7.62X25 Tokarev vs. .30 Mauser - Brass Interchangeability?

[Hanzy4200]

I started casting for the Tokarev about a month ago. Love it. Now I am eyeing a Broomhandle Mauser. From the specs the brass seems near identical, with the Tokarev being a hair longer. Can I load .30 mauser in the Tok brass as is or will it need trimmed down? Considering I won't shoot either a whole lot, it would be nice to be able to just pull from the same brass pile. Lord knows I've got enough piles already.

Please forgive me if this is a stupid question but I can't find a straight answer.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I have some limited experience here, which I will detail for you. I have 3 broom handles. Back around 1966 I bought one at a gun shop because it was the best in appearance of several in the display case. I subsequently learned when firing factory FMJ 7.63mm Mauser imported from Portugal by Century Arms that it had a gouge in the chamber. The brass would extrude into the gouge upon firing and cause a failure to extract, followed by the next round jamming into the rear of the still-chambered empty. I set the gun aside, and for several years was unsure how to proceed without changing out the top half of the pistol. Then, in the early '80s a large batch of very used broom handles were imported from China. I purchased two of them, and had a couple of boxes of steel cased 7.65 mm Tokarev on hand. I pulled some of the bullets, loaded in new powder for 7.63mm as prescribed by a loading manual, reseated the bullets, and the two Chinese repatriates fired just fine. Then I got the idea to try this ammo in the broom handle with the defective chamber, and was rewarded with a gun that fired and cycled perfectly, as the steel cases did not extrude into the gouge.

So, you want a straight answer, and the best I can give you is that 7.65mm cases work just fine in my 3 broom handles. While the previously owned Chinese chambers and bores are quite worn, and one might think that it might account for the 7.65mm ammo working in them, the first pistol has a bore and chamber in very good condition, excepting the gouge. Therefore, based on my experience I will answer, "Yes".

[44Blam]

No idea on the 30 mauser, but I LOVE shooting my CZ52 with cast boolits...
I've got a W296 load that pops and has MASSIVE muzzle flash. We tried to chrono it and the chrono kept reading 30,000+ fps - I am assuming it was reading the flaming gasses.
AA7 seems to be more reasonable with similar pop, but that flash is just fun.

[Outpost75]

Starline warns hand loaders not to use .30 Mauser brass in a Tokarev.

This is because its 0.03” longer neck impinges against the origin of rifling in the shorter Tokarev chamber, spiking pressure and tearing case mouths off!

Col. William S. Brophy told me many years ago that 7.63 Mauser ammo ran OK in battlefield pickup PPSh41 “burp guns” thanks to sloppy wartime tolerances, when he tested captured Chicom weapons and ammunition in Korea while with the US Army.

[GONRA]

GONRA sez properly made 7.62mm Tokarev brass is about 1/2mm shorter and head diameter a few mils less than properly made 7.63mm Mauser Pistol brass.
Since there is LOTTSA crappy manufacture ammo out here, this is difficult to measure/document - but its true.