why 7.62x54 AK type rifle is more expensive than 308

[HankC]

I have couple Vepr 308s while it is also available in 7.62x54, I picked 308 because of ammo availability especially most x54 are corrosive and surplus supply is not as abundant as before. However, I notice Vepr 7.62x54 is typically about $50-100 more expensive than the 308 version, so is Saiga AKs.Why folks pay more for 7.62x54? I can understand Dragunov or PSL, to keep it in original caliber, but why other AK type rifles that were not in 7.62x54 originally, especially 7.62x54 is not as available and cheap as before?

 

[BSA1]

Maybe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence?

Shooting other countries guns and ammo is fun and informative. I shoot 9x18 rather than .380 because I brought my first one when surplus handguns were common and low in price. I have stayed with the 9x18 simply because it is so close in performance to the .380 and I don't want to reload two cartridges that are so similar.

 

[justin22885]

PSLs ARE AKs and its not an uncommon thing for someone to buy a PSL kit and build it as a short 16" carbine

also, corrosive primers are better

 

[HankC]

I'm asking just curious if any advantage of 7.62x54 over 308 in AK platform.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I'm asking just curious if any advantage of 7.62x54 over 308 in AK platform.

The price of ammo, and not much else.

 

[Sunray]

7.62x54 isn't an original AK cartridge. It's rimmed vs the rimless .308. Easier to make and get to work properly in a semi-auto. Not that a rimmed case won't/doesn't work in a semi. Rimless is just easier to make work.

 

[justin22885]

ballistically, theyre identical in just about every way, sure the 7.62x54R is a little bigger, but its also pretty low pressure in comparison.. people are interested in such semis because it gives them all the performance of a .308 at just over $0.20/rd and isnt likely to dry up any time soon as most eastern european countries still use it

an equivalent .308 bullet alone is about $0.26/rd, so theres absolutely no way you could ever reload or purchase that size of cartridge at a cheaper price

 

[JohnMc]

The reason for differences in prices of the .308 Win vs 7.62x54R VEPR rifles is most likely economics of scale, especially in importing them.
Most of us Americans prefer .308 Win. So they order more .308 rifles. When you order, ship, or manufacture more of an item, the cost each individual item generally goes down.
Also, in a shop, that spot on the shelf has a time cost. If it takes a long while to sell something, that display space could be occupied by something that would sell faster. In order to make it work, the owner has to make more gross profit per item. This would assume 7.62x54R rifles would take longer to sell, of course.
It could also be that the mechanisms to feed and extract the 7.62x54R are more expensive, though I doubt that any former combloc country's arms industry struggles with that round.

 

[atomd]

[/QUOTEThe price of ammo, and not much else.]

Not anymore. 7.62x54 used to be a lot cheaper, but now you can get bulk surplus 7.62x51 for less.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Lots of special purpose 7.62 x 54 R ammo still 'floating around' not available in .308 for legal reasons--especially steel core, but also some real deal AP and incendiary every so often. So far, these loadings are not on the ATF naughty list AFAIK.

 

[justin22885]

[/QUOTEThe price of ammo, and not much else.]

Not anymore. 7.62x54 used to be a lot cheaper, but now you can get bulk surplus 7.62x51 for less.

uuh, ive recently seen 880 rounds of 7.62x54R for $200.. are you telling me you can get .308 for under $0.22/rd?

 

[KansasSasquatch]

[/QUOTEThe price of ammo, and not much else.]

Not anymore. 7.62x54 used to be a lot cheaper, but now you can get bulk surplus 7.62x51 for less.

I'd also like to see where you can buy x51/.308 cheaper than x54R. The popular sites I look at like Aim Surplus, x51 surplus ammo is running about $0.54/round while x54R surplus is about $0.30-0.37/round. That's about $20 difference for every 100 rounds.

 

[justin22885]

cheapest ive seen .308 is like $0.47/rd and thats buying wolf steel case in bulk quantities

 

[atomd]

I'd also like to see where you can buy x51/.308 cheaper than x54R. The popular sites I look at like Aim Surplus, x51 surplus ammo is running about $0.54/round while x54R surplus is about $0.30-0.37/round. That's about $20 difference for every 100 rounds.

I can get 7.62x51 at walmart for 9.99/box. Even that's cheaper than any 54 I've seen in a retail store in the last year. It's almost always at least $10-12+/box unless you find them on sale. Even sites like bulkammo.com, luckygunner, ammoman.....ALL of those sites just as the first 3 examples I pulled from a google search (I have not ordered from any of them personally,...just the first 3 hits that google had where I recognized the names), the .308 is cheaper than the 54 by around $10 per 500 rounds or so on every single one of them.

The .308 has actually come down a bit in price lately whereas the 54 has gone way up in price the last couple years.

Now....there is one exception. If you can find some old romanian, russian, bulgarian, etc surplus 54 you can get it much cheaper in battlepacks. I have never come across that in any store for a reasonable price but online you can get some good deals if you can find it in stock. You won't find those kind of deals on 51 generally.

But my point is...walk into any store and you're gonna pay more to walk out with 54 than you are for 51. I have almost never seen it cheaper anywhere in the last year except for internet deals....and even those are few and far between these days. Just checked aim surplus...yep...sold out. The 51 is cheaper on aim right now because they don't have any cheap 54 in stock and most other people don't either.

 

[justin22885]

something that should be noted though, 7.62x54R surplus ammo is usually the stuff made for PKM machine guns.. its not very consistant or accurate ammunition generally speaking, some of its ok, but for the most part itll make a mosin shoot worse than 2MOA where with factory ammo it shoots sub 2MOA

this is the primary reason (besides rim + semi auto = suck, and the cost of higher capacity magazines) why i never bought an AK54R type of carbine