Just by virtue of the fact that there have been over 100 million AK-47 rifles and variants produced throughout the years, one can see the influence and impact of the 7.62x39mm, also known as the 7.62 Soviet cartridge.
This doesn’t account for the 15 million or so SKS rifles that were built along the way either, not to mention any of the other firearms produced in the same caliber.
To put it lightly, it is an immensely practical cartridge that, notwithstanding its unparalleled reach and employment, might even be underutilized by today’s sporting and competitive crowd.
So, let’s peel back the layers on this living fossil of a cartridge, that by right is still as relevant today as it was when it was first unveiled in 1943.
Where It All Started
It was at the Battle of Cholm (AKA the Kholm Pocket, named after Kholm, Russia, where it took place), in which the Russian Red Army suffered 20,000 men to the Germans’ 3,000 or so, that the Soviet’s realized they had a need for an effective intermediate rifle cartridge to match the 7.92mm Kurz.
At the time, the Soviets were issuing rifles chambered in 7.62x54mmR (pictured below, at left) that had been in service since Russia was still under Imperial Rule in 1891. The cartridge is well known for its power, but it is somewhat less than handy at short ranges, and produces serious recoil.
A smaller, lighter cartridge that could be fired more rapidly, more accurately, and with less fatigue during close-quarters engagements would round out this weak spot in the Soviet’s battle plans - and so they went about producing it.
Russian requirements were that the new cartridge handle and fire well in semi-automatic and selective-fire arms, including machine guns. Over 300 initial designs were created and proposed, and at the end of it, a new one, dubbed 7.62x41mm (as a result of the slightly longer case length), was rolled out in 1943.
A few iterations later, and come 1944 we had the 7.62x39mm cartridge as we know it, which sported a unique design. It contained a steel core surrounded by a lead envelope, surrounded by a copper-coated steel jacket. The bullets were 123 grains; later iterations were boat-tailed, which has been proven to improve accuracy not only at long-ranges, but also at intermediate rangesl.
The case of the cartridge is rimless and bottlenecked ever-so-slightly, with a fairly strong taper and a shallow shoulder. The latter two attributes facilitated feeding and extraction, even in auto-loading arms, one of the things that has made this cartridge so viable in semiautomatic platforms. The original casings were steel, and though some modern rounds are loaded into brass, many, like TulAmmo, still are cased in steel.
That taper is, in fact, one of the reasons for the classic “banana” shaped magazine instantly recognizable as belonging to the AK-47 - the rifle that has effectively immortalized this cartridge.
In the years that followed, the Soviets, along with Soviet Bloc countries like Yugoslavia and China, produced their own variants of this ammo, like Type 56 ammo and Yugoslavian M67, which lacked the original steel core and was designed to deliver more serious wounding potential.
Here’s where things get interesting. With a case capacity of 35 grains, firing a 123-grain bullet (on average) and loaded to maximum pressures of 45,000 PSI, the 7.62x39mm Soviet can produce muzzle velocities around 2,350 FPS and energy in the area of 1,500 ft-lbs.
That’s fairly unimpressive when compared to other cartridges that have conventionally been used for hunting - such as .308 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield.
Be that as it may, it is important to consider what this cartridge is, and what it is good for. It is an intermediate cartridge that produces good stopping power at close and medium ranges - it’s not a long-range shooter.
Compared more reasonably to cartridges like .30-30 Winchester or even 5.56 NATO, this becomes apparent. It produces higher muzzle velocities and energy than both, which, notwithstanding its badly drooping trajectory, makes it highly effective for a wide range of shooting disciplines when loaded with an appropriate bullet. Among them are high-volume target shooting, training, plinking, competition, defensive applications, and even hunting.
Anyone who would write off a 7.62 full metal jacket round, which itself is almost 100 years old, would do well to remember that only a few years back we reinvented the wheel with the .300 Blackout, which serves basically the same role.
The .300 BLK was basically developed around the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge in order to take advantage of .30 caliber ballistics without requiring 5.56 shooters to overhaul their guns. In many ways, it mimics the performance of its predecessor (being 7.62 Soviet, not 5.56 NATO).
The .300 BLK does outperform it, especially at extended ranges, but just by a bit. In terms of muzzle energy, velocity, and stopping power, the two cartridges are really not that far off from each other.
Which makes sense, since the .300 BLK was also developed effectively to fill the role of an intermediate cartridge, especially for defensive applications - just like 7.62 Soviet.
Considering their similarity, then, for sporting applications, it can be argued that 7.62x39mm (though not FMJ) can be used for hunting medium sized game, and larger, up close, and with proper shot placement.
As for defensive applications, the 7.62x39mm is a proven cartridge that has been used in combat around the world for nearly 100 years, and effectively, at that. All this makes affordably priced defensive 7.62 Soviet rounds all the more appealing, even though there are slick and sleek modern alternatives. Sometimes, it’s hard to beat a classic.
Stock Up on 7.62 Full Metal Jacket Ammo
It was good enough for half of the world for nearly a century, and it remains in widespread use. It should still be good enough for you. If you have a 7.62 Soviet rifle like an AK or an SKS, get your 7.62 full metal jacket here, and don’t miss a chance to check out our bulk deals and police trade-in specials .