Czech "silvertip" 7.62x54R & indoor ranges

[Snowdog]

I've just ordered two Polish M44s from Southern Ohio Guns and I'm seriously considering the puchase some of the 7.62x54R ammunition they're offering as well. It's the silver, color-coded tip Czech ammunition of 60's-80's manufacture that I believe may possess a mild steel core.

I'm wondering if this ammunition should be restricted to outdoor ranges as opposed to indoor ranges if indeed it does feature a mild steel core.
The indoor range I usually frequent allows for practically any kind of rifle and utilizes a dry snail trap with a rubber "debris" hopper to eliminate fragment splash-back (to the best of my knowledge).

I don't know if such a set-up can handle such rounds, but at $2.99 a box, it's something I'm thinking about investing in.

If anyone has any further info on this ammo, I'd like to hear that as well.

 

[Sir Galahad]

Check out the Parralax Curio and Relic forum or the Mosin forums. I I remember correctly, the Czech silvertip is a "heavy ball" load and packs quite a wallop. I believe it is a light AP load with steel core.

 

[swingset]

Yup, that's correct. It's nearly AP stuff. Very punchy. I wouldn't use it on ANY backstop you didn't want to trash.

 

[foghornl]

the website

www.mosin-nagant.net

has a link to "110 years of the 7.62x54". That link has a lot of info on the ammo of various manufacturers, with pix, closeup headstamps, etc, broken down by country.

 

[Snowdog]

I greatly appreciate the info fellas, thanks.

 

[DMK]

the Czech silvertip is a "heavy ball" load and packs quite a wallop. I believe it is a light AP load with steel core.

Actually it's only 148gr. The heavy ball is in the 170-180 gr. range like the Yellow tip Hungarian or late production Yugo.

The CZ stuff is great ammo! It's got a mild steel core, but it's not AP. I bought about 4 cases of it becasue it's so accurate in my rifles. It's late 60 production. You can get it cheaper than SOG sells it though. J&G (www.jgsales.com) sells it as does www.ammunitionstore.com (watch the $hipping prices on them though!).

Another good option is the 147 gr. Hungarian "Green Can" LPZs ammo that aim surplus sells(www.aimsurplus.com). It's also great ammo and newer late 80s production.

Stay away from Hungarian Silvertip including both the silver over yellow tip and the so called "Etalon"(which is NOT match ammo no matter what the sales people try to tell you).

Be aware that all 7.62x54R ammo is corrosive. Make sure you rinse the salts out of your barrel out with water and ammonia before normal bore cleaning. A lot of guys do this right at the range on a warm barrel by squirting liberal ammounts of windex with ammonia down the barrel from the chamber, letting it run out, then doing the normal clean routine when they get home.

 

[plateshooter]

I'm with DMK above. The silver tip Czech and the Hungarian LPZ are both really accurate rounds. I have 7 Nagants this week, (show Saturday, so maybe 8 after the weekend). All shoot either of the above rounds very well. I usually shoot at 250yds or farther and there is no problem wacking plates at those ranges with open sights and that ammo.

 

[9 m&m]

DMK, not all 7.62x54 ammo is corrosive. WOLF is not corrosive. Some of the Czech silver tipped stuff is not corrosive. SEVERAL others are non-corrosive also.

 

[Slimjim]

Alot of the chezch stuff is mildly corrosive. All i shoot is wolf though, until we start seeing a ton of milsurp that isnt corrosive hit the market.

 

[railroader]

The czech ammo will tear up a backstop. I shot a steel railroad tie plate (about 1/2" thick) with the "silvertip" ammo and it almost went all the way through the plate. It put a bulge on the back side of the plate. It is real accurate ammo out of my nagants too. Mark

 

[DMK]

DMK, not all 7.62x54 ammo is corrosive. WOLF is not corrosive. Some of the Czech silver tipped stuff is not corrosive. SEVERAL others are non-corrosive also.

Wow, that dug up an old post! I can't remember what I was thinking all the way back in May, but I'm pretty sure I meant to say all Surplus x54R is corrosive. I've used some commercial Wolf and S&B x54R and not washed out with water ammonia with no ill effects.

That said, better safe than sorry. It's super easy to clean a bolt action for corrosive and you can't get rust pitting out of your barrel once it's in there.

So Snowdog, did you ever tear up that range with this stuff?

 

[Snowdog]

DMK, I got lucky and found a perfect location outdoors to test out those silver tipped FMJs. Accurate and mild (and cheap!). I stuck with just the Wolf SP fodder at Rex's indoor range, with my shoulder complaining the entire time.

Currently, I'm trying to find out why some of the rounds nose dive in the magazine (missing the feedramp) and fail to chamber without some coaxing. If I get that squared away, I'll probably order a few more boxes of the Czech ammo.

BTW, I always clean surplus ammo as if it's corrosive, including this stuff, as it's berdan primed IIRC. Some importers like to use creative/not-so-truthful advertising when selling foreign military suplus to the public (ie only "mildly corrosive"). What the heck does it matter how mild it is, the key word is corrosive.
A few extra minutes in the cleaning process to safeguard against the effects of corrosive salts are always well invested.