How hard could it be to locate 7.62 x39 ammo?

Many aspects of guns, ammunition, accessories, and other related topics engender strong and passionate opinions — often outsized to any rational, objective assessment of the problems at hand. Take the 7.62x39mm round, for instance. Some individuals seem to believe oahu is the most amazing thing ever invented, a one-shot man stopper that could go through 10 layers of concrete, the center of a legendary weapon system that never stops functioning whether covered in mud or dipped in concrete. Others appear to genuinely believe that it's the spawn of the devil, an overhyped, inaccurate, blooping mortar round that'll turn you into a Bernie-loving Communist simply by looking at it.

Cut away most of the hoopla and internet bravado, and you will discover that the 7.62x39mm is really a solid intermediate rifle round that's which may be very efficient because of its intended purpose. As a fighting cartridge having an appropriate projectile, it's shown to supply great penetration and good terminal performance within close to medium range. For certain, its ballistics wouldn't be your first choice for long range, but as you'll see within our testing, it's no inherently inaccurate round, as some may believe.

Designed at the tail end of World War II, the 7.62x39mm cartridge was optimized for self-loading rifles. The case is highly tapered, causing easier feeding and extraction, but in addition causing the extremely curved and very distinctive AK magazines known the planet over. The first Soviet military production 7.62x39mm cartridge was designated the M43, spec'd out with a 123-grain steel core and copper-plated boat tail bullet along with a Berdan-primed steel case.

Most of the domestically manufactured commercial ammo in this guide use brass cases and Boxer primers, as the former Eastern Bloc churns out pallet after pallet of steel-cased and Berdan-primed ammo. To help mitigate corrosion, steel cases and jackets feature some type of coating or treatment, such as for instance lacquer, polymer, or zinc. We asked renowned AK builder Jim Fuller about steel cases. He said, “AKs are designed for steel cases; they run best. The AK's extractor is wide and built to pull steel cases. The round can take a beating in the action. Still, I don't usually see problems with brass cases in 7.62x39mm AKs, though brass can get ripped up in 5.56mm AKs or out-of-spec chambers.”


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