Preface

Every shooting range and hillside is littered with countless different shell casings of nearly every kind. But what gives a cartridge staying power in the market? Among the primary reasons a cartridge becomes prominent is military adoption. And today we will discuss one of those, the short and sweet 7.62×39 Soviet.

Developed in the early 1940’s, the Soviet cartridge was used in both the SKS and AK-47 infantry rifles. The short cartridge shoots a 30-caliber bullet at velocities comparable to something like a 30-30. While not as impressive as cartridges like the 30-06 Springfield or the 8×57 Mauser, I certainly wouldn’t want to be shot at with one.

The adoption by both Soviet nations and whoever they could sell the rifles and ammunition to have made the 7.62×39 cartridge one of the most common available. Communism helped spread both 7.62×39 and its casualties across the globe. I’d hate to try and find a positive result from that, but if there is one, it’s that you and I have an inexpensive and fun ammo supply. At least we did until some ol’ boy started hanging up iron-curtains in eastern Europe.

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