7.62 x 39 NATO

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PreserveFreedom

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Does any country's military still use this round as their official combat round? I assumed that most has switched to .223 Rem but I have a feeling that I am wrong. If it is still in service on a large scale, it would kinda make me wanna get an SKS or an AK.
 
7.62x39 isn't a nato round, it's a communist round. the commies are the enimy of nato(actually i think we all are the enimies of nato). 7.62x39 is used in active military in many third world countries, and ammunition should stay cheap as long as it is importable. the 7.62 nato round is actually the 308 winchester round. basically one in the same though there are slight differences. i would get the ak because at 75.00 for 1k rounds, you can't go wrong. and if ammo is ever banned, i'm sure there would be enough interest for all ammunition manufacturers to start making the load vs the few expensive ones like winchester.
 
There are several Former Eastern Block countries that still use Russian Weaponry and they are now part of NATO. I'm sure some of them may still use the 7.62x39 round.
 
Russia...

...took the 7.62x39mm case, necked it down to 5.45mm, and chambered it in their AK-74, but both are still in use. 7.62x39 will continue to see use for as long as the AK-47 does, and that will likely be a long time. The 7.62x39 cartridge, is superior to 5.56mm at short ranges of less than 200 yards. Beyond that, 5.56mm's flat trajectory really begins to shine. Beyond 300m, though, I'd be wanting a .308, myself.
 
Nightcrawler, the 5.45 is not a necked down 7.62x39, if it was the velocity on it would be insane, but as it is, the velocity is only slightly lower than on 5.56x45 and mostly because it uses a bigger bullet.
 
The 22 PPC is a necked down 7.62x39 in essence and the velocities out of that aren't insane. Far from it, they just slightly outdo .223 ballistics.

The Chinese Army still uses the 7.62x39 to my knowledge.
 
5.45mm

...is also known as 5.45x39mm. As far as I know, they took a 7.62x39 cartridge and necked it down to a smaller bullet, giving a boost in velocity, and also allowing use in a rifle without that big of a modification. Maybe they did some other things to it, as other wise, AK-47 and AK-74 magazines would be interchangable, but it's basically the same case size.
 
There is less material in the case for a 5.45. I've weighed empties, there's a considerable difference. The base of the round is about the same size but the angle is very different. I am suprised if 22 PPC velocities aren't much higher than 5.45 cause 6mm PPC velocities are about the same.
 
Guys,

Check the cases.....

The 7.62x39 and the 5.45x39 are (nominally) the same length, but they DO NOT have the same head size. I've not measured, but when holding the two cases up beside one another, you can easily see that the head on the 5.45 round is about 1.0 or 1.5 mm smaller in diameter than the 7.62.

The 7.62 round has a LOT more powder capacity than the 5.45.

Preserve Freedom,

You probably have the 7.62x39 confused with the 7.62x51 Nato (commercial .308 Winchester).

Best to all,
Swampy
 
Just off the top of my head, I think these countries still use the 7.62x39 round as the primary military load:

Finland
Egypt
Iraq
Syria
Vietnam
Afghanistan
 
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