Hungarian 1951 7.62x54r Lead Core Heavy Ball

Hungarian 1951 7.62x54r Lead Core Heavy Ball
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Although this ammunition is one of the oldest evaluated it was reliable and functioned well. There was some difficulty closing the bolt on a small number of rounds in a rifle that was known to have tight headspace. This indicates that the rims may be thicker than other ammunition types, but did not present a problem in rifles with headspace that was within specifications.

(Reference number 008)

Case				Over all Length		Powder
Headstamp	Material	Coating	Water Volume	Min.	Max.	Weight
"21" (country) over "51" (year)	steel	copper wash	61.9 gr.	3.006"	3.028"	47.2 gr.

Bullet
Dia.	Length	Weight	Style	Core	Tip Color	Magnetic?	Ballistic Coefficient	Sectional Density
.311"	1.308"	182.1 gr.	spitzer boat tail	lead	yellow	yes	0.479	0.269

Package
20 rounds per paper wrap	440 rounds per spam can

Measured Muzzle Velocity in Feet per Second (10 shot string)
Rifle	M44	M28	M91/30	M91 (Finnish)	M91 (Russian)
Low	2483	2631	2682	2641	2604
High	2610	2682	2738	2726	2674
Average	2543	2664	2710	2690	2628
Extreme Spread	127	51	56	85	70
Standard Deviation	35	21	24	26	28
Trajectory and Drop Graph (click on the thumbnails)
Notes on the graphs The graphs above each represent two sets of data. The red line is the path of the bullet fired from the rifle with the sights zeroed at 200 yards. The bullet exits the muzzle at a distance a fraction of an inch below zero inches. This represents the height of the sight over the centerline of the bore. The bullet rises above zero in a trajectory that then passes through zero again at 200 yards and continues downward. The blue line is the the bullet drop in inches for the distance traveled. This begins at the muzzle at zero inches and decreases with distance not taking sight height or zero distance into account.

Trajectory Comparison Graph
This graph combines the trajectories of the 5 graphs above to compare the performance of the test rifles.
Click on the graph for a large, scalable PDF to zoom in for better detail clarity. Adobe Reader required.

Supplemental Data When plotting the graph above it was noticed that the performance of the M91/30 surpassed that of the Finnish M91. This occured with all three types of Hungarian heavy ball evaluated. The Finnish M91 outperformed the M91/30 with all other types of ammo tested. To explore this further the three types of Hungarian heavy ball were fired through three more M91/30s. The 2nd and 3rd rifles, both Soviet M91/30s, outperformed the Finnish M91, while the 4th rifle, a Finnish M91/30, fell slightly behind the Finnish M91. It is believed that the ammo is most nearly matched to the M91/30 barrel length and slightly larger bores found in the Soviet rifles and achieves maximum performance in these rifles.
Measured Muzzle Velocity in Feet per Second (10 shot string)
Rifle	M91/30, 1947 Izhevsk (same as M91/30 above)	M91/30, 1944 Izhevsk	M91/30, 1944 Tula	M91/30, 1943 Tikka
Low	2682	2666	2599	2574
High	2738	2762	2743	2685
Average	2710	2714	2663	2638
Extreme Spread	56	96	144	111
Standard Deviation	24	35	40	33
Trajectory and Drop Graph (click on the thumbnails)
Notes on the graphs The graphs above each represent two sets of data. The red line is the path of the bullet fired from the rifle with the sights zeroed at 200 yards. The bullet exits the muzzle at a distance a fraction of an inch below zero inches. This represents the height of the sight over the centerline of the bore. The bullet rises above zero in a trajectory that then passes through zero again at 200 yards and continues downward. The blue line is the the bullet drop in inches for the distance traveled. This begins at the muzzle at zero inches and decreases with distance not taking sight height or zero distance into account.

Trajectory Comparison Graph
This graph combines the trajectories of the 4 graphs above to compare the performance of the test rifles.
Click on the graph for a large, scalable PDF to zoom in for better detail clarity. Adobe Reader required.

Bullet Velocity to 500 yards in Feet per Second
Distance (yds)	0	50	100	150	200	250	300	350	400	450	500
M44 (Soviet)	2543	2453	2364	2277	2192	2109	2027	1947	1869	1794	1721
M28 (Finnish)	2664	2571	2480	2391	2303	2218	2134	2052	1972	1893	1817
M91/30 (1947 Izhevsk)	2710	2617	2525	2434	2346	2259	2175	2092	2011	1931	1854
M91/30 (1944 Izhevsk)	2714	2620	2528	2438	2349	2263	2178	2095	2014	1934	1857
M91/30 (1944 Tula)	2663	2570	2479	2390	2302	2217	2133	2051	1971	1892	1816
M91/30 (1943 Tikka)	2638	2545	2455	2366	2279	2194	2111	2029	1949	1871	1796
M91 (Finnish)	2690	2597	2505	2415	2327	2241	2157	2074	1994	1914	1837
M91 (Russian)	2628	2536	2445	2357	2270	2185	2102	2021	1941	1863	1788

Bullet Energy to 500 yards in Foot Pounds
Distance (yds)	0	50	100	150	200	250	300	350	400	450	500
M44 (Soviet)	2613	2430	2258	2095	1941	1797	1660	1532	1412	1300	1197
M28 (Finnish)	2868	2671	2485	2309	2144	1987	1840	1701	1571	1448	1334
M91/30 (1947 Izhevsk)	2968	2766	2575	2394	2224	2063	1911	1768	1633	1507	1388
M91/30 (1944 Izhevsk)	2977	2774	2583	2401	2230	2069	1917	1774	1639	1512	1393
M91/30 (1944 Tula)	2866	2669	2483	2308	2142	1986	1839	1700	1569	1446	1332
M91/30 (1943 Tikka)	2811	2618	2435	2262	2099	1945	1800	1663	1535	1414	1303
M91 (Finnish)	2924	2724	2535	2357	2188	2029	1880	1739	1606	1480	1364
M91 (Russian)	2791	2598	2416	2244	2082	1930	1786	1650	1522	1403	1292

Recoil
Rifle	M44 (Soviet)	M28 (Finnish)	M91/30 (1947 Izhezsk)	M91/30 (1944 Izhevsk)	M91/30 (1944 Tula)	M91/30 (1943 Tikka)	M91 (Finnish)	M91 (Russian)
Weight (Pounds)	8.25 lbs	9.75 lbs	8.56 lbs	8.63 lbs	8.69 lbs	9.38 lbs	9.50 lbs	9.38 lbs
Recoil Velocity (Feet per Second)	11.6 fps	10.3 fps	11.9 fps	11.9 fps	11.6 fps	10.6 fps	10.7 fps	10.6 fps
Recoil Energy (Foot-Pound)	17.3 ft-lb	16.1 ft-lb	19.0 ft-lb	19.0 ft-lb	18.1 ft-lb	16.4 ft-lb	16.9 ft-lb	16.3 ft-lb