Rashid In 762X45?

[Thors Hammer]

I have a rashid thats not chamberd for 762x39 wich is the standerd caliber for this model. I was wondering if anyone has seen any in 762x45.I did a search and came up with one website that mentions their being two models one being 762x39 and the other in 762x45.

[pesta2]

The 7.62x45 is a Czech round. The Czech are proud of their own firearms designs so when the where part of the communist block they where not going to be forced to use a 7.62x39 that they felt was inferior so they lengthened it for more power. I ma recently seen surplus ammunition being sold.

[Scorch]

Close. Actually, the 7.62X45 was a parallel development to the 7.62X39. Other than that, like he said.
IIRC, the Rashid is the same as the Hakim rifle mechanically, just different caliber.

[Mike Irwin]

"Actually, the 7.62X45 was a parallel development to the 7.62X39."

No, sorry, not the case at all.

The 7.62x39 cartridge was developed in 1942/1943, and is known as the 7.62 M43 in Soviet parlance.

At that time, Czechoslovakia was under Nazi rule and its arms factories were doing nothing but cranking out weapons for the Nazis.

After "liberation" from the Nazis in 1945, Czechoslovakia came under the Soviet sphere. Under Soviet rule the Czechs again became leaders in firearms R&D.

In the late 1940s they began working on what would become the CZ-52. It looks like an SKS, but it's not even remotely close to being an SKS. It is actually more influenced by German and American weapons than Soviet.

Along with the rifle (and a machine gun), the Czechs developed the 7.62x45 cartridge. It had somewhat better ballistics than the 7.62 M43. Nothing earth shattering, though, so one has to wonder just why the Czechs took this step.

The Czechs issued large numbers of the VZ-52 guns and the 7.62x45 ammo to their army throughout the 1950s, but by the late 1950s the Soviets were pushing hard for military standardization on the AK and the 7.62 M43 cartridge.

Some VZ-52s were produced in 7.62 M43, but the Czech army switched over to the AK, and most of the VZ-52s were doled out to smaller satellite nations or pumped into regional conflicts.

IIRC Castro received quite a few thousand VZ-52s in 7.62x45 in the early 1960s. You'll occasionally see these rifles in the hands of Cuban army or militia personnel.