A primer on 7.62 AK ammo

Far and away one of the least expensive rifle calibers out there to train with is the 7.62×39. It’s not a shocker that many to stock up in bulk and its a great round to do so. The bullet works- sure, there’s others that increase range, accuracy and terminal effect, but essentially it does what it was designed to do within the parameters of which it was designed: the intermediate ~300M range.

That said, it round needs no introduction to most of the readership. Veterans know it well, hunters especially in the Southern US know it as the poor man’s 30-30, and range rats know it as the fun caliber to shoot on the cheap. Like the 30-30, it carries a similar energy and trajectory, punches through brush fairly easily without a significant impact on bullet path, and reliably does what’s needed. Many Survivalists have stocked away lifetime supplies of the round just based on it’s price point of both the round and the weapons that fire it. While its easy to ride down to the local gun shop or ammo website and pick up a few hundred rounds, not all of the ammo is the same- and while there’s not a big difference in cost, there can be quite a variance in the projectiles themselves.

Just like with 5.56, 7.62×51, etc, there’s a plethora of different rounds, some being better than others. Many, many folks I’ve run into are guilty of lumping it together in to one sole category as if there’s no difference. Concerning accuracy there’s not a wide variety between the stuff coming from Russia, but terminal effect-wise, the differences become more clear. If you’re buying bulk there’s a couple of specific rounds to look for, aside from simply what’s the cheapest. Of the loadings, there’s three general types; Full Metal Jacket, Hollow Point, and Soft Point. Among these, as anyone familiar with terminal ballistics will attest, the SP round is generally the most desirable. Full metal jackets are great for playing on the range, but not my first choice for desirable ammo. Yugoslavian surplus ammo is a minor exception, but the stuff is getting hard to come by and is corrosive, so I avoid it. Hollow points are the most confusing category to many, due to the wide variety of ammunition imported but not always clearly indicated. They range from simply being an AK version of Open Tip Match (a tiny hole in the tip with little to no expansion properties) to HPs with pre-fail cuts inside the round itself.

The common bullets weights for 7.62×39 range from 122 to 125gr, with a 154gr hunter’s load on the market as well made by Tula. I don’t recommend bulking up on the 154 if you’re running an AK, as the additional weight may cause premature wear on the recoil spring, bolt carrier, and rear trunion. In purchasing bulk general purpose ammo, 125gr SP is most desirable of what’s commonly available sight unseen, with it being the best medium between mass, speed, effect, and cost effectiveness. It may not be a premium hunting round, but the chances of it yawing or expanding is higher than with simple FMJ.

The next most sought after round is not as easy to come by, and a great amount of confusion surrounds it’s source. It’s known as 8m3, sometimes referred to as the “Sapsan” round after the original imported brand name. SG Ammo gets it in regular supply. 8m3 is a 124gr HP with pre-fail cuts in the jacket, allowing greater fragmentation on impact. 8m3 has an intriguing story of how it came about, not unlike our load development changes in 5.56 and 7.62×51 coming from experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The 5.45 experienced shortcomings with Russian troops in Chechnya, ricocheting off of and fragmenting when hitting intermediate barriers, as well as having limited close range effectiveness. The extended engagement ranges of Afghanistan that favored the newer, faster 5.45 had given to close range fights in urban and dense forest. Although superseded as the primary service caliber by the 5.45x39mm AK-74 in Afghanistan, the AKM continued to be used in a limited, specialized role in conjunction with the PBS-1 suppressor and rudimentary (although high tech in it’s day) starlight scope, seen at right. The 7.62 round, being a great deal slower, was still quite effective within medium ranges and lost less energy from the effects of the suppressor.

This limited role platform was re-recognized in the next decade during the Chechen crisis, and the 7.62 was employed yet again due to it’s favorable attributes of energy retention at close range even when suppressed and superior intermediate barrier penetration. Other weapons have since been purpose built to fill this role (such as the 9x39mm VSS) but due to the sheer numbers of AKMs and 7.62 ammo in the inventory, it still sees widespread use even as recent as the ‘polite green men’ invasion of Crimea.

Recognizing the need to maximize the 7.62, Ulyanovsk ammunition plant (makers of Wolf Military Classic and sometimes Wolf black box) developed a new anti personnel round with pre-fail cuts to guarantee expansion on impact.