Unidentified Cartridge
- Thread starter model4006
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DWARREN123
Member
A learning experience and no one was hurt. 7.62 is the size of the bullet or the bore depending on when and where made. Always make sure you have the whole designation of the round when buying ammo or look at it first.
There's a lot of similar ammmuntion out there.
Be safe and have fun.
There's a lot of similar ammmuntion out there.
Be safe and have fun.
heres the problem, this is what the box looked like.
in my newbieness i bought them thinking they were for my buddies ak47. i never even opened the box. then i pulled one out of the box and said, woah! this must be the 7.62x54. so i didnt pay close enough attention when i stuck one in the chamber. They dont say ANYTHING else on the box, JUST 7.62, not nato, not x54 or x39. i didnt even know .308 was called 7.62x51 by anybody. just two names for the same thing caused confusion. i mean outside of the rim, without laying them side by side they are close. at least i learned the not so hard way to double check what hell im doing.
in my newbieness i bought them thinking they were for my buddies ak47. i never even opened the box. then i pulled one out of the box and said, woah! this must be the 7.62x54. so i didnt pay close enough attention when i stuck one in the chamber. They dont say ANYTHING else on the box, JUST 7.62, not nato, not x54 or x39. i didnt even know .308 was called 7.62x51 by anybody. just two names for the same thing caused confusion. i mean outside of the rim, without laying them side by side they are close. at least i learned the not so hard way to double check what hell im doing.
Ian Sean
Member
Heck, I have been shooting almost 20 years now, and just last year I bought 2 boxes of 8x57 JR mistaking them for 8mm Mauser....:banghead:
Getting familiar with all the different nomenclature takes time, be patient, read everything you can get your hands on and don't be afraid to ask questions.
Getting familiar with all the different nomenclature takes time, be patient, read everything you can get your hands on and don't be afraid to ask questions.
Propogation of internet myth.
The tracer materials don't even light off until well outside the bore. They're no more corrosive than the primers and propellant used to get the bullets going, and if it's U.S. 7.62mm NATO ammo, it's not corrosive, anyway. Many years ago, I bought several thousand of those 142gr M62 orange-tip bullets from Widener's, and have been loading them in my .30-06 rifles, .308 Win rifles, 7.5x55 Swiss rifles, and even my .30-30 Winchester Model 94, chambered one at a time. The red trace starts about 100 yards downrange.
Model 4006, you just got a good lesson in how nomenclature can trip somebody up.
Generation-X kids call the ammo used in SKS and AK-47 rifles "7.62", when they mean 7.62x39 M43 Soviet.
Post-WWII Baby Boomers who came of age before or during the Vietnam Conflict know that the ammo fed to M14 rifles and M60 machine guns was "7.62", aka 7.62mm NATO, aka 7.62x51, a very close cousin to the .308 Winchester round.
Of course, if you had a Tokarev pistol, PPSh submachine gun, or Czech CZ-52 pistol, then you would also feed it "7.62", but this time, it's 7.62x25 Tokarev.
You have a Mosin-Nagant, Dragunov, Romak, or SVT Tokarev rifle, it also gets fed "7.62", this time though it's 7.62x54R (sometimes referred to as 7.62x53R) .
I've got a Czech VZ-52 SHE rifle, made between 1952-1957. It also can be fed "7.62", but that particular rifle is chambered for 7.62x45 M52 Czech ammo.
So the opportunity exists for some serious confusion. Don't automatically assume the guy behind the gunshop counter is a nitwit because his jaw dropped or eyes rolled when somebody walked up to him and said, "I need some 7.62 ammo!"
The tracer materials don't even light off until well outside the bore. They're no more corrosive than the primers and propellant used to get the bullets going, and if it's U.S. 7.62mm NATO ammo, it's not corrosive, anyway. Many years ago, I bought several thousand of those 142gr M62 orange-tip bullets from Widener's, and have been loading them in my .30-06 rifles, .308 Win rifles, 7.5x55 Swiss rifles, and even my .30-30 Winchester Model 94, chambered one at a time. The red trace starts about 100 yards downrange.
Model 4006, you just got a good lesson in how nomenclature can trip somebody up.
Generation-X kids call the ammo used in SKS and AK-47 rifles "7.62", when they mean 7.62x39 M43 Soviet.
Post-WWII Baby Boomers who came of age before or during the Vietnam Conflict know that the ammo fed to M14 rifles and M60 machine guns was "7.62", aka 7.62mm NATO, aka 7.62x51, a very close cousin to the .308 Winchester round.
Of course, if you had a Tokarev pistol, PPSh submachine gun, or Czech CZ-52 pistol, then you would also feed it "7.62", but this time, it's 7.62x25 Tokarev.
You have a Mosin-Nagant, Dragunov, Romak, or SVT Tokarev rifle, it also gets fed "7.62", this time though it's 7.62x54R (sometimes referred to as 7.62x53R) .
I've got a Czech VZ-52 SHE rifle, made between 1952-1957. It also can be fed "7.62", but that particular rifle is chambered for 7.62x45 M52 Czech ammo.
So the opportunity exists for some serious confusion. Don't automatically assume the guy behind the gunshop counter is a nitwit because his jaw dropped or eyes rolled when somebody walked up to him and said, "I need some 7.62 ammo!"
SDC
Member
You may not be able to SEE them burning, but they begin burning well inside the barrel (the hot propellant gasses pushing the bullet is what ignites them, and after the bullet is out of the bore, there's no way to ignite them anymore). Many tracers use a combination of things to reduce the visible trace, such as the copper base cup in the bottoms of the M62s of this thread, or a layer of trace compound that burns, but burns with very little light (the M276 "starlight tracer": green over pink tip code) has a tracer cavity filled entirely with this "low light" compound, since it's quite visible through night vision equipment all by itself, and using standard M62s would cause that equipment to "bloom out".
carterbeauford
member
there's also 7.62x25
7.62x25
7.62x39
7.62x51
7.62x54
7.62x63
(did I miss any?)
SDC
Member
There's also 7.62x33mm (30 Carbine).
Outlaws
Member
I would bet money that under that stupid white sticker there is a better description of the cartridge. Someone just assumed someone would assume its 7.62 Nato becuase 7.62 by itself would most likely be refering to the Nato round. At least thats what I would assume...not that I would assume and just use the ammo without checking though.
CanonNinja
Member
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HOLY MOLY! $12 for the box?!?
Check out www.wideners.com if you want more tracer for your friend's AK, or www.sportsmansguide.com for way cheaper Talon 7.62 NATO tracer (exactly what you bought there, same brand)
Check out www.wideners.com if you want more tracer for your friend's AK, or www.sportsmansguide.com for way cheaper Talon 7.62 NATO tracer (exactly what you bought there, same brand)
Cosmoline
Member
It's more confusing than you think. There are dozens of military rounds in the 7.5 to 8mm range, some almost identical to each other. If you want to learn more, I suggest getting the classic reference "Cartridges of the World."
carterbeauford
member
First time I've heard of .30 carbine referred to with a metric designation, neato.
SDC
Member
That's what the French called it after WW2, when they were using all sorts of surplus US kit.
kungfuhippie
Member
(all this is IIRC, so take it with a grain of salt)
It is U.S. made to "milspec" 7.62 according to the box. If it's U.S. milspec it's not for russian cartridges so you're left thinking about which 7.62 U.S. and Nato military cartridges there are. So you open the box and look at the headstamp. There's a nato symbol. It's a clue. the only cartridges that in recent history were 7.62 U.S. military standard were the 7.62x51 nato, the .30-06 and the .30 carbine. So from there the Nato stamp will give it away. A .30 carbine looks different from the .308 and and is almost always called ".30 carbine" on the box. It hasn't been used in recent military history so a box from the 1970s would not be that anyway. The same goes for .30-06 it was phased out in favor of the 7.62x51 (.308) and hasn't been produced for our military in any large quantity since around the vietnam era.
So, read and learn so next time you will have a little more to go from when you get you stuff. Also ask, shop guys want you to be happy and come back to buy more next time, they most often will help and not be jerks.
It is U.S. made to "milspec" 7.62 according to the box. If it's U.S. milspec it's not for russian cartridges so you're left thinking about which 7.62 U.S. and Nato military cartridges there are. So you open the box and look at the headstamp. There's a nato symbol. It's a clue. the only cartridges that in recent history were 7.62 U.S. military standard were the 7.62x51 nato, the .30-06 and the .30 carbine. So from there the Nato stamp will give it away. A .30 carbine looks different from the .308 and and is almost always called ".30 carbine" on the box. It hasn't been used in recent military history so a box from the 1970s would not be that anyway. The same goes for .30-06 it was phased out in favor of the 7.62x51 (.308) and hasn't been produced for our military in any large quantity since around the vietnam era.
So, read and learn so next time you will have a little more to go from when you get you stuff. Also ask, shop guys want you to be happy and come back to buy more next time, they most often will help and not be jerks.
aspade
Member
The substance on the tip is just paint for identification purposes. The tracer compound is in the base of the bullet as you can see in the cutaway SDC posted.
NORTEXED
Member
My wifes Dufus cousin was hunting on the same property as me (notice I DID NOT SAY WITH ME)one time and complained of his grandads gun splitting cases. I checked them out and they were grossly split, so I ask him for the box, and sure enough, 300 H&H Magnums just can't quite fill the chamber of a .300 Weatherby Mag on firing. He had gone to a gunshop and ask for .300 Mags, and amazingly enough, that's what they sold him.
kungfuhippie
Member
yeah, cause it was the gun's fault
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