Given the wide disparity in ammunition manufactured in many different nations, ammunition will be encountered that yields higher and lower velocity. A common velocity would be around 442 metres per second (1,450 ft/s) with about 544 joules (401 ft The pistol-fired bullet has various muzzle velocities around the range of 1300 to 1800 fps. Rear view of the head-stamp on a Sellier & Bellot 7.62rmm Tokarev cartridge Performance In 2012, 7.62×25 ammunition was available for importation, from Romania, Bulgaria and Russia. On the Starline website, at the 7.62×25mm section, information is given about using ammunition intended for the Mauser pistol in pistols chambered for the Tokarev round. 309" "XTP" bullet that functions well in all these pistols. 311" bullets may be needed to produce acceptable accuracy. Mauser C-96 and C-30 "Broomhandle" pistols typically have oversized bores, and. 309" bullets for reloading for the Tokarev TT-33 and Czech CZ-52. Alternately, reloaders in the USA can purchase proper, new cases from Starline Mfg. This is necessary because a powerful rifle cartridge has just been cut back to where the brass is relatively thick-this must be thinned if excessive chamber pressures are to be avoided in the pistol. Afterward, one uses a reamer-which fits a tap handle-to ream out the new case neck to an acceptable thickness. The cartridge case is inserted into the open-topped die, which produces a shoulder in the correct position, and one saws off the portion of the case projecting through the top. Reloadable cartridge cases can be produced by resizing and trimming 9mm Winchester Magnum brass, or alternately by reforming 5.56×45mm NATO. The so-called steel bullets sold in the United States are generally lead-core bullets with copper-washed steel jackets, and these do not present a significantly greater risk of ricochet than a standard copper-jacketed projectile. While steel-core ammunition in 7.62×25 is available internationally, in the United States the importation of 7.62×25 cartridges loaded with copper-coated steel bullets is illegal federal law defines these as armor-piercing pistol ammunition. There is a common misconception that 7.62 Tokarev surplus ammunition in the United States uses copper-coated mild steel bullets, and that this increases the chance of dangerous ricochets when fired at hard targets and can damage bullet-traps often used on shooting ranges. Although most firearms chambered in this caliber were declared obsolete and removed from military inventories, some Police and Special Forces units in Russia, Pakistan and (mainly) in China may still use it because of the large quantity of stored ammunition available. This cartridge has excellent penetration and can easily defeat lighter ballistic vests (class I, IIA and II) as well as some kevlar helmets, such as the American PASGT helmet. These include armor-piercing, tracer, and incendiary rounds. The Russians produced a wide array of loadings for this cartridge for use in submachine guns. The cartridge is in principle an enhanced Russian version of the 7.63×25mm Mauser. Early versions of the Vasily Degtyaryov-designed PPD-40 submachine gun were marked "For Mauser Cartridge Caliber 7.62 mm". After considerable research and development, it was decided that the "Model 1930 7.62 mm Pistol Cartridge," essentially the Mauser round with minor modifications, was to become the standard caliber for Soviet pistols and submachine guns. In 1929, the Soviet Artillery Committee made a proposal to develop a domestic pistol chambered for the Mauser cartridge.
Although a copy of the cartridge was being produced at the Podolsky Ammunition Factory, the Soviets eventually purchased a license and manufacturing equipment from DWM in Germany to produce the cartridge. The Mauser and its cartridge were used on all fronts of the Russian Civil War and in the 1920s, during a period of relatively close cooperation between Soviet Russia and the Weimar Republic, the Red Army purchased batches of the smaller Bolo version as well as ammunition for use by its officers. Between 19, more Mauser pistols and ammunition were obtained as captured arms from German and Turkish forces. In 1908, the Czarist army placed the C-96 on a list of approved sidearms that officers could purchase at their own expense in lieu of carrying the Nagant M1895 revolver. Prior to the First World War, the 7.63×25mm Mauser caliber Mauser C-96 pistol gained in popularity worldwide. The cartridge has since been replaced in Russian service by overpressure versions of the 9×19mm Parabellum. The 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge is a Russian bottle-necked pistol cartridge widely used in former Soviet and Soviet satellite states, China and Pakistan among other countries. A steel-cased FMJ 7.62mm Tokarev cartridge.