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Mosin Pages

The 7.62x54r Cartridge

The M91/30 rifle is in 7.62x54r caliber. The "r" stands for "Russian" or "rimmed," depending on who you ask. This round is relatively hard to feed from a box magazine, mainly because of its rim and heavy taper. Despite this drawback it has been in service, with different loadings, for over 100 years.

The original cartridge for the Mosin Nagant rifles was the 1891 cartridge which was a relatively blunt-nosed ball round. It was also relatively heavy at 210 grains. This was typical or military rifle ammunition of the time. In 1908 the M908, or "L"  round was introduced. This was loaded with a lighter 150 grain spitzer (pointed) bullet (pictured above). In 1930 the type "D" round was introduced. This fired a 180 grain heavy ball round and was likely the main issue round during WWII, although the M908 round was produced through the war. The round currently in service is the 150 grain LPS which has a steel core and a muzzle velocity of 2,850 FPS. These rounds are identified by a silver tip.

The picture on the right shows a WWII-vintage issue box of M908 ammunition. The rounds are held together by a 5-round stripper clip for quick loading (click image for larger view). The image on the right shows the headstamp of the round.