Is the 7.62 X 39mm cartridge good, bad, so so, excellent or what? I'm rather a novice to shooting in general and just got to wondering about why it was so popular in the AK-47 arena but no U.S. designed rifles were made to use it? It seems like it would have been a pretty decent compromise for the 5.56's lack of penetration vs. lightness in weight issue but again, I don't really know. Any comments as to why a U.S. or NATO design was never employed with this round?
7.62 X 39mm question
- Thread starter Groundhog
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jhgreasemonkey
New member
The 7.62x39 is a .30 cal bullet that gets pushed along at similar speeds to the 30-30. Its a russian cartrige and most of the ammo available is military surplus. The US has and had used its own .30 caliber firing rifles such as 7.62x51 (.308 win) like the M14 and the 30-06 springfield and m1 garand also the .30 carbine. The 5.56 outperforms the 7.62x39 in some areas such as range. I wouldnt say there is a lack of penetration with the 5.56 at all. Especially since we use fmj. The russians believed our 5.56 was producing more severe wound trauma than their 7.62x39 because of some cases in vietnam so they switched to their own small fast round the 5.45x39 with the ak 74 in the 1970's. The 7.62x39 is a decent plinker and medium game hunter and good for home defense but it is yesterdays technology.
Joe the Redneck
New member
OK this might be your age showing, but at one time the US and Russia weren't friends.
The idea of a communist round being adopted by NATO would have been insane. They were the enemy.
the 763x39 is a decent round for what it is, but it isn't anything all that great. It's just a compact rifle round. If you get shot with a 556 or the 735x39 you won't know the difference, you'll be dead. But it is no where near the 762 X 51.
The 763x39 offers no great advantage over anything in NATO inventory. If it has been adopted, its just becuase all the people who were pointing missiles at us are now our good friends.
Yeah, makes me feel safe. ;(
Joe
The idea of a communist round being adopted by NATO would have been insane. They were the enemy.
the 763x39 is a decent round for what it is, but it isn't anything all that great. It's just a compact rifle round. If you get shot with a 556 or the 735x39 you won't know the difference, you'll be dead. But it is no where near the 762 X 51.
The 763x39 offers no great advantage over anything in NATO inventory. If it has been adopted, its just becuase all the people who were pointing missiles at us are now our good friends.
Yeah, makes me feel safe. ;(
Joe
With urban fighting being the trend today, building to building, house to house and room to room, I would have to say the AK 47, 7.62x39, is the best choice. The M14, although a good weapon, was too long and clumsy for going through doorways and tight spots, the M16 did not have the stopping power at close range like the AK. Myself and other guys in my company preferred the AK in that type of close in fighting during my tour in Vietnam. The AK was everywhere and just about all the guys I was with carried one along side their Alice pack frame. The weapon was flawless and packed a better punch at close range. Most of my combat was in wooded areas in the north where we encountered small cities like Kontum, Dak To and others. There were buildings built by the French and we liberated many of them. I would have liked to have had a .45 Cal. Thompson Sub Machine Gun. My Seargent had one that he picked up from a Special Forces Captain. For clearing rooms, it was devastating to say the least!
I generally consider the 7.62x39 as the AK round. Not much interested in the round in other rifles. Except gunblast.com did a review of the little CZ bolt-action and now I want one!
http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_CZ527.htm
Gregg
http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_CZ527.htm
Gregg
7.62 X39 got real popular real fast in the States due to having an influx of AK's and SKS's back in the 80's and early 90's. Guns were cheap, ammo was really cheap, and you got a lot of fun out of em. Nowadays, the ammo is gettin pricier and the days of $100 SKS's and $250 AK's is gone......so you may see the 7.62 X 39 goin out of style also. Very few "civilian" rifles were made for it, the CZ carbines and the Ruger Mini-30 are it I think.
HorseSoldier
New member
+1 on the not only not-invented-here, but invented by our hated communist enemies angle. The 7.62x39 M43 round could have been a whole lot better a round that it actually is and it would have never received any serious consideration by the US or NATO.
As for its superiority to 5.56mm, it's just a different set of pluses and minuses. It's quite a bit heavier, on a per-round basis, than 5.56mm. Throws a heavier bullet with arguably more thump on the receiving end, but at the expense of pretty poor external ballistics due to bad ballistic coefficient. Not a bad round by any stretch of the imagination, and will definitely kill folks deader than cancer, but it was obsolete the day the British rolled out their .280 round for consideration. Sadly, that lost out to the equally instantly obsolete 7.62x51, but that's another story.
7.62x39 is a good round for its intended purpose, but I'd say more modern assault rifle rounds have an edge on it. Even if you don't like 5.56mm or 5.45mm, I'd prefer 6.8mm Rem SPC or 6.5 Grendel to 7.62x39 is considering all of the above exclusively in terms of ballistics and performance.
Nowhere near "adoption", but FWIW, the 7.62x39 was put to use by some of our special forces in Vietnam (and probably later as well). I just got through reading an autobiography of a retired Navy SEAL that preferred to use the AK-47 in the traditional Russian chambering over the M-16.
Jason
RangerHAAF
New member
The 7.62x39 round is imo a superior hunting round when employed properly. I have a Ruger M-77 stainless all weather chambered in it. I really only use three rifle calibers; the 308 and 30'06 round out my choices but all of my deer kills were with 7.62x39 at about 50-60 yards.
45Marlin carbine
Moderator
7.62X39 round
I've got the Mini-30 chambered for it. It seems to like 150 gr. slugs, and it's good for hogs and 'yotes. I've taken deer with it also. good bush/woods round, like the 30-30.
I've got the Mini-30 chambered for it. It seems to like 150 gr. slugs, and it's good for hogs and 'yotes. I've taken deer with it also. good bush/woods round, like the 30-30.
john in jax
New member
There are a few AR models chambered for the 7.62x39 too - - but you need to feed 'em brass cased ammo.
There's a video floating around that is a US Military testing of various cartridges for urban combat range penetration (wood, drywall, brick, file cabinets, etc).
It showed the 7.62x39 superior to the .223 in pretty much every case except a 90 degree hit on a flat surface. I distinctly recall 30-45 degree hits with the .223 does not penetrate any brick at all, while the x39 goes right through.
It showed the 7.62x39 superior to the .223 in pretty much every case except a 90 degree hit on a flat surface. I distinctly recall 30-45 degree hits with the .223 does not penetrate any brick at all, while the x39 goes right through.
chris in va
New member
I have the CZ carbine. It's by far my favorite gun, albeit from a low budget meagre collection. I can literally shoot the thing all afternoon with no butt pad and grin like a cheshire cat.
You guys looking to buy one will have zero regrets, that's for sure. No need for a scope, iron sights are just fine.
You guys looking to buy one will have zero regrets, that's for sure. No need for a scope, iron sights are just fine.