7.62x25 vs. 9mm: Soviet vs. Austrian Design

The 7.62x25mm Tokarev is a Soviet rimless bottleneck submachine gun and pistol cartridge that entered production in 1930. The Russian military eventually replaced it with the 9x18mm Makarov – but that’s not the 9mm we’re comparing the 7.62x25mm to in this article.

We are talking about the ever-popular 9mm Luger: designed by Georg Luger, an Austrian gunsmith, in 1901. It’s a rimless tapered handgun and submachine gun cartridge that is used by civilians, law enforcement and military organizations worldwide.

Let’s see how the cartridges compare to one another!

Comparing The 7.62x25 to 9mm

Despite having been designed decades apart, these cartridges do share some similarities. We’ll focus on their differences so you can decide which is better for your situation by the end of this article.

We’ll compare and contrast their recoil, accuracy, stopping power, self-defense capabilities, cost and availability, and reloadability. At the end, we’ll tally up the scores and declare a winner for all of time! Okay, it’s admittedly not that dramatic, but you will better understand which round will work better for you.

Technical Specs

You can tell these two rounds apart at a glance. The first noticeable differences are their overall lengths and one is bottlenecked. The 7.62x25 Tokarev is a bottlenecked cartridge with an overall length of 1.386 in, while the 9mm Luger has a shorter length of 1.169 in. The 7.62x25’s extra length comes from its case: 0.984 in, as opposed to 0.754 for the 9mm Luger. Its longer case and same rim diameter naturally means the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge has more case capacity: 16.8 grains H2O versus 13.3 grains H2O for the 9mm Parabellum.

The 9mm Luger fires a larger bullet in diameter and weight. 9mm bullet diameter is 0.355 in and fires a bullet ranging in weight from 90 to 165 grain. The 7.62x25mm bullet diameter is 0.309 in and fires a bullet ranging in weight from 85 to 90 grain.

Now that we know some of the cartridges' physical differences, let’s discuss how they affect performance in everyday situations.

How Does the Recoil of 7.62x25 Tokarev Compare to That of 9mm Luger Rounds?

It is crucial to take recoil into consideration. A round with heavy recoil will be more challenging to control, and will slow the rate of your follow-up shots. The potential for flinching (which makes you less accurate) is also an issue for heavy-recoil cartridges.

Felt recoil differs from shooter to shooter, and often depends on the firearm, stance, and ammo choice. Free recoil is an objective measure of how much a cartridge kicks based on firearm weight, muzzle velocity, propellant weight, and bullet weight.

Both cartridges are known for having low recoil. The 7.62x25mm Tokarev has about 4.6 ft-lbs of free recoil when you’re firing an 85 grain FMJ at 1,525 fps from a 1.9 lbs pistol. The 9mm Luger has about 4.4 ft-lbs when you’re firing a 115 grain JHP at 1,190 fps from a 2 lbs Glock pistol.

The difference in recoil is so minimal that you won’t be able to sense it when firing the two rounds. Generally, any difference within 1 ft-lbs is incredibly difficult to perceive.

This section is a tie because the difference in recoil is nearly impossible to distinguish.

Accuracy: 9mm vs. 7.62x25

A cartridge's accuracy depends on many factors, including the firearm, bullet design, shooter, and environmental factors. Recoil and trajectory also play pivotal roles.

Since these cartridges were designed for pistols and submachine guns, we can expect their trajectories to be similar within 25 yards (the distance the average self-defense situation occurs). However, the 7.62x25mm has a much flatter trajectory as we increase the distance to the target.

When sighted in at 25 yards, the 7.26x25mm 85 grain bullet drops only -5.8 in at 100 yards. The 9mm 115 grain bullet drops -9.7 in under the same conditions.

Accuracy will appear identical at close range. As the target moves farther away, the 7.62x25mm Tokarev’s flatter trajectory will significantly facilitate accurate shot placement..

The 7.62x25 wins this section.

Stopping Power: 7.62x25 vs. 9mm Parabellum

The stopping power debate can take many forms. When discussing stopping power, many shooters often mean depth of penetration, as reaching vital organs is critical in quickly stopping a threat. Another direction is to emphasize the width of the hole created by the projectile. The bigger the hole, the quicker the threat is stopped. Shooters must consider both factors; emphasizing one over the other is like arguing whether length or width is more important to calculate the area of a rectangle.

The part that many shooters conveniently neglect to mention is shot placement. A bullet that stamps a big hole through a threat’s hand won’t quickly neutralize said threat. However, a small, well-placed bullet can quickly stop a threat without penetrating as deeply as the larger bullet.

The 7.26x25mm is known for its penetrating power. It can penetrate steel helmets and low-level Kevlar body armor. On the other hand, the 9mm creates a larger hole – and has many projectiles designed with stopping power specifically in mind.

Striking energy is another crucial factor regarding stopping power. The striking energy depends on the bullet's weight, velocity, and load. The 9 mm will have an average of about 413 ft-lbs of striking energy, whereas the 7.62x25mm will average about 553.2 ft-lbs.

Considering all of the above, this section is a tie. The 7.62x25mm penetrates much deeper than the 9mm Luger, but the 9mm offers more bullets designed for stopping a threat and causes more damage to vital organs.

Ammo & Firearm Cost/Availability

I’ll keep this section relatively short and sweet because the 9mm has many more firearms and ammo options at lower prices than the 7.62x25mm in the U.S.

The 9mm is much more popular among competitive shooters, concealed carriers, law enforcement, and weekend target shooters. Since the 9x18mm Makarov replaced the 7.62x25mm in Russian service, it has also lost traction in countries including China, Pakistan, and Russia.

9mm ammo is often less than half the price of 7.26x25mm ammo. While you can find some cheaper 7.62x25mm pistols for sale, they’re still far less abundant than 9mm pistols. They’re also usually very old.

9mm wins this section.

Self-Defense: 9mm vs. 7.62x25 Tokarev

Many factors must be considered when choosing a suitable self-defense cartridge, including firearm and ammo cost and availability, accuracy, stopping power, recoil, and personal preference.

We’ve already learned that the 9mm is cheaper overall and has abundant ammo options. The 7.26x25mm is more accurate at farther ranges, but each cartridge has more stopping power in its own way. The difference in the amount of recoil is a wash, so it should boil down to personal preference.

However, we should take a minute to dive into why the abundance of 9mm guns, ammo, and stopping power should be weighed more than the others.

First, having more gun and ammo options means you can find the firearm that perfectly fits your hands and the ammo that functions flawlessly with it. Many 9mm pistols and bullets are designed for self-defense. The same cannot be said for 7.62x25mm Tokarev pistols and bullets.

The 7.62x25 is known for its greater penetration (including armor-piercing capabilities), which can be very dangerous. It can endanger innocent bystanders, including your family, in a home or self-defense situation. This is another reason why the 9mm Parabellum is the better option for self- and home defense. However, the 9mm can still over-penetrate human-sized targets, so there is always a danger, so you must be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.

The 9mm Luger wins this section.

Reloading

Both cartridges can be reloaded. However, sourcing 9mm reloading equipment and materials will be much less of a hassle than doing so for 7.62x25mm. While handloading information and materials are available for the 7.26x25mm ammo, they aren’t nearly as abundant as those for the 9mm.

The 9mm wins this section because it’s simpler to reload.

7.62x25 vs. 9mm Ballistics

This portion of the article is for all the numbers lovers. If you’re a number-crunching ballistic fanatic, then you’ll love the charts we have below. If you just can’t get enough, be sure to click the links that dive further into the ballistics data of the cartridge.

7.62x25 Ballistics

Note: This information comes from the manufacturer. The actual ballistics obtained with your firearm can vary considerably from the advertised ballistics. Also, ballistics can vary from lot to lot with the same brand and type load.

9mm Luger Ballistics

Note: This information comes from the manufacturer. The actual ballistics obtained with your firearm can vary considerably from the advertised ballistics. Also, ballistics can vary from lot to lot with the same brand and type load.

Don’t miss our 9mm ballistics article to dive deeper into the topic!

7.62x25 Brief History

The 7.62x25 mm Tokarev cartridge, developed in the 1930s after WWII, was produced in the Soviet Union and widely used in Pakistan and China. It is a higher-pressure version of the 7.63mm Mauser, a high-velocity cartridge introduced in 1896.

The rimless bottleneck cartridge was initially designed for handguns but was also used in submachine guns. It was popular with the Tokarev TT-33 and submachine guns like the PPSh-41. Several national militaries and countries of the Warsaw Pact used the cartridge (e.g. France and North Vietnam).

Today, the 9x18mm Makarov has replaced the cartridge in most instances.

9mm Luger Brief History

Georg Luger designed the 9mm cartridge in 1901. Though it started relatively slowly in America (the U.S. Army overlooked it for the 1911 chambered in 45 ACP), it eventually became one of the most popular cartridges worldwide. Many carbines, submachine guns, semi-auto pistols, and even revolvers are chambered in 9mm.

The 9mm is primarily used for shooting competitions, law enforcement, concealed carry, personal defense, and good ol’ range day plinking.

Parting Shots: 7.62x25 vs. 9mm

Congrats! You’ve finished reading our deep dive 7.62x25 vs. 9mm article. It’s now time to decide which cartridge is better for your situation.

The 7.62x25mm Tokarev won one section (accuracy). Two sections were tied (recoil and stopping power). The 9mm Luger won three sections (cost/availability, personal defense, and reloading).

Most American shooters will prefer the 9 mm. Chinese, Russian, and a few other countries prefer the 7.62x25mm.

No matter which cartridge you choose, check out our large selection of perfectly priced ammo at Ammo.com!