7.62 X 54R and my FPK

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The Goose

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Sunday I was at the range shooting my Romanian FPK. I was shooting Czech silver tip corrosive ammo. A round would chamber and fire OK, then that round would eject and the next round would chamber OK. However, when I would pull the trigger the hammer would not be cocked for the next shot. Almost like the bolt was going back just enough to eject the spent round, feed the next round, but not far enough back to cock the hammer. Does this make any sense? This happened more then 50% of the time.

When I switched to Bulgarian 149 gr. or Russian 149 gr. it functioned flawlessly. I have plenty of all 3 brands (and then some), but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar and if so what was the cause? Thanks.
 
ive said it before and ill say it again, much to milsurplus 4 me's aggravation;
czech 7.62x54r belongs in the trash.
 
Definitely sounds like underpowered ammo. That'd be ok for a bolt action but for your semi-auto you probably need something different. You could always try new production Brown Bear. I used that in an SVD I had for a short while and it worked fine.
 
Czech is indeed light ball ammo and isn't as hot as the others you mentioned. It functions fine and groups well when I use it in my SVT40 compared to some of the other surplus I have for it including Polish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, & Chinese. Exceptions being Albanian and Romanian because those both perform best in any 7.62x54 rifle IMO.

From I can remember it does function in my Romak but there are different builds out there. Mine is a TN Guns model built on Romanian military parts. Still, it should cycle completely because I shot a belt of it through Vito's PKM at the last car shoot with no issues.

Czech silver tip really is accurate ammo especially in long Mosins and Finn barrels. If I were you I'd keep it for M44s. At least it won't be as hard hitting as using Hungarian yellow tip for example. ::eek:uch:: [crying]
 
drumenigma said:
Definitely sounds like underpowered ammo. That'd be ok for a bolt action but for your semi-auto you probably need something different. You could always try new production Brown Bear. I used that in an SVD I had for a short while and it worked fine.
Click to expand...

If its the 203 grain Brown Bear it'll ruin a Romak fast. Thats what screwed up the bolt in mine when I first started shooting it because its too hot. I had no idea about ammo types when I first got the rifle years ago and wondered why the shells were being flung 15+ yards.[rolleyes]

Due to their sheet metal recievers and a few other faults in the rifle, these work best with ammo thats in the neighborhood of 148 grains.
 
Milsurps 4 Me said:
If its the 203 grain Brown Bear it'll ruin a Romak fast. Thats what screwed up the bolt in mine when I first started shooting it because its too hot. I had no idea about ammo types when I first got the rifle years ago and wondered why the shells were being flung 15+ yards.[rolleyes]

Due to their sheet metal recievers and a few other faults in the rifle, these work best with ammo thats in the neighborhood of 148 grains.
Click to expand...

I used the 185 grain Brown Bear. Although I did have the same situation with the cases being flung quite far. I think I only had one FTF with the ammo and that was it.
 
I have 2 cases of Czech silver-tipped light ball for exactly the reasons listed by Ray. Yes, this stuff does sticky bolt a couple of the long rifles but it is accurate. I don't have a semi in this caliber so I won't comment on the power but it is good ammo. One of our guys at the range with one of these rifles uses the Wolf ammo and his groups are good with it. Maybe you might try some of this stuff ( I think it was 154 grain or 145 grain... I'm not sure. ) He doesn't feed the heavy ball thru his for the reason Ray listed with his -they aren't tough enough to handle a steady diet of heavy ball.

Joe R>
 
Xak said:
OT:

What is more accurate, the Mosins or the Romanian FPK type rifles?
Click to expand...

Well, I find the FPK more accurate because it has a scope and is adjustable for range. Having said that it is still no tack driver. I have a Mosin 91/30 that I bubba'd a bit and it is more accurate then the FPK. Took a bunch of work and money and was probably not worth it. The project was fun though.

9130001.jpg
 
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The Goose said:
Well, I find the FPK more accurate because it has a scope and is adjustable for range. Having said that it is still no tack driver. I have a Mosin 91/30 that I bubba'd a bit and it is more accurate then the FPK. Took a bunch of work and money and was probably not worth it. The project was fun though.

9130001.jpg
Click to expand...

Hmmm. What kind of stock is that?
 
There is a lot of the 7.62X54r ammo that was only intented to be shot from the Mosin rifles and not any of the Draganov and such, as you have explained here it just does not have charge strong enough to cycle the bolt.
With a semi-auto I'd stick with the newest ammo you can find (1990s or newer). Some of the 7.62X54r is advertized to be able to be shot from your Dragonovs and such. Do some web-research first and you'll find out what you are looking for.
 
When you say it's not a tack driver, what groups are you getting with it? I've wanted one of these for a while now, but maybe it's just the looks of it. At $800 a pop for one now it seem a lot for a rifle that is inaccurate.
 
I can tell you that the RomAK 3 I have doesn't like bullets heavier than 150 grains.

The term FPK is said to be a misnomer. The proper term is PSL, and these rifles are in no way an SVD.

I've had good luck loading ammo with 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips (my hunting load for it), and I've found Sierra 168 match bullets to shoot horrible groups in it.

The 185 and 203 gr loads are way wrong for it.

Oh, I've found Albanian Surplus 7.62x54R (148 gr) to work fine.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
When you say it's not a tack driver, what groups are you getting with it? I've wanted one of these for a while now, but maybe it's just the looks of it. At $800 a pop for one now it seem a lot for a rifle that is inaccurate.
Click to expand...

Using US Govt. made 7.62x54 mine is very accurate. I'll have to try some Albanian like Nickle said.

FWIW when I bought mine, I went for one without a scope from a popular distributor and had it sent to a local FFL. Reason being is because I wanted a better scope than what they were offering. Only problem was I wound up with a rifle that had a slightly canted scope rail.
After getting an 8x scope from Tantal, I was able to find a how to web site that showed how to remove the screws and pins on the POSP scope mount and separate the base to allow for me to add some small shims to bring up the reticle. Very minor work was needed. A little filing, some fitting, and I had a scoped Romak that did what I wanted it to.

Keep in mind, even real Dragunov rifles were never really designed to be tack driving sniper rifles. With the right ammo and optics though, you can get many years of of accurate enjoyment from a Romak.
 
Czech silver tip

Czech Silver tip:
The lacquer on the case surface when hot becomes sticky, This will cause your Romak not to eject the spent cases as quickly and will cause the bolt to cycle to slow. The Albanian is goop-ed with a coating and has caused the same issue. I would simply stay with steel , copper washed or brass cased light ball ammo.

As to Czech silver tip being trash, its considered by most milsurp collectors and shooters to be the most accurate ammunition out there. It does cause some bolts to stick however. But then some milsurp ammo out there like Albanian which is considered to be of the poorest quality, dented cases, coating on the brass slopped on and not very accurate. It depends on what you are shooting for. Accuracy or just blasting away at clays, pumpkins, cars ....well you get the picture.

My Romak had the same issue with some Albanian, I just switched to Polish silver tip. Also mine is like Milsurp's rifle and was made by Tennessee gun from a parts kit.

Good luck and remember, if anyone throws Czech silver tip in the trash just make sure you are near the trash can he is using to retrieve it[wink]
 
I have a PSL, I have found old Soviet light ball very inaccurate. The best I have found is Hungarian light ball. I have a small supply of 1970's plant 60 (Barneul) that is very good. Prvi Partizan or Igman 150gr SP are very good for the PSL. JP

P.S. I offered Free ammo and the Author never contacted me, what a shame!
 

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