A Small Primer on 7.62x54r Ammo...and Cleaning

[Mohawk13]

This post is to clear up the Mystery of 7.62x54r ammo and Provide a bit of guidance on cleaning Your barrel after shooting corrosive ammo.

Russian and Combloc 54r generally comes in a sealed tin of 300 or 440 rounds. Tins may be painted a nice pea green or look like a nasty tin can with a lead seal around them. Kind of like these two examples:



The Top picture shows how to decipher what is in the can. Be warned that the nasty tin cans smell just as bad on the inside, as they look on the outside. If You are lucky enough to get some, there are some new cans out there that have 300 rounds in them. They are on 5 round stripper clips. By all means save the stripper clips. The difference in the cans is the Country producing the ammo. Russian cans are generally the nice green ones. Polish, Bulgarian, and Romanian ammo generally comes in the nasty looking cans. As long as the ammo has been stored properly, it should all shoot the same. I say should, but Your experiences may vary.

Most Combloc x54r ammo comes in 20 round packages. They can be in boxes, or wrapped in paper and tied with a sisal string. Here are a few examples:


Now lets take a look at some of the ammo. Most ammo will be either a steel case with a lacquer finish, copper washed steel, or brass case. They all seem to shoot about the same, but be warned. The lacquer painted cases have a tendency to get sticky in the chamber and can be a real bear to get the bolt open. The others seem to run well through most Mosins. Here are a few different types of ammo you may encounter:


Top round is a 147 grain Albanian Brass cased round. These seem to function well in My 1943 Izhevsk 91/30. Quality ammo.
Next is a 147 grain Bulgarian round in a copper washed steel case. This is also quality ammo.
Third is an 184 grain steel core Bulgarian copper washed steel case. Great ammo. Most ranges hate this stuff!!
Last is a 147 grain Steel cased, lacquered Czech round. Great stuff but tends to stick the bolt.

Be advised that ALL Combloc 7.62x54r IS CORROSIVE!!.

PPU is making some great Non Corrosive x54r and I recommend it highly. No pictures to share, but it is fine shooting ammo. I hunt with the "Brown Bear" 203 grain soft point ammo. Most 91/30 shoot this round with great accuracy. It tends to print at point of aim at 100 yards. The lighter ammo is great for long range accuracy, but usually prints high at 100 Yards. If this happens to You, don't despair, just switch over to a heavier bullet weight. The Barnaul "Bear" ammo is a great choice, and is non corrosive and steel cased. Here is a picture of the "Brown Bear" packaging:


If You get serious about your Mosin shooting, you will want to find some of this ammo. It is 200 grain Finnish Tikka Ammo. It has a brass case, cupro-nickle, steel core bullet. Best years are between 1928 and 1932. I have "rang the gong" at 600 yards with open sights with this stuff. This stuff makes Russian 7N1A Sniper ball look like a drunk sailor. It is expensive, but worth the expense in bragging rights at the range. Here are a few pictures:



So That is ammo in a nut shell. Look around and see what is out there. Some gun shows will be better than others on price. I would recommend Surplus Arms and Ammo in Lakewood or County Line Sports in Yelm for ammo supplies. They both have competitive prices and the quality has always been top notch.

Now to Cleaning.....And a headache if using corrosive ammo....

Cleaning should begin as soon as You are done shooting AT THE RANGE!!! No exceptions. Milsurp ammo is corrosive, The Mercury salts that are used in primers will start to work nasty stuff on your barrel right away. It is Hydroscopic, which means it will draw moisture from the air and begin the process of rusting Your barrel right away. So How do we stop this process? Good question, and here is the answer... Chemistry.

There are two ways to go about this. There are different schools of thought on it, so I will present them both:

1). Saturate a gun patch with a mild Windex formula and run it down the bore of the rifle. The ammonia and water will neutralize the salts and stop them from drawing moisture. Let it set for a few minutes and then swab out the bore. Run an oil patch through the bore and then clean the rifle as normal when You get home. Do The same for the chamber and the bolt head, and all should be well.

2). Use a diluted solution of Murphy's Oil Soap in the same manner as the Windex. I prefer using this method and have been using it for years. I also use it in my Black powder rifles. Have never had a bore rust or go bad on Me.

You can store oil and your neutralizing solution in the little double sided can that comes with the rifle. They look like these two, but there are many varieties out there:


The square one is a WW 2 Russian oiler, and the round ones are post war. Either works just fine. If your rifle did not come with one, they can be had at most gun shows for about $5..or contact me. I usually have a few extra on hand for the same $5.

So There You have it. A nice short and sweet primer on ammo and cleaning of the Mosin Rifle. I did not get into the cleaning rod assembly as I find it easier to clean My Mosins with a range rod. The cleaning rod on the Mosins always seems to short to reach the whole barrel through on a single pass. If anyone needs pics on how that all works. Let me know and i will update this post...
Good Luck and happy shooting...

Last edited by Mohawk13 on Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

[MadPick]

More good info, thanks for taking the time to write that up.

I made it a sticky to ensure that nobody ever reads it.

[olydemon]

Great post! I usually clean when I get home with some Windex first, then a bunch of CLP. It took me a while to break that corrosive cherry. Every once in a while I buy a box of Tula Non Corrosive just to have for that time you want to let someone else shoot, but not go through the cleaning regiment.

[Jack]

All you need is hot water to clean. Ammonia, windex, etc. don't contribute significantly. The problem is the salts and water dissolves salt. Give it a few minutes to dry, then run patched down with oil to clean and protect.

Carrying something to flush that barrel right after shooting is a good idea.

Jack

[Mohawk13]

Agreed Jack...But where do You find hot water at most ranges? Was keeping it simple...Thanks for the input...

[olydemon]

Agreed Jack...But where do You find hot water at most ranges? Was keeping it simple...Thanks for the input...

Well, bring a pot of water to the range and set it next to those blow hards who do nothing but spew hot air about how expensive their gear is and how they must just be having an off day because usually this is a sub MOA rifle.... because you know... it was so expensive....

[Mohawk13]

Good Point Oly..Good Point...

[RENCORP]

Agreed Jack...But where do You find hot water at most ranges? Was keeping it simple...Thanks for the input...

Set a pot on top of the head of Tacticool Twit in the next bay just before you send a couple clips into the bull through iron sights.

When he sees your target that he has been trying to mark with his Uber Penis scoped wundergun all day long, he will come to a slow boil.

Nail another target same way, tell him you bought your rifle for $25.00 at a garage sale, wait a moment, then remove pot, and use hot water.

Problem solved.

[Ugly 68]

make em sticky ( the post that is)

[solyanik]

> PPU is making some great Non Corrosive x54r and I recommend it highly.

I would recommend Sellier and Bellot over PPU. PPU cases are thin and usually start breaking on 3rd or 4th reload. I do not know the limit for S&B cases because I've never reached it, but I've loaded mine past 10.

Even if you are not doing the reloading, you can sell me your once-shot S&B cases for $5/20 and will come ahead in total cost.

[Zwitter]

I've always used brake cleaner to flush out corrosive salts after shooting. Keep a can in my truck, spray it out and its good till home.

[MosinZealot]

As long as one doesn't let a rifle sit for weeks after shooting corrosive ammo out of it, then there should be no issues with shooting corrosive ammo through any milsurp rifle. Proper cleaning, which in the eyes of everyone is different, is whatever works for you. Just be sure to use some kind of cleaner that's formulated for corrosive ammo. I will usually use 3 or 4 different types of bore cleaners when I shoot corrosive ammo through my rifles, which may be overkill, but it makes me sleep at night. Just be extra thorough if you shoot corrosive ammo through a gas operated rifle paying extra attention to the gas system.

In addition, if someone gets an old milsurp they just can't get the bore clean on with a brush and cleaner, get it as clean as you can. Take it to the range (or step out the back door for those that can) and run 5 or 10 rds through it. While it's still warm, run a brush through the bore numerous times with cleaner. Sometimes one can shoot some of the ugliness out of the bore. This isn't the case with all dirty bores, some are just dark from 50 or 100 years of use and will never come "clean". Just make sure there are no obstructions in the bore before trying to shoot, and the chamber and bore is clear of any cleaners or oils.

[MosinZealot]

While on the topic of ammo, here is some more to add to the different countries of manufacture of 7.62x54R ammo.

Yugo Heavy Ball


Finnish Soviet 7.62x54R Repack. Has a kind of pine tar like substance on the case.






Egyptian 7.62x54R






East German 7.62x54R Practice Ammo
After a rough translation with a translator online, I think the jist of what the paper says can be determined:
Übungspatrone= Practice Cartridge
Waffe= Weapon
Zielentfernung= Distance
Visierstellung= Sight Position

[Lost Cosmonaut]

I have a partial crate of 54R, I believe it's heavy Bulgarian but I'm not totally sure. Anyway, it's total crap, dings galore and flash round the primer that you can measure with a ruler. My Mosins seem to eat it OK, but I'm going to use nicer non-corrosive stuff for my 54R VEPR (Hornady, Sellier, Winchester, etc., even if it is more expensive).

2 questions:

1) What's the general rule on "unsafe" for case deformities? I don't shoot anything with too much flash on the primer or dings on the shoulders, but dings elsewhere and smaller amounts of flash I've been shooting. And also, what should I do with the stuff I reject?

2) Is it possible to shoot corrosive surplus through and then before you go home, shoot a round or two of non-corrosive higher end stuff in the hopes that it would "burn out" the corrosive salts? Would this work or am I dreaming?

[Mohawk13]

1). Discard it..or pull the bullet..Dump the powder and fertilize the garden

2). You are dreaming...