PK Series Manual (English, 2005) - Forgotten Weapons

The year of manufacture normally appears as the last two digits of the year in which it
was manufactured, i.e., 1966=66. There are a few notable exceptions to this general
rule. For example, Yugoslav ammunition has the full four digits. The Soviet Union used
Cyrillic letters in place of the date for about 5 years. See below. Some, though not all,
North Korean ammunition uses a Korean letter or a hieroglyphic in place of a date.
USSR Cyrillic Letter Date Code:
r–1952 A (Cyrillic A)–1953
E–1954 N (Cyrillic inverted N)–1955
K–1956
The standard factory identification mark used by most nations for M1908 7.62 x 54Rmm
ammunition is a number code; however, there are exceptions. There are some
factory codes that are used by more than one country.
• For example, Code 21 is used by both Hungary and Poland. Hungarian
ammunition has both the factory code and date both upright while Poland has the
date inverted.
• Code 10 was used by the USSR prior to 1946, is still used by Bulgaria, and
during the 1970s a new Code 10 appeared whose origin is unknown.
• Beginning in the 1970s a large number of Chinese factory codes appeared,
mostly with three and four digits. It is unlikely that these new high number codes
represent new factories, but current factories allocated one or more additional
factory codes to produce in an attempt to cause confusion outside China or to
specify the type within a factory. The original factories in commission prior to
1970 were factories 11, 31, 41, 51, 61, and 81; not all produced 7.62x54R mm. It
is also possible that a factory 21 also existed.
UNCLASSIFIED
VIII - 10