for 110grn bullets?

 

[Clark]

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Forming-Custom-Cartridges-Handguns/dp/0964362309
Says .308" on page 494

http://www.amazon.com/Handloaders-Manual-Cartridge-Conversions/dp/0883171368
Says .307" on page 844

I have many types of Tokarev ammo.
The best IMHO is S&B new commercial.
That measures 0.307"
I practiced measuring with dial calipers with a .3070" pin gauge, and the S&W bullet is .307"

I checked a CZ52 set of grooves, that looks like .309", but that is not a real accurate measurement.
I checked a Tokarev set of grooves, that looks like .312", but that is not a real accurate measurement.

The Sierra handgun load book says .312", but when I pointed out they were wrong about the CZ52 vs Tokarev strength, they said they were just printing what they read somewhere else.

My favorite thing to do is 110 gr .308" Power Pistol in S&B or Starline brass.

 

[mookiie]

Cark - do you reload the S&B cases? I had some S&B ammo that had case head separation after first reload, so since I have tried to stay away from S&B brass. How many reloads do you get out of them?

 

[Countryboy7]

I wish they would make a new pistol in 7.62x25. I would buy it as soon as it came out. It is really a great and overlooked cartridge

 

[Clark]

S&B brass is good for one more grain before the primer pocket gets loose, compared to Starline brass.

But that is academic, as the recoil becomes horrible long before that.

S&B brass I value highly. I have to pull bullets or shoot bullets to get it.

 

[mookiie]

I will have to reconsider my opinion about S&B brass I will have to give it another try. Thanks.

 

[danbowkley]

I do love S&B brass for my CZ52, then again I haven't run into any problems with the Starline stuff either. But I tend to load fairly mellow too, which probably helps a lot.

.309 in the CZ-52, as far as I know only Hornady makes .309 bullets, but I'm totally hooked on their XTP line anyways so I'm not complaining. Even cheaper than Sierra FMJ!

I'd absolutely love to see a new weapon chambered in 7.62x25! It's a great round, amazing ballistics from such a small package. Anyone ever run saboted .22 bullets thru one?

 

[armarsh]

Honda/armarsh - you do not have problems with OAL of the bullets with the Berrys carbine bullets aren't they longer than traditional 7.62x25mm bullets? What load data do you use, just data for 110grn bullets?

I use OAL of 1.30.

I have Quickload, so I don't really have any published loads to share. Two mild loads are 6.0 grains of VV 3N37 or 8.5 grains of AA#9. Either one is about 1200 FPS. Use this at your own risk. There are several in Lee's old book. The new one deleted the 30 Tok.

And I also favor S&B brass over Starline. I had one instance where I got a bad batch of Starline brass. They would not warranty it. I have never had trouble with S&B or Winchester.

 

[armarsh]

... Anyone ever run saboted .22 bullets thru one?

You want to hot rod this thing size down 60 grain .312 XTP's to .308. Use Power Pistol data for 90 grain and work up. As you go to max, you will be just under 1900 fps.

And if you push it, you will blow up a CZ52. Tok's are better for this type of experimentation.

 

[NCsmitty]

I once had a CZ-52 that I reloaded using S&B brass, Unique powder, and those wonderful 100gr Speer Plinker half jackets of .308" diameter, with lots of lead exposed. The pistol was quite accurate, and the worst part of shooting it was locating the empty brass afterwards.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/61...rain-plinker-round-nose-soft-point-box-of-100


NCsmitty

 

[mookiie]

NCsmitty - this is one of the best products I have found for catching pistol brass constantly and it is pretty cheap at 23ish bucks:
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Models-...BCJC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330809306&sr=8-1

It is just a net strapped to the shooting hand but the net can be bent to better catch shells so it is easy to adapt to catching from one pistol to the next. I have not tried it with any of my semi auto rifles yet so I can't say if it will work with them.

I use ths for rifle brass but it is a bit more expensive:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/942827/ctk-precision-universal-brass-catcher

 

[Hondo 60]

I found data in Lee's Modern Reloading.

110 gr Jacketed 7.2 - 8.0 gr Accurate #5 OAL 1.300
(Berry's says to use low - mid range jacketed data)

I use about 7.8 gr with an OAL of 1.335
Yes, that's longer than the data calls for but it fits the magazine & chambers.
Since it's longer the pressure isn't as great either.

 

[Hondo 60]

The data below may be unsafe in all 7.62x25 handguns
The High Road does not accept responsibility if you injure yourself or others while using this data.

My other load is 12.5 gr of W296 using 110 gr Remington FMJ
My chrono has it up around 1700 fps (has a nice fireball too).

I would not use thus data in a CZ

 

[jehicks87]

^^^ That is the kind of information I was hoping for! Anybody have any load data for blazing hot 115gr bullets? Something like that sounds like a ISP load on steroids!

 

[jehicks87]

Regular Tok brass takes small pistol primers, but how do you load with converted .223 brass?