Handloads: A Tokarev Target Load

Finding surplus 7.62x25 mm Tokarev ammunition was easy 15 years ago. When it finally dried up, my Zastava M57 went to the very back of the safe. That was until I discovered that X-Treme makes an affordable 110-grain .308" copper-plated bullet. While this projectile is meant for bores that are slightly smaller than those of most 7.62x25 mm barrels, it can still be loaded for informal target use.

Handloading components for the 7.62x25 mm Tokarev are relatively easy to acquire. Lee is one of the last companies to make dies for this cartridge, but it includes a shell holder that holds the case more securely than some of the others used for assembling this cartridge. Starline brass is readily available, and the powder and primers for this cartridge are also very common. Federal Small Pistol primers and Vihtavuori N-110 are all that’s required to build a moderately accurate round.

N-110 is made with super-short kernels and runs through a dispenser without many overthrows and even flows relatively smoothly out of a meter. A 10.1-grain charge weight fills the case to the neckline, and the bullet just touches the powder column when seated to an overall length of 1.360". The Lee dies size the neck down tightly enough to hold the .308-cal. bullet, and only minor flaring is needed to start it into the case. When setting up the seater, you only want a minimal amount of crimp, just enough to keep the bullet in place under recoil and while sliding up the feed ramp.

My testing showed an average velocity of 1,152 f.p.s. with an Sd of 42, which is a bit slower than typical 7.62x25 mm rounds, but it is about as fast as I like to drive a copper-plated bullet anyway. Moreover, it cycles the gun flawlessly and consistently puts it into slide lock after the last round. I found 25-yard accuracy to fall inside of 5"—on par with any surplus fodder that I’ve run through this pistol and well within the “A” zone of a standard IPSC target.