A reference on 7.62x45mm Czech

Overview

The 7.62x45mm is a collector's cartridge. Only the Czechoslovakian VZ-52 was chambered in it, although the Indonedian Sabhara, which is a modded FNC designed for police work, chambers a confusingly named cartridge with the same length and bullet diameter, but different dimensions. While the Czech ammunition looks like a longer 7.62x39mm round, the Indonesian round is actually a necked up 223 round... VERY different. Where available, the Czech ammunition is corrosive, steel cored, and Berdan primed. This does not make for easy reloading.

This article is somewhat of a notepad for me on my eventual quest to produce new, boxer primed, reloadable 7.62x45mm projectiles. However, if someone else comes in here and provides a shortcut to the knowledge I seek, I for one certainly will not complain.

Solutions

• Brass is the largest hurdle. There are resizing dies, available via MidwayUSA, to take brass originally designed for one caliber and convert them to 7.62x45mm. However, these dies cost around $300 apiece.
• DarinPfaff notes that he's been making and selling boxer-primed 7.62x45 Czech brass for 8 years, using the RCBS Group G 7.62x45mm 2-die reloading set. The manufacturer's part number is #56274, and (for reference) retails for $133.99 on MidwayUSA without C&R discount. Using this die set, you can reform 6.5x54 M-S, .220 Swift, or 6.5x52 Carcano brass to 7.62x45. You should trim the 6.5x54 M-S and .220 Swift brass to approximate length before resizing, and the .220 Swift brass will need the rim turned down and extractor groove deepened.

Images

This is a picture contributed by Darin, of loaded 7.62x45mm Czech rounds, along with the VZ-52 which fires them and the RCBS reloading dies. Click the image to enlarge it.

Reference and Credits

• http://www.mauser98.com/vz52.html (Darin's page - very nice)
• Full credit for the RCBS reloading information belongs to DarinPfaff.