One of the great things about 7.62 full metal jacket ammo is that it’s fairly affordable. That’s just one thing. It also tends to be consistent, fairly reliable, accurate at close and intermediate ranges, and pretty available too.
With these things being said, it’s worth a word or two on some of the practical uses of FMJ 7.62x39mm, also known as 7.62 Soviet.
Well, here are 4 great uses for it, along with 3 that are not so good.
Training New Shooters
There’s one big thing about 7.62x39mm that makes it good for training new shooters and it’s that the cartridge doesn’t produce that much recoil.
There are arguably better cartridges (which produce even less recoil) like .22 and .223, but the 7.62 is still pretty low.
On top of that, you don’t want it to be too low - that way, new shooters start to harden themselves off to recoil - which might not happen with lighter rimfire rounds.
So in the realm of centerfire rifle shooting, this is a great cartridge to start training new shooters on.
Range Therapy
Say what you want about the questionable long-term performance and drooping trajectory of 7.62 (which is all mostly true), it still makes a great cartridge for burning at the range.
When the point of the whole day is to make steel ping or just to burn some brass, you don’t want to fritter away a lot of money doing it. And on top of that, you don’t want to be wasting your time with a barrel burner.
Well, 7.62 barrels have long lifespans and on top of that, it’s a pretty cheap cartridge, too, which is even better.
Training and Drilling
While the 7.62 full metal jacket does have its shortcomings, it’s a great cartridge for training and drilling. It’s perfect for drilling with cartridge handling (loading mags, clearing jams, etc.) and it also is consistent and accurate at close ranges.
Which means for steel shooting, 3-gun, and punching paper at close ranges, there are few other cartridges that offer the same power, performance and availability mixed with low price.
High-Volume Target Shooting
There might be other cheaper cartridges, but few that are more available and when you land on a bulk deal of 7.62 full metal jacket, it’s going to be affordable.
This makes it a prime cartridge for high-volume target shooting. It’s not too expensive to be practical, doesn’t burn out barrels too fast, and it’s fairly available, too.
Now for the Not So Good
Now that we’ve covered some of the selling points of 7.62 full metal jacket, let’s take a closer look at some of the applications and shooting disciplines for which it is decidedly not a good match.
Hunting
Now, to be frank, 7.62x39mm itself is a great cartridge for hunting and can be effective for dispatching both small and medium game. In truth, it can be effective for larger game, too, where legal, and with proper shot placement.
The issue, specifically, is with 7.62 full metal jacket. Full metal jacket ammo is designed for stability and penetration, which is not what you’re going for when hunting. You’re going for energy transfer for a quick, ethical dispatch.
Now, 7.62 bullets do tend to tumble on contact with targets, resulting in wide wound channels, but this is not consistent and not predictable, which makes it highly unethical to hunt with 7.62 full metal jacket ammo.
Defensive Applications
The same things that make 7.62 full metal jacket ammo unsuitable for hunting also make it unsuitable for defensive applications.
The bullet is likely to overpenetrate, presenting a serious risk in crowded environments, and since it is not designed for disruption, will not produce optimal characteristics with respect to bullet expansion and energy transfer.
Now, again, and to clarity, this is a good cartridge for defensive applications, and produces more stopping power than .223 (comparable to .300 Blackout). It’s just that FMJ ammo is not the choice here. Go hollow point or soft point for defensive applications.
Long-Range Shooting
Lastly, 7.62 full metal jacket is no good for long-range shooting, and in this capacity, it’s the cartridge, not the bullet, that’s the problem.
The thing here is that 7.62 is a big, heavy, relatively slow round. The trajectory flags badly at 200 yards and is even worse beyond that. It just falls too fast and loses too much energy too rapidly to be effective at great distances.
That being said, 7.62 FMJ is still suitable for all of the applications covered in the former half of this article.
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