The 7.62x54mmR is chambered primarily in the Russian SVD and the Mosin-Nagant Model 1891-30, which is a very popular sniper rifle in smaller countries around the world. I am fairly impressed with the 7.62R, it is roughly the equivalent to the .30-06, offering plenty of energy and good ballistics. I had the opportunity to spend a day on the 1000y range with an original SVD, while the rifle itself suffered in accuracy, the cartridge performed fairly good. There was no problem making 600m hits, even without any quality ammo.
Recommendations: This round is included because of its significance in Russian sniper rifles, there really isn’t any Law Enforcement applications for the 7.62R, but as a military round it performs well, but the availability of match grade ammo is limited, especially here in the USA.
Military Applications:
Note: About the best ammo available is the surplus Russian/USSR 7N14 load which has a steel core and is armor piercing but is the ammo designed for Russian military snipers using the SVD. It shoots well in just about all the 7.62x54R rifles and is of decent quality, though packaging is “functional” at best.
- Russian 7.62x54mmR 7N14 152gr Spitzer BT at 2750fps
Bullet Drop (Inches)
| 100y 91m | 200y 183m | 300y 275m | 400y 366m | 500y 458m | 600y 549m | 700y 641m | 800y 732m | 900y 824m | 1000y 915m | |
| 7N14 | +15.0 | +26.1 | +31.3 | +29.4 | +19.4 | Zero | -30.5 | -74.0 | -132.7 | -209.4 |
Energy (Muzzle – 7N14 – 2552Ft-Lbs.)
| 7N14 | 2229 | 1939 | 1679 | 1448 | 1243 | 1062 | 904 | 769 | 654 | 561 |
Wind Drift (Inches) 10 mph Crosswind
| 7N14 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 6.3 | 11.7 | 19.0 | 28.4 | 40.2 | 54.6 | 71.8 | 92.0 |
Law Enforcement Applications:
Note: There is no real Law Enforcement application for the 7.62x54mmR due to rifle and ammo limitations. But if it had to happen, the 7N14 is probably not a good choice of ammo because it is designed with a steel core for armor penetration which while it would work well for going through barriers, it tends to have excessive penetration.
