| 7.62×25mm Tokarev | ||
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A steel-cased FMJ 7.62mm Tokarev cartridge. |
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| Type | Pistol | |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union | |
| Production history | ||
| Produced | 1930–[1] | |
| Specifications | ||
| Bullet diameter | 7.8 mm (0.31 in) | |
| Neck diameter | 8.4 mm (0.33 in) | |
| Shoulder diameter | 9.4 mm (0.37 in) | |
| Base diameter | 9.7 mm (0.38 in) | |
| Rim diameter | 9.9 mm (0.39 in) | |
| Rim thickness | 1.3 mm (0.051 in) | |
| Case length | 25 mm (0.98 in) | |
| Overall length | 34 mm (1.3 in) | |
| Rifling twist | 1:250 mm (1:10 inches) | |
| Primer type | Berdan or Boxer Small Pistol | |
| Ballistic performance | ||
| Bullet weight/type | Velocity | Energy |
| 5.5 g (85 gr) JHP[2] | 376 m/s (1,230 ft/s) | 390 J (290 ft·lbf) |
| 5.8 g (90 gr) FMJ[2] | 409 m/s (1,340 ft/s) | 488 J (360 ft·lbf) |
| 5.5 g (85 gr) FMJ[3] | 502 m/s (1,650 ft/s) | 693 J (511 ft·lbf) |
| 5.5 g (85 gr) FMJ[4] | 525 m/s (1,720 ft/s) | 760 J (560 ft·lbf) |
| 5.5 g (85 gr) JHP[4] | 510 m/s (1,700 ft/s) | 715 J (527 ft·lbf) |
| Test barrel length: 120mm |
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The 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge is a bottle-necked pistol cartridge widely used in former Soviet and Soviet satellite states, China and Pakistan among other countries. The cartridge has since been replaced in Russian service by overpressure versions of the 9×19mm Parabellum.[5]
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The cartridge is in principle an enhanced Soviet version of the 7.63×25mm Mauser. The Soviets produced a wide array of loadings for this cartridge for use in submachine guns. These include armor-piercing, tracer, and incendiary rounds. This cartridge has excellent penetration and can easily defeat lighter ballistic vests (class I, IIA and II) as well as some kevlar helmets, such as the American PASGT helmet. Although most firearms chambered in this caliber were declared obsolete and removed from military inventories, some Police and Special Forces units in Russia, Pakistan and (mainly) in China still use it because of the large quantity of stored ammunition still available.
There is a common misconception that 7.62 Tokarev surplus ammunition in the United States uses copper-coated mild steel bullets, and that this increases the chance of dangerous ricochets when fired at hard targets and can damage bullet-traps often used on shooting ranges. While steel-core ammunition in 7.62×25 is available internationally, in the United States the importation of 7.62×25 cartridges loaded with copper-coated steel bullets is illegal; federal law defines these as armor-piercing pistol ammunition. The so-called steel bullets sold in the United States are generally lead-core bullets with copper-washed steel jackets, and these do not present a significantly greater risk of ricochet than a standard copper-jacketed projectile.
Reloadable cartridge cases can be produced by resizing and trimming 9mm Winchester Magnum brass, or alternately by reforming 5.56×45mm NATO. The cartridge case is inserted into the open-topped die, which produces a shoulder in the correct position, and one saws off the portion of the case projecting through the top. Afterward, one uses a the reamer - which fits a tap handle - to ream out the new case neck to an acceptable thickness. This is necessary because a powerful rifle cartridge has just been cut back to where the brass is relatively thick - this must be thinned if excessive chamber pressures are to be avoided in the pistol. Alternately, reloaders in the USA can purchase proper, new cases from Starline Mfg. Use .308" or .309" bullets for reloading for the Tokarev TT-33 and Czech CZ-52. Mauser C-96 and C-30 "Broomhandle" pistols typically have oversized bores, and .311" bullets may be needed to produce acceptable accuracy. Hornady makes an 85-grain .309" "XTP" bullet that functions well in all these pistols. On the Starline website, at the 7.62×25mm section, information is given about using ammunition intended for the Mauser pistol in pistols chambered for the Tokarev round.
The cartridge has an average muzzle velocity of around 442 metres per second (1,450 ft/s), and has about 544 joules (401 ft·lbf) of energy. However, given the wide disparity in ammunition manufactured in many different nations, ammunition will be encountered that yields much higher velocity. Most newly manufactured ammunition intended for commercial use have a higher average velocity (apprx 1560 fps). Wolf Gold FMJ tops out at 1,700 fps w/ 570 foot pounds of energy as does PPU ammunition. Some of this ammunition, such as the Wolf Gold and Sellier & Belot, use boxer primed, brass cases that are reloadable.
The Soviet P-41 was a 74 grain, steel-cored, incendiary variant produced for use in the PPSh-41 and PPS-43 during World War II. This ammunition would achieve a velocity of 1,600 feet per second when fired from these weapons.
The Chinese 7.62mm Type P is a special subsonic, heavy, pointed (spitzer) loading of the cartridge, designed specifically for use in suppressed firearms. The Chinese-produced standard loading of the cartridge is designated as the Type 51.
The most notable use of this cartridge was in the Tokarev TT-33 pistol, which was the Soviet Union's standard service pistol from the early 1930s until the mid-1960s. It was also used in the Czech ČZ vz. 52, which was the standard Czech service pistol from 1952 until 1982. The cartridge was also used in several submachine guns, including the Soviet PPD-40, PPSh-41, and PPS-43, the Russian PP-19 Bizon, and the Czech vz. 24 and vz. 26.
Outside COMECON countries it is not so common; however after the Cold War, many weapons, especially pistols, were exported and the round is still in production. The cartridge was also used in the Russian OTs-27 Berdysh[6] and OTs-39 submachine gun, the North Vietnamese K-50M and VPA/Viet Minh modified MAS-38 (MAS Mle 1938) and MAT-49s, and the Yugoslav M49 and M56, the latter gun being developed from the design of the German MP40. Aftermarket conversion sleeves are also available that enable this round to be fired using the Mosin-Nagant family of rifles.
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