54R question

Why don't we see more rifles chambered in this round?
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Because it is a rimmed cartridge with an unusual rim size, and modern industrial manufacturing processes thrive on standardization. Because even though it can be done, getting rimmed cartridges to feed out of a staggered magazine is a pain in the behind. Behind even though it is an acceptably powerful cartridge, the 308 and 30-06 outperform it in all loadings. Because it uses non-standard diameter bullets, and making barrels with a different groove diameter is a hassle.

We see this question about once a year, "why is there no modern rifle for 30-40 Krag/7.62X54R/7.7 Swiss, etc, etc, etc". The answer is always the same, because they are not standard. But hey, there are custom gunsmiths who will build you one, go for it.
 
I think part of it is that the manufacturers don't trust John Q Public to clean the rifle correctly after firing corrosive ammo.

Just get a tiger, psl or mosin
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How many thousands of dollars are Tigers going for these days?
 
the reason you don't see any modern sporting rifles in that caliber is that it has a rimmed cartridge, you can't stack a rimmed cartridge right on top of another without risking rim lock and so all mauser style magazines are out...which is almost every bolt action rifle out there pretty much. you have to have a special style of box magazine to prevent this and since it is essentially an obsolete cartridge it is difficult to convince most firearms manufactures to completely design a new style magazine for existing models when they can just as easily go with an equivalent non rimmed cartridge like 30-06 and 308 and not have to worry about it.
 
Better question. Why would remington bother to design a rifle around a caliber that offers no ballistic advantages to popular american calibers and is only popular now because of dirt cheap foreign mil-surp rifles and cheap corrosive ammunition?
 
Yep. Just buy a non-collectible Mosin-Nagant with a sharp bore, and accurize it.
They will shoot if you do it right.
Course, surplus won't do this, but this is five 174 SMK's at 300 yards from mine...


 
Why don't we see more rifles in 7.62x54R?

Why don't you see new rifles in 8mm Lebel, 7.7mmJap, .303 British, or any of a dozen or more obsolete military rounds?

because there is no market in the USA. These old milsurp cartridges (and I do have a collection of rifles for them) are 1) not as efficient as sporting rounds as newer "mainstream" rounds, 2) odd or unusual dimensions, and 3) a niche market, at best.

In the case of the 7.62x54R, while ammo was commercially produced for this caliber since the early part of the 1900s, it has always been made only in very small amounts. No significant market.

Some here will have a hard time believing it, but there was a time in the US (close to half a century after WWII) when rifles (and their ammo) for ANY of the COMBLOC calibers was really scarce. Guys that brought back SKSs and Moisins from Viet Nam usually hung them on the wall, because 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R ammo was virtually non-existant in the US.

With the collapse of the East Bloc, and their subsequent dumping on the US market of any kind of gun and ammo that we legally allowed, its common today. But it didn't use to be that way. So, no historical market in the past.

And even today, finding good quality hunting grade ammo for the 54R (especially in reloadable brass) isn't simple, or easy.

it won't fit in an AR, even an AR 10 class rifle, because of the rim diameter, and the feeding issues from the rimmed, heavily tapered case. You could build an AR style rifle to fit the round, but it would nearly all have to be made from scratch, other than the furniture, and maybe even that.

And even if you did, who's going to buy them when the .308 is already there to be had? Any of our common sporting bolt actions could also be adapted to the round, but again, there is no market. The time, effort and money needed to make them would be mostly wasted. Outside of a few collectors and enthusiasts, there just isn't anyone interested.

The milsurp market is the only reason its a popular round today, and the guys who buy cheap milsurps aren't a good customer base for mass market sales of new sporting rifles in milsurp calibers. They already have milsurp rifles for their shooting needs. And the sporting market isn't interested, having a plethora of rounds that perform better in the game fields already.
 
I've always wanted an AVT-40.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmN5Q2qDOmE) Essentially the Russian equivalent of the BAR, it's a full auto version of the SVT-40. I don't think there is much need for new 7.62x54r rifles because ammo is scarce, ammo selection is narrow and it has no advantages over the more popular .30 cal rifle ammo.
 
Non-Standard?

Because it uses non-standard diameter bullets, and making barrels with a different groove diameter is a hassle.
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.311-.312" bullets ARE the standard diameter bullet for Combloc Milsurps........

Nagant Revolvers, Tokes, PPS,the manymany millions of Mosins of all Flavors, SKS's (all flavors as well) and the vast majority of the 37 sqintillion AK's ....... I would hazard a guess that more cartridge firearms have been made with that bullet diameter in mind than any other ......


.... not to mention the various American .32 caliber cartridges: 32-20 (and -40), the 32S&W, 32H&R Magnum and the new .327Mag ......
 
The only round I can think of that is worse is the 8mm Lebel. Both were designed with a large base and sharp taper because the ammo manufacturing tooling was set up for an older and larger base (larger caliber) round. Another example of military authorities thinking in terms of small cost savings instead of looking at the bigger picture.

Note that the Belgian designers of the M-N had to install a cartridge retainer to prevent misfeeding with the 7.62x54R.

Jim
 
44 AMP is about as right as you can get. When I was a kid I bought an old hex Russian through the mail. I could not wait to get the new "Deer Rifle" so I could stop using the shotgun and punkin' balls. Turned out a box of ammo cost more than I paid for the gun. Norma was the only game in town and nobody stocked it. I don't remember when they dropped the embargo on Russia and China, but I think it was in the 80's when the guns and ammo came pouring in.
 
.311-.312" bullets ARE the standard diameter bullet for Combloc Milsurps
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Yes, but we don't live in a Communist nation. At least not yet.
not to mention the various American .32 caliber cartridges: 32-20 (and -40), the 32S&W, 32H&R Magnum and the new .327Mag
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Not standard for US 30-cal rifle cartridges. And the 32-40 uses a .321" bullet, just like its successor, the 32 Special.

And the M-N was originally made with a .308 bore. By Remington and Westinghouse. In the USA.
 
I love the round. Every place in town has tona of it for sale. New non corrosive and surplus. Pretty cheap to buy for what it is. Just as good as the 30-06 up to 203 grains.
 
It does nothing that a .308 or 30.06 won't do. It's rimmed as well so there really isn't a good reason to build rifles chambered in 7.62x54R.
 
Yep. Eventually the surplus light ball will dry up. In fact, it is become difficult to find any now. When it does, these wonderful rifles will likely become wallhangers.

I don't mind reloading for it, but the cartridge presents its own challenges to the hand loader.

Until then, I'll blast away with my SVT 40 and 91/30 'til my heart is content.
 
Not to mention it's also arcane/obsolete...........
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Yeah, that's why no one shoots .45-70, .44-40, .45 Colt, and especially .30-30 anymore. :p

I think the better question is why there are so few guns in 7.62x39, which is, to my mind, a more practical and versatile civvy round than almost any you can name (though the .243 Win is a competitor). It works in actions as short or shorter than .223, is as powerful as a .30-30 (with better bullet design), and is available cheaper than even .223 these days. And unlike the 54r, there are very few rounds that duplicate its exact set of attributes, and those that do are generally expensive.

The answer is the same as the 7.62x54r: it's a weird bullet size, and most of the guns out there are old Soviet surplus, so modern ammo has to work in those, while new guns have to work with ammo made for those, and they just don't meet modern American standards. The 54r is in even worse shape because the .308 duplicates it in performance and action length, while being more common, feeding better, and coming in a standard American bullet size.
 
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