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7.62x54r surplus ammo options

Duke HoggeDuke Hogge Member Posts: 163 ✭✭✭
edited February 2009 in Ask the Experts
Howdy, finely getting a romanian PSL AK in 7.62x54r ( I've bean obsessing over for a while) Guns on it's way, Mags on there way..... Witch leads me to the reason I have bean Wanting one: CHEEP AMMO compared to the 308.........7N1 is the most expensive and still cheep in comparison, is it worth 60% more than everything else???? And what about everything else? Light ball only no yellowtips, ANY recommendations appreciated, Thanks,Duke

Comments

  • SuburbanNoizeSuburbanNoize Member Posts: 10,142
    edited November -1
    Im not 100 sure, but i think 7n1 is what the russian gun was designed to shoot. as for the price im not sure.
  • MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member Posts: 10,046 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    "Light ball only "...you said it, I had one and it worked well. either the 'light ball' or comparable reloads.
  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Still a good deal but 7.62X54r ammo has nearly doubled in the past year and a half.

    Aim surplus has some light ball at a not too bad price.
  • heavyironheavyiron Member Posts: 1,421 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hi,

    The 7N1 is Russia's best quality ammunition - not up to par with US match ammunition but better than usual Communist Bloc quality. The 7N1 is also corrosive so be sure to clean your rifle shortly after use. It was probably the round of choice for sniper ammunition as a result which is why you pay a higher premium for it.

    Retailers have alleged the silver over yellow tip bullet from Hungary was a sniper round but this is bull. The silver over yellow bullet is a 181 grain heavy ball with a spitzer boat tail bullet and not sniper ammunition.

    white762x54.jpg

    The secret to accurate shooting with a Mosin Nagant rifle is having a properly sized bullet for the bore diameter because of the loose tolerances used in Communist Bloc countries.

    Hope this helps to clarify the issue.

    Heavyiron
  • EdkumiEdkumi Member Posts: 6 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I recently picked up a 91/59 and I'm looking for ammo. I'm stocking up on cheaper ammo as the surplus supply may go to Zero fast. I would prefer not to pay more than 21 Cents per cartridge. Jonk's suggestion of AIM Surplus may be better than Century Arms, I'd need to run the numbers. Currently on Gunbroker are Two 300 Round sealed tins of Heavy Ball bidding at $63.00 each with another day of bidding remaining. That price is currently at my 21 Cent limit and I dropped out of the bidding war.

    Learn from my mistake. I failed to stock up on 303 Brit when it was cheap. The supply of surplus dried up prompting me to dump my Enfield. Commercial ammo is too expensive!!!
  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Ah, a year old topic ressurrected. :)

    The drying up of cheap ammo just means you have to get into reloading. Which is fun in and of itself.

    21 cents a round for 7.62X54R. Unbelievable. Still cheap compared to commercial stuff I grant you but hardly the deal it once was. Just 3 years ago it was half that.
  • beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Its funny, I went to a gun show a few weeks ago, and asked about the 7.62x54R to one of the ammo dealers. He told me he had a few tins left at his shop, but with the price of it having doubled, he can't sell it so fast anymore, and he got tired of lugging around 30 pound tins to gunshows!

    I'd say pretty much *ALL* of the centerfire rifle surplus ammo is drying up right now. While there are TONS of 7.62x54R, 8mm Mauser, and .303 guns floating around in the world, and many of them are even still in military service by militias and rag-tag armies, you just don't have big armies using those calibers in quantity anymore.

    As a result, while the sheer number of the older guns in circulation should ensure SOME constant supply of ammo, the surplus mass-produced military ammo in the older calibers is only going to get scarcer and scarcer with time.

    As already mentioned, the .303 ammo has mostly dried up, and even the corrosive 8mm Mauser ammo, which used to be common and dirt cheap, is scarce and when available runs around 30 cents per round now.

    The 7.62x54R appears to be the cheapest centerfire rifle ammo left, and there is still a good bit of it floating around, but in 3-4 years. . .who knows?

    I agree with Edkumi. Stock up now if you can. I don't think its likely, but you never know when an overreaching Obama administration might put an end to milsurp ammo importation.

    Even though nobody is CURRENTLY talking about this, or of banning old bolt-action rifles, I think part of this fear is currently driving up demand and consequently prices too.

    Personally, I just bought 4-440 round tins of the 7.62x54R myself, adding up to around 23 cents a round including shipping (don't forget to consider shipping costs!).

    While not exactly a "lifetime" supply, I figure 1700+ rounds ought to keep me well-stocked for at least a few years. I got some of this from AIM surplus, and some from another source (which has already dried up).
  • bobskibobski Member Posts: 17,866 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    whats a can of 7.62 match usgi surplus stuff going for these days?
    Retired Naval Aviation
    Former Member U.S. Navy Shooting Team
    Former NSSA All American
    Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot
    MO, CT, VA.
  • skeeter54skeeter54 Member Posts: 45 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I was told at the gun shop that 7.62x54R
    was the ammo they are using in afganistan
    so there was a surplus.
  • TooBigTooBig Member Posts: 28,559 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    This guy here on GB has 762x54
    http://v4.beta.gunbroker.com/Auction/SellerAuctions.aspx?User=807924
    Check his record he is a good young man[:D]
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