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Re: 7.62x54R ammo quality scale
 Author: Raoul© February 25, 2001 at 13:31:24 
in reply to: Re: 7.62x54R ammo quality scale posted by vic on January 17, 2001 at 23:11:31
    > > the recent posts on 54R ammo are real interesting to me; I have the following constraints on my selection: 1. I am cheap & not inclined to buy ammo in bulk quantities at more than 30 cts a round 2. I don't currently reload & am leery of getting into this mysterious, slightly sulphurous activity - maybe I will 3. my shooting skills need enough work so that I'd like to obtain ammo in quantity which isn't an extra obstacle... seems like those may present an impasse.
> > In any case, I'd be interested in putting together a scale of quality (i.e. consistency of accuracy) of the 54R currently available out there. I'll start, I'd love it if people would fill this in with their commentary. I'm currently shooting a Romak-3.
> >
> > 1. russian copperwash LPS 147gr surplus - glad to hear that
> > others also usually get 3-6 inch 100 yd groups with this 2.
> > czech silvertip 'bxn' surplus - better than 1. I can find
> > these both for 10 - 15 cts a round 3. hungarian 150gr sp 4.
> > russian 200 gr LCB FMJ
> >
> > both available for about 25 cts a round, haven't tried them. Are they more accurate than surplus ? the 200 gr puts me off
> > 5. russian 'extra match' 200gr brass case - neat, but I found I had to rezero at 100yds from 147gr. about 40cts a round at a gun show. grouping was not noticeably better than surplus, but that could easily have been me.
> > 6. east german green lacquered steelcase. A Delaware gun store had a few boxes for 80 cts a round. They claimed it was "match". I cheaped out. Anyone seen or tried this ?
> > 7. S&B 180gr SP. not bad for tightness, I haven't shot it since I got the gun, 35 cts a round puts me off
> > 8. S&B FMJ ? (never tried it)
> >
> > 9. S&B match (ditto) 10. Winchester (ditto)
> >
> > any notable others missing ? do you find the general ordering in this quality scale incorrect ? for my amusement, is the goal of cheap quality ammo unattainable (expecially for this caliber ?) except through reloading ?
> >
> > Tx,
> >
> > StG44
>
> I read your letter here with interest. Let me share some of
> my experience with 7.62X54R. I own Romak 3, also, by the
> way. Overall, I'm satisfied with it, even though its not
> the original "DRAG", and I dont want to get into this with
> all these experts around.
>
> 1. S@B 180gr SP. I have had some real bad experience with
> those. I dont know if it came from defective lot, or
> primers were too soft. All I know is that I fired only 5
> shots with it when my rifle jammed totally. Upon
> inspection, I found that firig pin was stuck inside the
> bolt, mushroomed. You can find my article here on that
> topic about 3 month ago. Now, I took the rifle to the
> gunsmith and he made me a brand new firing pin. Be carefull
> with this ammo. My primers were blown out of the case, and
> each primer had a hole in it. Maybe you'll get more lucky.
> Any comments on this?
>
> 2. New Hungarian 150gr SP. Right after I got my new firing
> pin installed I went deer hunting. I had no chance to test
> fire it with new ammo and with new pin, so I had to take
> chances. Well, it payed off big. Next morning after 1 hr on
> the stand, I took a spike, and 5 seconds later a dow with
> 150gr SP. The ammo was right on the money at about 100
> yards first shot, and about 150 yards second shot. I made
> both shots across the field and was excited as hell. Could
> not believe it!!!! The shot went right thru and thru a
> small tree behind it. Made a huge hole thru a buck. Dow got
> hit twice. Anyway, my point is I think this ammo is great,
> its new, metal case, plus, its cheap. I ordered from
> Tennesse guns. It cost me
>
> about $36 shipped for 5 boxes of 20 rounds each.
>
> 3. 204gr SP russian. Now this ammo generates some great
> accuracy in my rifle. I like to use a 5" orange circle for
> 200 yards shots. With this ammo, I consistently get 5 shots
> into the cirlce. I did have some problem with feeding
> before, with rounds getting stuck in the chamber, or not
> seating all the way in. But, I think the gun was not clean
> enough, and with bullet that big, occasionally it gets
> stuck. I love that ammo though, especially for big game.
> Any comments on it?
>
> 4. S@B 174gr JHP. I heard that ammo is hot with good
> ballistics results. I also heard its expensive, but I'm
> curious to try it. Do you know of a good source for it, or
> any additional information? Any comments on it?
>
> 5. Russian 147 FMJ silver points, plain color, or russian
> 180gr yellow tips. Now, I've tried all these with great
> results. My favorite are 147gr silver points. None of these
> ever jammed in my rifle. Any comments?
>
> 6. Czech "160gr Match" silver points??. Now, these I've
> never tried. Is it 160 gr or 150 gr? Where can I order
> these for reasonable price? How old is this ammo? Is it a
> surplus or new? Any comments on these are appreciated.
>
> 7. Never tried FMJ of 200 grains, dont even know where to
> get them. Any comments on these?
>
> Anybody knows of any other exciting 7.62x54R ammo?? Please
> let me know.
>
> Well, I tought I'll share my experience with you guys here.
> I'm considering improving my trigger on Romak 3 at this
> point. I think it can do some good. I'll share my results
> with everyone here when I'm done. Any additional comments
> on trigger work with Romak 3 would be appreciated.

Thanks for the info on the various types of ammo. Although
in this country (Netherlands)it's quite difficult to get
hold of 7.62 x 54R ammo in the first place, I've been able
to try various brands of ammo in my Romak3 sofar. The best
results I got with Yugoslavian Partizan 184 gr fmj and the
much lighter Finnish Lapua trainer 123 gr fmj. Regretfully
the Partizan factory apparently ceased to exist (understand
it was bombed ?) during the war over there. The lapua ammo
gave the problem, with the shorter bullet length, that the
weapon would jam if i put more then two rounds in the mag.
The accuracy was superb though, shooting 1 inch groups at
100 m. Makes one wonder how their match ammunition will
perform but at about 2.5/3 dollars a piece I havent tried
those as yet. Presently I'm shooting S&B 180 grains fmj
which is also performing very well though I've had the same
problem with the soft primers. Luckily it wasn't my firing
pin which got damaged (which still sounds strange to me)
but it got stuck in the bolt all the same. After stripping
it appeared there where six small round pieces of copper
(abt 1 mm in size) jammed between the bolt and the firing
pin. Upon checking the cases it became clear that the
firing pin had slammed through a few of the primers and
that's where the neat round pieces of copper jamming the
firing pin came from. Personally i think it must have been
a defective lot as apart from the odd round now and then
(about 1 in 50 - knock on wood)I haven't had that problem
any more. 		   
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