The round that made the AK.7.62×39, 5.45×39 and 5.56 NATO, how to read the box and the headstamp.
1The 7.62×39 M43
The Soviet Union developed the 7.62×39 intermediate cartridge in 1943, and the AK-47 was built around it. It goes by many names: M43, 7.62 Soviet, 7.62 Warsaw Pact, 7.62 ComBloc and .30 Short Russian. The standard load is a 123 grain bullet at about 2,350 feet per second.
One Round, Many Names
Created in 1943
M43 and M67
The M43 has a steel core boat tail bullet. The later M67 dropped the steel core.
2AK Calibers
| Cartridge | Bullet | Velocity | Used In |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.62×39 | 123 to 125 grain | 2,350 fps | AK-47, AKM, RPK, SKS |
| 5.45×39 | 53 to 60 grain | 2,900 fps | AK-74, AKS-74U, RPK-74 |
| 5.56×45 NATO | 55 to 62 grain | 3,000 fps | AK-101, Galil, Valmet, WASR-3 |
| 7.62×51 NATO | 147 to 150 grain | 2,800 fps | Valmet, Galil, Zastava M77 |
| 7.62x54R | 148 to 182 grain | 2,700 fps | SVD, PSL, PK |
3Case Types and Finishes
Most surplus and import 7.62×39 uses steel cases. They come zinc plated, lacquered in grey or green, varnished, brass washed or copper plated. Brass cased ammo is made too, mostly for reloaders.
Case Types
From the Collection
4Reading the Box and the Headstamp
Military ammo carries codes for the factory, the year and the bullet type. Bullet tips are painted to show tracer, armor piercing or incendiary loads, and Soviet boxes use Cyrillic letter codes. Early Soviet ammo used letters for the year before numbers took over.
What to Look For
Bullet Color Codes
Cyrillic Letter Codes
Early Date Codes
Factory Code Numbers
Russian Ammo Factories
Klimovsk, Tula, Ulyanovsk, Vympel, Lugansk, Barnaul and Factory 60.
5AK Ammo in the United States
Chinese steel case 7.62×39 arrived as surplus in the 1980s, then commercial imports from Russia and Eastern Europe grew through the 1990s. A 1994 ban stopped Chinese ammo imports, and 7N6 5.45×39 surplus was stopped in 2014. Collecting AK ammo is cheap to start, easy to store and fun to shoot.
Ammo Timeline
Collecting
Low cost, easy to store, and every box tells a story.
6The Factories
Tula, Barnaul, Ulyanovsk, Klimovsk, Novosibirsk and Vympel.
Slides from the Gun Websites presentation AK47 History in the U.S., 2012.