| 7.63×25mm Mauser | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Pistol | |
| Place of origin | Germany | |
| Service history | ||
| Used by | Germany, Soviet Union, China, Spain | |
| Production history | ||
| Designer | Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken | |
| Designed | 1896 | |
| Specifications | ||
| Parent case | 7.65×25mm Borchardt | |
| Case type | Rimless, bottleneck | |
| Bullet diameter | 7.86 mm (0.309 in) | |
| Neck diameter | 8.46 mm (0.333 in) | |
| Shoulder diameter | 9.60 mm (0.378 in) | |
| Base diameter | 9.86 mm (0.388 in) | |
| Rim diameter | 9.98 mm (0.393 in) | |
| Case length | 25.15 mm (0.990 in) | |
| Overall length | 34.80 mm (1.370 in) | |
| Ballistic performance | ||
| Bullet weight/type | Velocity | Energy |
| 5.6 g (86 gr) FMJ | 441 m/s (1,450 ft/s) | 545 J (402 ft·lbf) |
The 7.63×25mm Mauser (.30 Mauser Automatic) round was the original ammunition of the Mauser C96 service pistol. This cartridge headspaces on the shoulder of the case.[1] The basis of this cartridge was the 7.65×25mm Borchardt cartridge of 1893, the only successful automatic pistol cartridge in production at the time. The 7.63 mm Mauser is sometimes confused with the later 7.65×21mm Parabellum (.30 Luger), also a bottlenecked pistol cartridge.
The 7.63 mm Mauser cartridge was the basis for the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round adopted by the Soviet Union. Although the case dimensions of the two cartridges are nearly identical, the 7.62 mm Tokarev has a stronger powder charge and is not suited for use in C96 pistols or other firearms chambered for 7.63 mm Mauser. However, the 7.63 mm Mauser could be used in firearms chambered for the 7.62 mm Tokarev: something that became important later during WWII on the Eastern Front when the Germans began using captured 7.62x25mm weapons, notably the PPSh-41 and fed them with 7.63 mm Mauser rounds.
Firearms chambered for the 7.63 mm Mauser cartridge include the Mauser C96 and variants and copies, the Astra Model 900 and variants, and a handful of pre-World War II submachine guns such as the Swiss Bergmann M/20 exported to China and Japan[2] and the SIG MKMO.
During the Finnish-Soviet Winter War and World War II, the cartridge was issued by Finnish and German forces for use in captured Soviet submachine guns, due to its inherent substitutability for the Soviet 7.62×25mm round. According to Finnish military archives, the Finnish Army ordered one million rounds of 7.63mm Mauser from FN for this purpose.[3]
7.63 mm Mauser ammunition is still manufactured by the companies Fiocchi, Sellier & Bellot and Prvi Partizan.