Quote Originally Posted by Peter Laidlericon View Post
Seeing how 7.62 x54R works in a Vickers and the closeness of the cartridge length I'm just suprised that you're not going down this road.

The rounds seem to fit and feed in the Bren mags, .303" Bren barrels need just a slight modification to make them work with 7.62mm x54. I know people have made them work in 7.62 x39 but I am one that always tries the simple route first
Greetings Peter!,
Wellllllll...YES....I am doing a x54R conversion, as well. If you saw my other posts recently, I am very close to completing a conversion of a 47rd DP-28 pan magazine for just this purpose. I have already done the necessary removing of the old DP magazine well adapter and done the CAD drawings and CNC file conversions to produce a new Bren-sized mag well adapter piece. I should have the new piece "in metal" by the weekend, and then I will TIG it back up under the DP pan, and off we go. My newly designed adapter fits well into a DEMIL'ed parts kit receiver piece I have. Doing the bolt face and barrel rechamber is not an issue. I seriously doubt whether anyone ever thought a DP pan would ever be on a Bren!

I have been reading multiple, numerous, comments on how different the 7,62x54R cartridge recoil impulse is....compared to .303 MkVII ball.....this got to me to investigating things....

I believe the best way to handle the differing "felt" impulse, without resorting to major changes in the angular relationship of the piston-post cam and bolt unlocking cam surfaces, which relationship is really where the issue lies given a specified impulse force, is to simply slightly alter the piston-post buffer dynamics.....re-spec'ing the designed spring there is probably unnecessary, so my take is to install an inner elastomeric polymer buffer, or second interior spring of a suitable rate, to slightly bias the unlocking of the bolt cam by a very slight margin, allowing just a short dwell time longer, or conversely, an impact buffer effect. I'll have to bore the post spring guide, but I've got several to play with, and I am going to start by counter-boring one a fraction of an inch and installing a small polymer buffer "plug" and we'll see where we are.

The 7,62x39 option is simple economics over here.....AK Mags and the ammo are cheap and plentiful. Since the only real effort needed is to clone the Chinese ejector block and ejector and rechamber a barrel, and a little bolt carving......too simple. The ones I have seen pictured seem to work well.

-TomH