7.62x54

Question
    To start with, thank you for any help you can offer. I have a sporterizes 7.62x54R i bought about a year ago. I just got through the first box of rounds I've personally fired through it. I had some Winchester softpoints that i go at a local gunshop. Quite often, either when I chambered the first round, or ejected a spent casing to load a new one, the next round in-line would get the lead scraped off of a good portion of it  by the bolt,(I think). I did notice that these Wichester rounds were 180 grain (as most either come in 180 or 203 grain). The rounds I most recently bought ( Have not had the opportunity to try yet) were only 150 grain. They seem significantly shorter. I was thinking maybe these were the rounds this gun was originally set up to shoot because maybe they're length will compensate for the bolt problem?? Or maybe those aren't the right rounds at all and there is something wrong with the gun? The new rounds only say, 7.62 Russian on the box so i was skeptical about buying them. I haven't tried to load any yet. Any info is greatly appreciated. Thank you , Adam C.

Answer
Adam,

Glad to help in any way I can...

First, 7.62x54 and 7.63x39 are not interchangeable.  I know that the shorter round will fit in the chamber, but the 7.62 x54 is not designed for the shorter round.  You also need to be careful when purchasing ammo, since 7.62 Russian is an imprecise designation.  Some people out there use it to describe 7.62 generically.  By the way, the 'R' on the caliber designation for your rifle stands for 'rimmed' not 'russian' as some think.  The 7.62x39 round is correctly referred to as the 7.62 Soviet round.

Regarding the issue you are having with your rifle, I'd have a gunsmith take a look at it.  It should not be shaving rounds.  If I understand your explanation correctly, the rounds in the magazine are being scraped by the bolt as it moves towards the rear to eject the spent round in the chamber.  This is not something that should be happening.

Please don't shoot the shorter rounds as they are not the correct caliber for your gun.  They might actually fit, but since the chambering is not correct, it could seriously damage your gun if you try and fire them.

Hope this helps you out...

Doug