The 7.62x54r is still a viable caliber

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hq said:
My Winchester 1895 has been rechambered to 7x53R (necked down 7.62x54R case) at some point and up until 80's at least Sako and Lapua offered factory ammo for it. I haven't been able to find any, not even dies, so it seems to have regressed back to wildcat status now. There used to be quite a few variations using x54R case, at least 6.5, 7, 8.2 and 9.3mm. Maybe others too.

Ballistically 7.62x54R is pretty good, somewhere between .308 and .30-06, but in a lever gun I personally prefer a straight-walled big bore round.
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I would put it in the Siamese mauser, the mag length is just over 3.00" and the 7 .62x54r case feeds very well in them. Good use of powder space for the action, really only other parent case with more room is 348 case that's practical.
 
hq said:
My Winchester 1895 has been rechambered to 7x53R (necked down 7.62x54R case) at some point and up until 80's at least Sako and Lapua offered factory ammo for it. I haven't been able to find any, not even dies, so it seems to have regressed back to wildcat status now. There used to be quite a few variations using x54R case, at least 6.5, 7, 8.2 and 9.3mm. Maybe others too.

Ballistically 7.62x54R is pretty good, somewhere between .308 and .30-06, but in a lever gun I personally prefer a straight-walled big bore round.
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God I’d give both testicles for a shootable 1895 in x54r
 
hq said:
Like I've mentioned before, they're still pretty common around here and red tape for export isn't by any means overwhelming.

As far as payment is concerned I'd recommend trying to offer cash first. :)
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They’re a rare and expensive breed here in the US. Maybe now I have to go there, get one and ship it back to the states piece by piece ;)
 
daniel craig said:
God I’d give both testicles for a shootable 1895 in x54r
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Unfortunately, unless you can find a politician with such a rifle, I fear you will have trouble making such a trade.

Sadly, as the .308, and especially the .30-06, will do all the 7.62X54R will do, not much chance of it ever being a popular round in this country. Shooting cheap surplus is a good idea, but I fear that the days of any surplus ammo may, or could be, coming to a screeching halt very soon.

I saw a very nice MN hunting rifle in a collection once, supposedly it was made for a high ranking Communist Party official. Was all engraved, full stock rifle of about 22" barrel, double set-triggers. Was really a jewel of a rifle. I wanted it bad, but again, testicles had no trade value, as the owner had his own, and was not a politician or elected official. oh well. :)
 
I just realized, judging from how some of the elected officials, governors, etc., are behaving, it's possible they have testicles the size of grapefruits, and made of solid brass, in which case they, if in possession of said 1895 in 7.62X54R, would not be interested in our small offerings for a trade. It's a lose lose situation, and I suggest not offering your testicles in trade. Just a thought.
 
Yes, grinding off the nose of a FMJ round used to be the "trick" to make your own hunting/expanding ammo. However, and much to one's dismay, sometimes the core would then separate from the jacket, in the barrel, causing great excitement when the next round was fired.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is there not plenty of 7.62X54 ammo around with soft point ammo? I have quite a few boxes of the S&B ammo, with 180 grain semi-pointed, soft point bullets. Also have some boxes of "off brand" mystery ammo, labeled "hunting ammo" around. I think the S&B has been around for a long long time.

And of course, if you reload, and who wouldn't, you can pull the FMJ's off of military ammo and stuff any bullet you want into the case, as long as it wasn't heavier than the one you pulled. In fact, you could do that with a five dollar kinetic bullet puller, and make up some sort of tool in the garage to re-seat another bullet, and....SHAZAM! You've got hunting ammo!
 
"the only real limitation of the round is the lack of rifles chambered in it-at least here in the states."

If not for the cheap Russian imports, most people here would never have heard of it.

We tend to imitate the military through the ages, i.e., our most popular cartridges in their times: .45-70, .30-40, .30-06, .308, 5.56.

So why bother when we already have the similar .30-06 and .308? Besides, it's an old cartridge and "everyone" wants the latest and greatest.
 
Correct. Grumpy old guy gun-nuts are a very small customer base. Generation "556" is mostly interested in shooting deer with a .22, perhaps the recoil of a 7.62X54R hurts their feelings. ? :)

But seriously, yes, bottom line, it won't do anything a .308, or especially the .30US won't do. And as someone mentioned, making rifles that will feed rimmed cartridges is a little more trouble than getting them to feed rimless.
 
Ugly Sauce said:
Yes, grinding off the nose of a FMJ round used to be the "trick" to make your own hunting/expanding ammo. However, and much to one's dismay, sometimes the core would then separate from the jacket, in the barrel, causing great excitement when the next round was fired.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is there not plenty of 7.62X54 ammo around with soft point ammo? I have quite a few boxes of the S&B ammo, with 180 grain semi-pointed, soft point bullets. Also have some boxes of "off brand" mystery ammo, labeled "hunting ammo" around. I think the S&B has been around for a long long time.

And of course, if you reload, and who wouldn't, you can pull the FMJ's off of military ammo and stuff any bullet you want into the case, as long as it wasn't heavier than the one you pulled. In fact, you could do that with a five dollar kinetic bullet puller, and make up some sort of tool in the garage to re-seat another bullet, and....SHAZAM! You've got hunting ammo!
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Yep! Not a bad idea!
 
Speedo66 said:
"the only real limitation of the round is the lack of rifles chambered in it-at least here in the states."

If not for the cheap Russian imports, most people here would never have heard of it.

We tend to imitate the military through the ages, i.e., our most popular cartridges in their times: .45-70, .30-40, .30-06, .308, 5.56.

So why bother when we already have the similar .30-06 and .308? Besides, it's an old cartridge and "everyone" wants the latest and greatest.
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Because military surplus for decent price in those calibers (except 5.56) is expensive or non-existent. It can still be found for the x54r at decent prices, at least before covid.
 
daniel craig said:
Because military surplus for decent price in those calibers (except 5.56) is expensive or non-existent. It can still be found for the x54r at decent prices, at least before covid.
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And when that military surplus ammo is gone, that's it. A lot of people with Mosins may find they're then quite expensive to shoot.

Similar to owners of AK74's and some of the proprietary caliber Soviet pistols.
 
Speedo66 said:
And when that military surplus ammo is gone, that's it. A lot of people with Mosins may find they're then quite expensive to shoot.

Similar to owners of AK74's and some of the proprietary caliber Soviet pistols.
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True enough. It’s why I need to either start reloading or think about retiring the mosin for a caliber more easily found stateside. Here’s hoping trade sanctions lift so foreign surplus can once again become common, but if didn’t happen with a Rep. president it won’t happen with a dem.
 
daniel craig said:
True enough. It’s why I need to either start reloading or think about retiring the mosin for a caliber more easily found stateside. Here’s hoping trade sanctions lift so foreign surplus can once again become common, but if didn’t happen with a Rep. president it won’t happen with a dem.
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I wound up with an antique lever action rifle that shot a cartridge I'd never heard of, .38-40, and ammo was going for $50-75 a box.

Yup, took up reloading for that cartridge alone. Later added .357, too.
 
Janes ammunition as well as Smith's Small Arms of the World pays kudos to the 1891 design of the 7.62x54R cartridge. Something this well designed makes me wonder how it ever got designed "over there." Go figure.
 
daniel craig said:
True enough. It’s why I need to either start reloading or think about retiring the mosin for a caliber more easily found stateside. Here’s hoping trade sanctions lift so foreign surplus can once again become common, but if didn’t happen with a Rep. president it won’t happen with a dem.
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you can also use bullets that arnt available in surplus, or factory ammo. Both my mosins, one with a .314 bore, would shoot the .311 SMKs into bragging sized (for their set ups) groups. Ive also had not issues well out running standard over the counter ammo....think the 180 win power points i bought only ran something like 2450 from my Sporters 25" barrel
 
Just read a article in a 1999 gun digest about sporterized mosins. It all started in the 1920s. Townsend Whelen got involved and started touting the rifle and round. They surmised it was going to die out because the ammo was drying up. There was a lot of interest due to Arms and the Man and then the American Rifleman. It was a great historical article.
 
Speedo66 said:
And when that military surplus ammo is gone, that's it. A lot of people with Mosins may find they're then quite expensive to shoot.

Similar to owners of AK74's and some of the proprietary caliber Soviet pistols.
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Yup, that's why I have dies and a fair supply of brass. Right now I have 200 7.62x54R primed and ready to go, just been working on more urgent reloading projects-I have few surplus rounds yet, and some handloaded.
I've found .308 bullets give fair accuracy form my Mosins, though most of them slug .311.
 
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