7.62x25mm Tokarev

The 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge is a bottle-necked pistol cartridge widely used in former Soviet and Soviet satellite states. The actual caliber of its bullet is 7.85 mm (.309 in).

Design
The cartridge is in principle a Soviet version of the 7.63mm Mauser. They are very similar: in fact, some weapons can use both cartridges interchangeably, although this is not recommended.

The Soviets produced a wide array of loadings for this cartridge for use in submachine guns. These include armor-piercing, tracer and incendiary rounds. This cartridge has excellent penetration and can easily defeat lighter ballistic vests (class I, IIA and II). Although most firearms chambered in this caliber were declared obsolete and removed from military inventories, some Police and Special Forces units in Russia and (mainly) in China still use it for its superior penetration, rather than the more popular 9 mm Makarov ammunition in current use.

The 7.62 Tokarev is usually much more powerful than its Mauser counterpart and may damage any firearms chambered for 7.63 mm Mauser. The Czech version of this cartridge has 25% higher pressure loading with significantly more velocity and energy than other common loads and may present a danger to the user when fired from weapons not specifically designed to use it.

Performance
The cartridge has an average muzzle velocity of around 1500 feet per second, and has about 440 ft·lbf (600 J) of energy. Recoil from the cartridge is on par with a .357 SIG however the recoil felt when fired from a Vz. 52 is considerably less then a Tokarev TT-33 due to its recoil system and heavier weight. The unusually loud report and bright muzzle flash produced when this cartridge is fired from pistols can surprise onlookers.

Some firearms that use this round are the pistols Tokarev TT-33 and the Vz. 52 (Also known as the CZ-52). Submachine guns include the Soviet PPD-40, PPSh-41 and PPS-43, and the Czech Vz.24, Vz.26 (ref.CZ Model 25) and K-50m.

Reloaders have been known to custom load 7.62 x 25 mm with sabot rounds using .22 caliber 55 grain (3.6 g) bullets. Muzzle velocities in excess of 2200 ft/s (670 m/s) have been obtained with this method. These speeds are seldom obtained with a handgun; usually, the longer barrel of a rifle is required.

Initial Speed


 * Tokarev TT 33 : 420 m/s
 * PPsh-41 Energy in the muzzle: 693 joules
 * Tokarev TT : 540 J

Synonyms

 * 7.62 mm Type P
 * 7.62 mm Tokarev
 * 7.62x25mm TT
 * .30 Tokarev

Weapons
As the 7.62x25mm was largely an Eastern Bloc round, it remained relatively rare in the west. However after the Cold War, many weapons, especially pistols, were exported to the west with the round now currently in production. Weapons produced in this caliber include pistols such as the TT-33, vz. 52, and the Russian OTs-27 Berdysh (Poleaxe). Submachine guns include the Soviet PPD-40, PPSh-41,PPS-43 and OTs-39, the Czech vz. 24, vz. 26, and the North Vietnamese K-50m and VPA/Viet Minh modified a few MAS-38 (MAS Mle 1938) and many Mat-49, and the Yugoslav M56. The M56 is a variant of the German MP40.

Categories
Cartridge:rifles