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7.62×54mmR (1908)
7.62×54mmR is a full-power rifle cartridge, designed in 1891 by the Russian Empire. It was originally intended for use in the Mosin-Nagant rifle and today it is used for the SVD sniper rifles and the PK/PKM general purpose machine guns.
History
The 7.62×54mmR is one of the oldest cartridges still in use by any military in the world, and one of the few rimmed bottleneck cartridges still in common use today.The Russian military uses it in the Dragunov SVD, as well as other sniper rifles and general purpose machine guns.
The cartridge was originally designated as "Трехлинейный патрон образца 1891 года" ("Three-line cartridge model of 1891"). This refers to its original caliber measurement in the Russian cubit standard series (1 line = 2.54mm or 1⁄10 of an inch), and was the source of the Mosin-Nagant's "three-line rifle" designation in Russian. It later acquired the more common name "7,62мм винтовочный патрон" ("7.62mm rifle cartridge"). The 7.62×54mmR is the CIP standard name for the round, coming into use after the establishment of the organization in 1914.
The round is sometimes referred to as "7.62 Russian" or "Russian 30-06" to distinguish it from 7.62 mm NATO: this is sometimes claimed to be an error based around mistaking the "R" ("rimmed") for "Russian," but it is really just for differentiation purposes in most uses. The name is sometimes confused with the "7.62 Soviet", which refers to the 7.62×39mm cartridge.
It was designed in 1891 along with the Mosin-Nagant. The 7.62×54mmR originally had a 210-grain round-nosed full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet. Due to experiences in the Russo-Japanese War, it was replaced in 1908 with a 148-grain spitzer FMJ bullet, which has remained standard to the present.
Design details
The 7.62×54mmR cartridge is ballistically similar in effect to modern 30-06 centerfire cartridges.
Specifications
Case type: Rimmed, necked
Bullet diameter: 7.9 mm (0.311 in)
Rim diameter: 14.48 mm (0.57 in)
Case length: 53.72 mm (2.115 in)
Overall length: 77.16 mm (3.038 in)
Primer type: Berdan
Types of ammunition
- Full metal jacket
- Hollowpoint
- Softpoint
- Light steel core
- Heavy steel core
- Boattail
- Tracer
- Incendiary
- Wood training rounds
Penetration
The 7.62×54mmR steel core cartridge has been observed to penetrate 1/2 inch steel, but leaving a dent in 3/4 inch steel.