Very little heavy Tokarev load data out there. A number of Tokarevs, especially Yugo M57, seem to have barrels all over the place for groove diameters. Mine happens to slug at .312". Some are .308. I've heard of a couple at .306. A lot of the Yugos seem to be .311 or .312". Either of those would be safe with .312" FMJs.
So that out of the way. Months ago American Reloading had a crap ton of 100gr .312" RNFP FMJ bullets for sale. I suspect for 30 super carry. Seconds. Nothing wrong that I can find with the bullets. Most I got for under 5 cents a bullet. Most stuff in .312 out there is not cheap for bullets. Or scarce. Or both. I figured this was a good way to load 32acp (which I have an unnatural love of) and for 7.62x25 for my M57, heavy.
I had started with Bullseye, but the pressure builds FAST with such a heavy bullet in the x25 case. I found someone who made a video on loading .308 85s with CFE pistol, and the powder speed seems about right for Tokarev. A good medium pistol powder. So I ran it up in GRT. One note, at least for my M57, I have to load these 100s SHORT. Most commercial 7.62x25 ammunition I've measured is also well under the SAAMI max COAL of 1.310. These are loaded up at 1.250". That is what drops in my barrel fully and drops free after tapping the back of the case. Much longer and no joy, it is hitting the lands.
The bullets are .555" in OAL, also as reference.
I started with 5.6gr of CFE Pistol and ran .2gr rungs up to 6.6gr. No pressure signs on the cases or primers. My M57 (apparently all Tokarevs?) leaves a nice firing pin smear/swipe. One of the things I've read is once that swipe starts moving from the primer, into the brass, it means the pressure is too high. None of these cases showed signs of that, even at 6.6gr. I've attached a picture of the fired cases. Ignore the 357 in there, another load work up (MBC 158 coated SWC with CFE pistol) from the same trip. From bottom left 5.6gr, to the right 5.8gr. 6.0gr left middle, 6.2gr right middle. 6.4gr top left, 6.6gr top right. 5 rounds each. I lost one of the 6.4gr cases.
My M57 seems to be extremely load sensitive. With commercial, mil surplus, and handloads. Most loads shoot badly low. Like 8-10" low at 12yds. A few loads actually shoot roughly to point of aim. Generally hotter stuff, by pressure, not necessarily by velocity. No clue what is going on with that. I suspect something with the lockup, or pressure on the bushing, or...damned if I know. 5.6 and 5.8gr were similar badly low with only a few rounds on the bottom of a 16" target at 12yds with POA the center. 6.0gr was still pretty low, but came up with all rounds on the paper, but towards the bottom of the target. 6.2gr all were on target only very slightly low right. 6.4 and 6.6gr I think were mostly on target, but the paper target was pretty damned chewed up at that point as I'd put 30 rounds of .357 full power magnums through it already and chewed most of the center 3" out. At least a couple new holes showed up low on the paper by a few inches.
I've never claimed my M57 was accurate, and I was awkwardly shooting in drizzle, with a brass catcher on my hand, paying more attention to not shooting my chrono at 6yds than anything. Also catching a couple of cases to the face that deflected off the hand brass catcher at warp speed.
I failed to capture any 5.6gr load data. Oops.
5.8gr Avg 1210fps SD 24fps
6.0r Avg 1273fps SD 21fps
6.2gr Avg 1299fps SD 24fps
6.4gr Avg 1327fps SD 30fps
6.6gr Avg 1364fps SD 23fps
I am going to give this another spin next time with 5 rounds at 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.5 and 6.6gr. GRT claims that 6.6gr with all of my other figures should have turned in I think 1347fps. So pretty close. That should be right about maximum pressure. IIRC either 6.7 or 6.8gr was over pressure by less than 1k and 6.6gr is about 1500psi under maximum pressure. I don't particularly care to beat the crap out of this old gun. So I plan to load around 6.2gr. I am just curious on the warmer side there on an accuracy node. 6.4 and 6.6gr had noticeably more energy ejecting the cases. I just replaced the recoil spring with a new one from Zastava. Which, BTW is a four handed job (my younger son helped) and is STILL a massive PITA. You really need a custom jig and the jointed rod makes it incredibly difficult. It seemed to change things a lot. Before the gun ejected stuff at about 5 o'clock high with brass landing about 20-30 feet behind me slightly to my right. Now it is throwing it out at around my 3 o'clock. Hard still of course, but most lands in my hand brass catcher so I don't have to hunt for it (just make sure to wear shooting glasses as I took three to the face bouncing off the edge of the brass catcher). So I am mostly checking for "accuracy", or at least POA/POI for loads next time, with fresh paper(s) to test with. 6.2gr would make me happy enough. Shooting to point of aim is my only real goal here, as accuracy seems to be about 6" at 12yds no matter the load. That's about the kind of velocity for 9mm loaded with 100gr. I can always load up some 71gr .312 bullets if I want screamers. Oh, and yes, all of the bullets stabilized fine.
So that out of the way. Months ago American Reloading had a crap ton of 100gr .312" RNFP FMJ bullets for sale. I suspect for 30 super carry. Seconds. Nothing wrong that I can find with the bullets. Most I got for under 5 cents a bullet. Most stuff in .312 out there is not cheap for bullets. Or scarce. Or both. I figured this was a good way to load 32acp (which I have an unnatural love of) and for 7.62x25 for my M57, heavy.
I had started with Bullseye, but the pressure builds FAST with such a heavy bullet in the x25 case. I found someone who made a video on loading .308 85s with CFE pistol, and the powder speed seems about right for Tokarev. A good medium pistol powder. So I ran it up in GRT. One note, at least for my M57, I have to load these 100s SHORT. Most commercial 7.62x25 ammunition I've measured is also well under the SAAMI max COAL of 1.310. These are loaded up at 1.250". That is what drops in my barrel fully and drops free after tapping the back of the case. Much longer and no joy, it is hitting the lands.
The bullets are .555" in OAL, also as reference.
I started with 5.6gr of CFE Pistol and ran .2gr rungs up to 6.6gr. No pressure signs on the cases or primers. My M57 (apparently all Tokarevs?) leaves a nice firing pin smear/swipe. One of the things I've read is once that swipe starts moving from the primer, into the brass, it means the pressure is too high. None of these cases showed signs of that, even at 6.6gr. I've attached a picture of the fired cases. Ignore the 357 in there, another load work up (MBC 158 coated SWC with CFE pistol) from the same trip. From bottom left 5.6gr, to the right 5.8gr. 6.0gr left middle, 6.2gr right middle. 6.4gr top left, 6.6gr top right. 5 rounds each. I lost one of the 6.4gr cases.
My M57 seems to be extremely load sensitive. With commercial, mil surplus, and handloads. Most loads shoot badly low. Like 8-10" low at 12yds. A few loads actually shoot roughly to point of aim. Generally hotter stuff, by pressure, not necessarily by velocity. No clue what is going on with that. I suspect something with the lockup, or pressure on the bushing, or...damned if I know. 5.6 and 5.8gr were similar badly low with only a few rounds on the bottom of a 16" target at 12yds with POA the center. 6.0gr was still pretty low, but came up with all rounds on the paper, but towards the bottom of the target. 6.2gr all were on target only very slightly low right. 6.4 and 6.6gr I think were mostly on target, but the paper target was pretty damned chewed up at that point as I'd put 30 rounds of .357 full power magnums through it already and chewed most of the center 3" out. At least a couple new holes showed up low on the paper by a few inches.
I've never claimed my M57 was accurate, and I was awkwardly shooting in drizzle, with a brass catcher on my hand, paying more attention to not shooting my chrono at 6yds than anything. Also catching a couple of cases to the face that deflected off the hand brass catcher at warp speed.
I failed to capture any 5.6gr load data. Oops.
5.8gr Avg 1210fps SD 24fps
6.0r Avg 1273fps SD 21fps
6.2gr Avg 1299fps SD 24fps
6.4gr Avg 1327fps SD 30fps
6.6gr Avg 1364fps SD 23fps
I am going to give this another spin next time with 5 rounds at 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.5 and 6.6gr. GRT claims that 6.6gr with all of my other figures should have turned in I think 1347fps. So pretty close. That should be right about maximum pressure. IIRC either 6.7 or 6.8gr was over pressure by less than 1k and 6.6gr is about 1500psi under maximum pressure. I don't particularly care to beat the crap out of this old gun. So I plan to load around 6.2gr. I am just curious on the warmer side there on an accuracy node. 6.4 and 6.6gr had noticeably more energy ejecting the cases. I just replaced the recoil spring with a new one from Zastava. Which, BTW is a four handed job (my younger son helped) and is STILL a massive PITA. You really need a custom jig and the jointed rod makes it incredibly difficult. It seemed to change things a lot. Before the gun ejected stuff at about 5 o'clock high with brass landing about 20-30 feet behind me slightly to my right. Now it is throwing it out at around my 3 o'clock. Hard still of course, but most lands in my hand brass catcher so I don't have to hunt for it (just make sure to wear shooting glasses as I took three to the face bouncing off the edge of the brass catcher). So I am mostly checking for "accuracy", or at least POA/POI for loads next time, with fresh paper(s) to test with. 6.2gr would make me happy enough. Shooting to point of aim is my only real goal here, as accuracy seems to be about 6" at 12yds no matter the load. That's about the kind of velocity for 9mm loaded with 100gr. I can always load up some 71gr .312 bullets if I want screamers. Oh, and yes, all of the bullets stabilized fine.
