Skip to content

Grand launch! We are new, and we are ready to serve and deliver How we ship

TAS cylinder markTop Ammo SupplyPrecision, Supply

Rifle Ammo

7.62x39mm Ammo

In stock from $0.67 / round · 10 of 13 products available now

Cheap, steel-cased and heavy for its diameter: genuinely capable inside two hundred yards, and worth checking your range's rules over before a case arrives.

In stock today

Cost per round
$0.67 to $2.16
7 Brands
AC Unity, Hornady, MaxxTech, Military Surplus, Prvi Partizan, Sellier & Bellot, SuperNova
Bullet weights
110, 111, 123, 124, 255 grain
Pack sizes
20, 50, 500, 1,000 rounds

Order before 4:00 PM ET on a business day and it ships the same day, then 1 to 5 business days in transit depending on how far it travels. You will see the arrival date before you pay.

Learn more about 7.62x39mm

At a glance

Also known as
7.62 Soviet, 7.62 Russian, M43
Common bullet weights
122, 123 and 154 grain
Typical use
AK and SKS range use, brush hunting with soft points
Before you buy
Most of it is steel-cased, Berdan-primed and bi-metal jacketed, which decides where you are allowed to shoot it
Age to purchase
18+ (long-gun ammunition, attested at checkout)

7.62x39mm is the AK and SKS cartridge, and for most of its life it has been the cheapest centerfire rifle ammunition on any shelf. It throws a heavy-for-diameter bullet at moderate velocity, which makes it a genuinely useful woods and brush cartridge inside two hundred yards and an unremarkable one beyond that. Most of what is sold is steel-cased, Berdan-primed and bi-metal jacketed, decisions that make it cheap and also decide where you are allowed to shoot it. Brass-cased boxer-primed ammunition and expanding soft points exist for hunting and for reloaders, at a real price premium.

What to know before buyingCommon questions

Before you buy

What to know about 7.62x39mm

What people buy it for

  • AK-pattern rifle practice and training
  • SKS shooting and collecting
  • Brush and timber hunting for deer and hogs with soft points
  • Ranch and general-purpose rifles inside 200 yards

Steel case, bi-metal jacket, and where you can shoot it

Steel cases are lacquered or polymer-coated and are what makes bulk 7.62x39 cheap. The rifles were designed around them and an AK does not care. What cares is the range: bi-metal jacketed ammunition is magnetic and is banned outright at a great many indoor ranges and on most steel-target ranges, because it damages plates. Check the rules where you shoot before ordering a case; this is the most common reason a good deal turns out not to be one.

Most imported ammunition is not reloadable

Steel-cased imports are almost universally Berdan-primed, which uses two off-centre flash holes and a different primer than American reloading equipment is built for. In practice that means the cases are consumables. If you reload, look specifically for brass-cased, boxer-primed ammunition: it costs considerably more per round and it is the only version worth saving brass from.

Bore diameter varies between rifles

Traditional 7.62x39 bullets measure .311", matching AK and SKS barrels. Some American-made AR-15 uppers in 7.62x39 are cut with .308" bores intended for domestic bullets. Firing .311" ammunition through a .308" bore generally functions but can raise pressure and rarely groups well. If you have an AR chambered in 7.62x39, find out which bore it has before buying in bulk.

AR-15s in 7.62x39 need the right magazines

The cartridge's pronounced taper is what makes an AK magazine curve so sharply, and it is why 7.62x39 AR-15s have historically been fussy: feeding problems usually trace to the magazine rather than the ammunition. Use magazines made specifically for the cartridge by a maker with a track record, and test them before assuming an ammunition problem.

Questions

Common questions

Is steel-cased ammunition bad for my rifle?

Not for an AK or SKS: they were designed around it, with generous chambers and extractors to match. It fouls more than brass and the cases are single-use. The real issue is access rather than wear: many indoor ranges refuse steel case, and bi-metal jacketed ammunition should not be fired at steel targets. In a tighter-chambered AR-pattern rifle, extraction can be less forgiving.

Can I reload 7.62x39?

Only if you buy brass-cased, boxer-primed ammunition, which is a minority of what is sold and costs meaningfully more per round. The cheap steel-cased imports are Berdan-primed with two off-centre flash holes and are not practical to reload with standard equipment. If reloading is the plan, buy for the case, not for the price.

Is 7.62x39 good for deer?

Inside about 150 to 200 yards, with an expanding soft-point bullet, it is a capable and widely used deer and hog cartridge, roughly in the class of a .30-30 in what it will do. Steel-cased FMJ is the wrong tool for game: it is a target and practice load and will not expand. Check that your state permits the cartridge and the bullet type for the animal you are hunting.

What is the difference between lacquer-coated and polymer-coated steel case?

Just the finish applied to keep the steel from rusting and to ease extraction. Lacquer is the older approach and generated a long-running myth about melting into hot chambers; polymer coating is what most current production uses. Neither is a problem in a rifle designed for steel case. Both leave the case non-reloadable.

How much does 7.62x39mm cost per round?

7.62x39mm runs from $0.67 to $2.16 per round in stock right now. Every price on the page carries its cost per round beside it, so the comparison is one glance rather than arithmetic.

Is it cheaper to buy 7.62x39mm by the case?

Usually, yes. We stock 7.62x39mm from 20 rounds up to 1,000, and the cost per round beside each price is what shows whether a particular case actually beats the box. It is not automatic: a discounted box sometimes wins.

Which brands of 7.62x39mm do you stock?

AC Unity, Hornady, MaxxTech, Military Surplus, Prvi Partizan, Sellier & Bellot and SuperNova are in stock in 7.62x39mm today. Stock changes as the feed runs, so the list on the page is the current one.

What bullet weights does 7.62x39mm come in?

The 7.62x39mm in stock runs 110, 111, 123, 124, 255 grain. Weight changes how the round feels and where it prints more than most shooters expect, so it is worth matching what you already shoot.

Is 7.62x39mm in stock?

10 of the 13 7.62x39mm products we list are in stock right now. Out of stock items stay on the page rather than disappearing, so a link you saved still works and you can see what normally sits here.

Related calibers