Accuracy of Wolf .223 ammo

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Master Blaster

Master Blaster

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Hi all I was wondering what kind of accuracy youget out of the wolf .223 ammo? Is it as good as some of the less expensive commerciall brass cased fodder thats made in the USA????

What kind of gun do you shoot it in?, Bolt, semi auto, AK based saiga AR etc??

Thanks
 
5 MOA out of my 1 MOA ar-15. After the gun jammed multiple times, I had to get a cleaning rod out and drive the final round out of my chamber. The 'mobs' I was firing could not be called groups. They were chronographing at around 2400 to 2800fps out of my 16" barrel before I quit in disgust.
 
A friend gave me a thousand rounds because the accuracy was very poor in his very accurate HB AR15.
4 to 6+ inches at 100 yards.

I've tried it in my HB Colt AR15, Deawoo, TC 14 inch barrel (very accurate gun) and Bushmaster M4 (also a MOA rifle).

The Wolf 223 isn't even worth shooting.
I use it for just getting on the target when sighting in a rifle.

I use the 7.62x39 in an accurate AK. It's a little better but not much.
 
Edited to make sure I don't offend anyone...

My experiences have been quite good with Wolf.

I shoot Wolf 55 gr FMJ with the new "grey" polymer coating on the case in my AR. It eats them like I eat gummy bears. Not even one failure to fire / extract in 500 rounds (wish I could say that about NATO ammo I have...I get a stuck case every 50 rounds or so with the Santa Barbara stuff...extractor rips the rim right off).

As for accuracy, it is NOT as accurate as other ammo but also not horrible. I was getting 2-1/2 to 3-1/2" benchrest groups with iron sights with the Wolf. Winchester whitebox was giving me about 2/3 that number.

It is a little dirty but certainly not 50% more dirty than any other ammo...maybe 10%? Mostly its the fault of the AR design that blows all that crap back into the bolt carrier. The propellant does have a peculiar smell that I can't quite ID.
 
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i've shot around 1000 rnds of the green 55gr stuff in my ar with no problems now...

it's 3 moa accurate, but it doesn't take hours at the press to load 100rnds that will cut dime size holes either...

xm193 in the same rifle isn't a whole lot better maybe 1.5moa, but the muzzle fire is pretty cool...

if im blasting tennis balls at the range, then i'll grab the wolf... if im cutting paper, grab the handloads.... and adjust scope as needed....
 
I say poppycock. I shoot Wolf 55 gr FMJ with the new "grey" polymer coating on the case in my AR.
Click to expand...
I can only state my side and defend my position. The case I tried to shoot was so overwhelmingly inaccurate and unreliable that I will stand by my contention. BTW, the 'polymer' coated cases are new to the market. I haven't seen any up here yet. But remember, these come from the same factory that thought it was fine and dandy to produce the lot they sent me. Have they improved? I'm not going to hold my breath.

And no, it wasn't the gun. I tried three separate AR's, only one of which would go through a whole mag every once in a while without a jam. It also failed to extract in either of my Mini's about 10% of the time. If one of the company's product is crap, why should I trust the newer product? Ever driven a car called the Yugo?

edited for moderation
 
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Edited to make sure some folks don't misinterpret what I say

Gee, looks like some people's experience is different from mine. Apparently my experiences are different from theirs. That shouldn't be misconstrued that anyone thinks less of anyone else.
 
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I've only used it in 7.62x39... never in .223. The 39 isn't exactly "accurate", but runs fine.

I have a buddy that uses it in .223. He hasn't had functional problems, but again, its not "accurate".

It is signifigantly dirtier than other ammo in my experience. It coats the inside of my VEPR in chips of that red sealant crap from around the case neck and primer. For my money though, I'll use it in x39, but not in .223.
 
Well, I really wish the stuff was worth shooting because we are sitting on almost 2000 rounds of it.:(

BTW, we haven't had any problems with functioning in the 6 guns we tried the Wolf in, except I think my friend's son in law had a few jams in his AR.


I don't learn very fast so I'll give the new stuff a try when I find some.
But I sure won't buy two cases like my friend did.:)

He had read and believed an article in one of the gun rags about how great the Wolf 223 was.:rolleyes:
 
WOLF .223

I've shot a few boxes through my M17s and had good results. Never had a problem feeding and it was more accurate than the Black Hills 55g soft point I had. I was getting about 2 1/2" groups rated at 3000 fps consistantly. For cheap .223 ammo I buy Sellier & Bellot it is much cleaner and very accurate plus it can be reloaded (it rates around 3200 fps). I would guess that Wolf is NOT good ammo for any AR design. I think the ammo is a little too dirty to work as well as it should. As far as the propellant goes, The Russians have perfected the proper powder to get high velocity out of their short barrel AK 47's. I believe that it is a ball powder and it will typically generate greater velocity than comparible U.S. powders. I know that with the 7.62X39 it is always hotter than the U.S. stuff. I typically get 2500 fps out of my chinese SKS. Barnaul ammo is even better than the Wolf at 2600 fps. My dad will actually pull out the bullets on the Barnaul ammo and seat in a Sierra .303 bullet to use in his CZ527. It is more accurate than the standard bullets and still maintains high velocity that you can't get with American powders. I would say use the Russian ammo in a Russian gun to get the best results as far as cheap ammo goes.
Master Blaster, I would also say that Wolf is intended for semi-auto weapons (seems a little silly to use it in a bolt action since you probably won't get the best accuracy out of it) more so than bolt guns.

Another note on the Russian ammo. I personally feel that I would not fool with a short barrel .223 rifle. The velocity lost from a 20" barrel to a 16" barrel is quite significant (about 400 fps I think). The Russians originally designed thier weapon to have a 16" barrel and thus made their ammo accordingly. Even the 5.45X39 cartridge maintains it's velocity far better than the .223 cartridge.
 
Both my Bushies eat it like candy, never a failure. Typically, I get 3" to 4" groups with it. Good enough for range plinking.

I only shoot the polymer stuff, never the old lacquered crap.
 
I've been doing a lot of accuracy work on my Mini 14, and I haven't had a chance to get it sighted in at 100 yards yet, but.....
At 25 yards the old, green, 55gr, lacquer Wolf shoots inside of 3/8", which is the same accuracy I get out of Winchester and Federal Mil. Spec.

It may be worse at 100 yards. I don't know yet.
My Mini 14 eats it like candy though.
 
They say that the steel cased ammo will shred the insides of your gun. They say that it is so dirty that within 2 rounds, the rifle will be reduced to a gummy mess that only a 3 week solvent soak will take care of... I say poppycock.
Click to expand...
My guns did jam and I did try chamber brushes and solvent soaks and all kinds of treatments at the range and none of them worked. Bad batch or whatever, my guns got eaten up by Wolf ammo.

Anybody who says that MY guns didn't is spouting poppycock. When you fire 200 rounds total and get 20 that must be forcefully driven from the chamber by a cleaning rod, the ammo is to blame. When that same gun chews up, hmmm, 3,000 rounds by that time of mixed surplus, reloads, and match ammo, the Wolf is to blame. When that same gun requires the replacement of the extractor, extractor spring, extractor spring plug, extractor pin, and maybe something else that I missed because of trying to extract said ammo, the ammo is to blame. Anybody who says I didn't experience this is full of poppycock. One may call my experience and that of others anecdotal, well it was MY anecdote and me that had to pay for the parts to fix my gun. Not to mention, it ruined a perfectly good day at the range.
 
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I'm shooting some of the 62gr polymer .223 from an HBAR. It's not accurate, but I've fired through a few magazines with no malfunctions. I've also let rounds sit in the hot chamber with no adverse affects.
 
Not really about accuracy, but I thought it was funny.
I was shooting a three gun match last weekend. We were loading mags using the tailgate of our trucks as tables (it seems like everybody in Nevada has a truck). The guy next to me started giving me the same old lecture about NEVER using Wolf ammo and how it gums up the chamber blah blah blah. I looked over and said, Really ? I am using Wolf right now. I have used it in every stage so far. In fact this is my 12th CASE of Wolf ammo, most of which was fired through this gun.
He went back to his own loading and quit bothering me.
 
Edited to make sure I don't offend anyone...yet again

Everyone has different experiences with different things.

Looks like some folks have good experiences with Wolf, looks like some people have bad experiences.

Desperately hoping this thread gets off of front page so folks will let it die.
 
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Maybe this belongs in PM, but...

iamkris said:
steel cased ammo will shred the insides of your gun. They say that it is so dirty that within 2 rounds, the rifle will be reduced to a gummy mess that only a 3 week solvent soak will take care of...
Click to expand...
He called *those* claims poppycock. When Badger chimed in, it appeared to me that we were logically down to the "hey, MY experience is different" stage. Badger stated his opinion and why he has it.

Don't sound like no callin' nobuddy a liar, but maybe I'm thick-skinned when another's statements are challenged (yeah, it wasn't me getting contradicted).

Seems like everyone is forgetting the factor of "the batch _I_ shot from X rifle". Betcha some lots really are worse than others, and some finely accurate rifles (with match bullets, capable of less than 1 MOA all day long) won't fling one batch of Wolf into less than a 4-inch group...while another equally accurate rifle will shoot the same batch of Wolf to its apparent accuracy limit of 2.5 MOA.

Reminds me of the howls I got last year when posting a range report where the S&W Sigma was one of only two or three guns that didn't have a jam of some sort.

Different from YOUR experience does NOT mean that it didn't happen for the other shooter. Sheesh!

The original post was a classic "straw man" argument. Overstate the opposition's position to the point of being ridiculous, then knock the weak argument over with a feather. Don't fall for it.:rolleyes:
 
Hey as long as we all stay civil I'm happy to keep the conversation open.

My thoughts on Wolf?

I couldn't get minute of TARGET at 200 yards with Wold 168 gr 30-06 ammo and my 1903A3... I'll try it again in my Savage 116 that I KNOW will shoot .5 moa or better... I wasn't happy with it at all.

Never experienced "chamber mauling" etc. shooting the .223 fodder... but I was using a Chinese 223 AK and a Mini 14... neither of which are reknowned for accuracy. I wasn't benchrest shooting Wolf ammo... so I can't say what size groups it shot... but it's definitely NOT as accurate as UMC 55 gr ball ammo... I don't miss a pop can at 50 yards very often.

I won't buy any more of it. The lack of accuracy, and inconsistant velocity isn't worth the cost savings.

Wolf may change my mind in a year or two... but for now I'd say no.
 
I think it depends on what you do with your .223 rifle.
If your game is shooting from a benchrest with a high magnification scope with the goal of shooting a one hole group, then maybe Wolf (or any other factory ammo) isn't for you. I don't know. I seldom do this.
If you do things to practice defensive type applications, Wolf works fine for me. When you are doing a carbine El Presidente, you don't need something that will shoot into 1/4" at 100 yards.
I definitely get much better than "minute of target" at 200 yards.
A couple years ago, I took a rifle class at one of the gun schools. I decided to give Wolf ammo a try. It had worked flawlessly in my practice. I had fired a couple cases of it over the previous year and knew that it ran flawlessly through ALL of my AR15s. The vast majority of the class consisted of drills fired from three yards out to two hundred yards. This wasn't shooting groups off a bench. This was shooting into the "A" zone of a silhouette from practical field positions under very tight time constraints.
So, I used Wolf throughout the class. And I passed.
In addition to passing, I shot the highest score in the final shoot-off by a wide margin. The next closest score was half of mine. I also won the man on man shoot off. After all the final tests were done we did some shooting from the 400 yard line at steel. I fired a total of 10 rounds and had 8 hits.

As I have mentioned previously in the hundred or so other threads on this same subject: I find it amazing that people have such differing results using Wolf ammo. I own something over 10 AR15s from three or four different manufacturers. I never had a problem. I have fired in excess of 12 cases of the "old" Wolf ammo and had no problem at all. As long as it is close to half the cost of other brands, I will continue to use it: and buy it by the case. I hardly think I am making this decision based on rumor or a limited sample.
I recently shot my first three gun match and intend to continue to participate in them. I shot the first match with Wolf, and fully intend to continue. It performs fine for the few senarios I saw there.
 
I use 55 gr Wolf JHP in my Bushmaster M17S and get about 7" 10 round groups @ 100 yrds with a BSA dot sight. My friends Varmiter with a 24x scope that can make dime size groups with his hand loads @ 100 yds opens up to about 5" with the wolf.
 
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