5.45x39mm (Disambiguation)

“	...And now we use cartridges for currency, how morbid is that? If you think about it, one bullet is somebody's life. A hundred grams of tea cost five lives. A sausage... a mere trifle, fifteen lives. A nice leather jacket? It's your lucky day, its on sale. Not three hundred, but just two hundred and fifty human lives.	„
— Market Station Guard

Listen to that quote, as heard in Metro 2033:

Hud icons

Soviet 5.45x39mm are rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridges developed near the end of the 1960s for use with the new Avtomat Kalashnikova Model 1974. These are the standard cartridge for almost every combustion-based firearm found in the Metro, be it an assault rifle, a carbine, or a sniper rifle.

With money losing any purpose, pre-war 5.45 cartridges became the new morbid currency in the post-apocalyptic world because the technology to manufacture them had been mostly lost and any counterfeiting attempts were severely limited as a result.

Due to the finite amount of pre-war rounds, many stations in the Metro create their own versions that are highly versatile and able to be used in many pre-war and makeshift weapons, yet are distinguishable enough to not be used as currency. However, due a to shortage of good quality materials and poor workmanship, they lack the punch and penetration of their pre-war counterparts. The standardization of the 5.45x39mm cartridge implies that Metro technicians modified weapons in order to ease the strain on resources and labor.

Appearance

Handloading appliances found throughout the Metro

Dirty rounds can be distinguished from military-grade rounds by the way they're stored: Dirty rounds go in cloth pouches, AK-style box magazines and, rarely, VSV mags; MGR are kept either as a single bullet, in five round stripper clips or in the rectangular 30-round clips for the Bastard. Developers have also stated military-grade rounds have a polished, glossy look to them, while dirty rounds are, for lack of a better word - dirty. 

In Metro: Last Light, MGRs return as shiny, 5 round stripper clips, but the actual amount found in the clips varies from 1 up to 15 rounds, yet the model is always the same. In a gun, most easily visible in the Bastard's clip, they are much the same as dirty rounds, except they are much shinier, making it easy to see what has been loaded in Ranger Modes. 

Uses

Dirty 5.45x39mm rounds are some of the most common, if not the most common form of ammunition in Metro 2033. If the player keeps their eyes peeled they will always find some lying around the place on dead bodies, in crates, or in hideouts and friendly stations. A batch of one hundred dirty 5.45 cartridges, and ten military grade rounds, are given out to the player by the armorer on Exhibition along with the player's first Bastard carbine.

They are much more powerful than their makeshift counterparts, and can be used in an emergency or against strong enemies to defeat them quickly, but as you are essentially 'shooting money' should be careful not to do this too regularly.

In Last Light, 180 MGRs are given to the player in D6 at the beginning of the game - 280 in Ranger Mode, meaning the player should always have some available for trading or combat, as long as they are not exclusively used. They will also start with lots of regular rounds, as there is an ammunition box in the shooting range. As in Metro 2033, the rounds are much more powerful than regular 5.45x39mm rounds, capable of taking town most human enemies in one shot. As well as their returning power, the rounds now appear to be incendiary, capable of setting a target on fire.

Weapons

Metro 2033:

• Bastard
• Kalash
• Kalash 2012
• VSV

Metro: Last Light:

• Bastard
• Kalash
• Modified Russian Rifle (AKS-74u)
• VSV
• Kalash 2012
• RPK-74

Related Achievements

	Scrooge	30
	Save 500 military grade rounds.

	Generous	10
	Help the poor, a coin for the kid, medicine for the sick. You help everyone you see.

	Realist	10
	A coin for a hungry kid? Get a job!

	Sherlock	20
	Found all gold ammo, hidden throughout the stations.

	Walking Bank	10
	Collect 1000 Military Rounds.

Trivia

• No shops are encountered after Polis, so it is recommended that you use all your military-grade rounds after that point or use them against the tougher enemies like demons or librarians.
• Military-grade rounds are commonly used by the Rangers, especially in Chapter 7 - Tower.
• Although the only weapons in the game that should be using this ammo are the Kalash and Kalash 2012, all primary weapons use it, i.e. the fully automatic weapons.
• There are 1,391 Military-Grade Rounds that can be found in Metro 2033. More can be earned through selling weapons.
• The amount of MGRs you actually get is not always the same, the 5 round stripper clip will give you 1-5 rounds (usually just one), the Bastard magazine will give you up to 30 rounds.
• It's possible that the term "dirty" for the "dirty rounds" refers to both the condition and the homemade powder used, and the casing is reused or homemade, which may cause fouling in the gun.
• In Last Light, there are no more Weapon Vendors after Depot, and no other reasons to give MGRs away (beggars etc.) so, unless the player is saving for the Walking Bank achievement, it is worth using them all up, especially against the heavily armoured Big Momma, the Garden boss battle and the final battle in D6.