Russian 7.62 x 39 ammunition which is better or are they all the same?

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stinger 327

stinger 327

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Bear
Wolf Military Classic
Wolf Polyperformance
Tulammo
Red Army Standard
Some of these are probably made in the same factory. They are offered in hollow point and full metal jacket. Is one brand better than the other? What's the differences between all of these plus any others I may have not listed?
Is it true that the Wolf Military Classic Hollowpoint performs the best as far as hollowpoints go?
What is bi-metal?
 
Some use different coatings on the steel cases. Red Army Standard I believe are not Russian, but manufactured in the Ukraine.

Bi-metal in this case refers to a mild steel/copper bullet.

Can't tell you which is a better brand, some say certain coatings tend to stick in chambers, but they'll all go bang.

I tend to stay with Wolf and have had no problems with it in 7.62x39, .223, and 9mm, but it tends to be dirty burning ammo.
 
Same here; I stick to wolf in 7.62x39, .223 plinking ammo, and .45 for shooting in the winter when I'm not going to dig in the snow for the cases. It's dirty, but I'm used to cleaning guns; did it for a living sometimes.
 
Speedo66 said:
Some use different coatings on the steel cases. Red Army Standard I believe are not Russian, but manufactured in the Ukraine.

Bi-metal in this case refers to a mild steel/copper bullet.

Can't tell you which is a better brand, some say certain coatings tend to stick in chambers, but they'll all go bang.

I tend to stay with Wolf and have had no problems with it in 7.62x39, .223, and 9mm, but it tends to be dirty burning ammo.
Click to expand...

It says on box in fact on all of these different Russian brand ammo that ammo is non corrosive. With the Wolf brand are you referring to the "Military Classic" brand or the poly
 
Speedo66 said:
Some use different coatings on the steel cases. Red Army Standard I believe are not Russian, but manufactured in the Ukraine.

Bi-metal in this case refers to a mild steel/copper bullet.

Can't tell you which is a better brand, some say certain coatings tend to stick in chambers, but they'll all go bang.

I tend to stay with Wolf and have had no problems with it in 7.62x39, .223, and 9mm, but it tends to be dirty burning ammo.
Click to expand...

It says on box in fact on all of these different Russian brand ammo that ammo is non corrosive. With the Wolf brand are you referring to the "Military Classic" type or the " WPA Polyperformance" Wolf ammo in 7.62?
 
Speedo66 said:
Some use different coatings on the steel cases. Red Army Standard I believe are not Russian, but manufactured in the Ukraine.

Bi-metal in this case refers to a mild steel/copper bullet.

Can't tell you which is a better brand, some say certain coatings tend to stick in chambers, but they'll all go bang.
Click to expand...

Brown Bear is lacquer coated an I've been told AR's don't like it once the chamber gets hot. I've shot tons of it with an AK and never had an issue....

My advise when buying Russian ammo is buy soft points. It's a little more expensive, but seems to be a great deal more accurate. At least that's been my experience, everything else is about the same, it's all really dirty.
 
Wolf has harder primers, making for more misfires. I agree that Golden Tiger is the most accurate.
 
The Wolf and Tula come or at least came from the same plant. Depends on who you ask.
Red Army Standard is a Century Arms brand. Comes from all over Eastern Europe and has nothing whatever to do with any army. Polymer-coated steel cases with Berdan noncorrosive primers.
Barnaul Machine Plant JSC makes Bear ammo in St. Petersburg. Steel cases with non-corrosive, Berdan primers.
The only way to find out which brand your rifle shoots best is to try a box.
 
Corrosive ammo is based on old-style primers that contain chemical salts. AFAIK none of the new production ammo uses these primers.

Filthy ammo depends on the lube and "floor sweepings" powder mixture some companies use.
 
Dain Bramage said:
Corrosive ammo is based on old-style primers that contain chemical salts. AFAIK none of the new production ammo uses these primers.

Filthy ammo depends on the lube and "floor sweepings" powder mixture some companies use.
Click to expand...
So then filthy ammo and corrosive ammo are two different things?
 
TulAmmo with various loadings (Russian) and Red Army Standard FMJ (Ukrainian) are all I tend to ever find in local gun stores around here. Both go bang in my AKs and vz.58 so no issues with either.
 
stinger 327 said:
Dirty ammo is different than corrosive ammo? Because it says on all the boxes non-corrosive.
Tulammo is the worst?
Click to expand...
Yes, when I said it was dirty, I was referring to the residue it leaves behind, not to any corrosive tendencies. In my 9mm Kel-Tec Sub2K, Wolf also tends to throw burning powder, i.e., sparks, out the ejection port more than regular commercial ammo, and it has a smell unlike commercial ammo. But, it's good cheap range ammo.

As others have recommended, I suggest buying a box of each and have at it.
 
I had a squib load with TulAmmo about a year ago, so I switched to Red Army since then. No problems so far, but I just use it for plinking so I can't really judge the accuracy of either.
 
This has been discussed at length over at AR15.com. Hit the AK47 button and scroll down to Ammunition. Golden Tiger is usually rated near the top.
 
I bought a bunch of golden tiger when it was $100 per K. Wish I had bought more. I like it in AKs and SKSs. Military classic is OK, don't like Tula and regular Wolf or WPA black box. Barnaul golden/silver/brown bear is OK, preferred in that order.
 
Tula makes awful ammo and components. I don't doubt that some people will chime in about how nothing is wrong with it, but I have personally seen Tula fail to go bang (1 of every 2 rounds) in an AK. When reloading with Tula primers, I have to deeply seat them and in about 20% of the time, the rounds still fail to fire or require double or triple strikes. Don't let the cheap prices tempt you. Wolf, Brown/Silver Bear, and other males are the same price or slightly more expensive and those brands work great.
 
rust collector said:
This has been discussed at length over at AR15.com. Hit the AK47 button and scroll down to Ammunition. Golden Tiger is usually rated near the top.
Click to expand...

I just read that in the "Recoil" magazine on AK-47 rifles. Golden Tiger scores high.
 
Why are the majority of these low cost Russian 7.62 X 39 ammo magnetic? What is the purpose of this? The more expensive rounds like Winchester, Corbon or Federal are not magnetic. What's the reasoning behind magnetic?
 
in my personal experience wolf tends to be the most accurate, consistent, and most reliable. tula is absolute worst with brown bear somewhere in the middle but closer to tula. I have no experience with red army standard.
 
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