Barnaul "Brown Bear" ammo. Good, or not so much?

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dcarch

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Hey all! Despite the current shortage, I have the opportunity to purchase some "Brown Bear" 123 GR HP or 125 GR SP ammunition for fairly reasonable prices to use in my AK-type rifle. I have previously had excellent experiences with Golden Tiger ammo, but I haven't really tried any Brown Bear. Now I realize "yeah, it's an AK, it'll eat anything", but I still would prefer to use higher quality ammo if I can get my hands on it. Call me an elitist if you will. (I actually clean my AK regularly too!:what:) So what sort of experiences have you all had with this ammo? Good, bad, average? Any and all info (including groups, if you happen to have any) would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Dcarch
 
I much prefer Barnul (Brown, Silver, Gold Bear) to the Tula/Wolf stuff. I fed my AR plenty of Silver Bear, and it has never had a hiccup.
 
It's ok quality-wise. What your individual rifle makes of it is - well, up to your rifle. Never saw an SKS that cared ... I've seen a ruger mini30 that wouldn't feed half of it or group the other half on a paper plate at 100 yds. Try it. If you don't like it, I bet someone here buys it.
 
Through three AKs here the 123 HP Brown Bear has been decently accurate, perfectly reliable, and surprisingly consistent in chronographed velocities.
Denis
 
Barnaul produced ammunition for the Russian army during WWII. Presumably it also produced ammunition afterward for the AK-47. According to their website, they still produce military ammunition. I think you'll be fine. ;)
 
I run Silver Bear when possible, but have not had any issues with Brown Bear when used. Silver Bear is a little easier to spot spent cases for cleanup.
 
I like Barnaul ammo for russian-chambered weapons. I seek it out for my Makarov, and when I had an SKS, for that, too.

Not the most accurate ammo in the world from that SKS, but then again, it wasn't the most accurate rifle I've ever owned, either. The Makarov shoots it well.
 
I shoot Brown bear 7.62x54R in my Tiger. No problems so far.

Sent from my PB99400 using Tapatalk 2
 
DCARCH-
What do you mean by
fairly reasonable prices
Click to expand...
?

Asking what kind of ammo to feed your AK is like asking what kind of meat to feed your dog. The dog's not gonna care! From what you have posted, you should look into an AR-15. You'll fit right in with those guys!
 
I have tried Brown Bear ammo in my 7.62 x 54R. It shoots far better than any milsurp ammo. It gives me no problems feeding or extracting. At 200 yards I can put almost every shot on a paper plate with the stock military sight. When I do shoot off the plate I know I pulled off the target before I go look at it. That accuracy is about all you can ask of a 90/31 Mosin Nagant. I shot a deer with a 203 gr SP just to see how the SP performs. The wound was very comparable to a 30/06. I shot the deer in the neck. The deer went down instantly. My shot hit about one inch above the deer's spine. The meat was bruised well past the spine and the exit wound ripped the deer's throat open.
 
I believe the only difference between the 3 bears is the coating or finish on the case. Everything else is the same. So there shouldn't be any difference in accuracy. As long as it feeds and ejects you're good to go.
 
Asking what kind of ammo to feed your AK is like asking what kind of meat to feed your dog. The dog's not gonna care! From what you have posted, you should look into an AR-15. You'll fit right in with those guys!
Click to expand...
You know, one of the most core things my dad taught me was that you take care of your possessions. You change the oil in your truck. You vacuum your house. You clean your rifle regularly. You store it safely and keep excess moisture out of the area you keep it in. I'm not an elitist, I simply want to make my weapon work as reliably as possible and last as long as I possibly can. I also don't have a lot in the way of spare funds, so I prefer to use better ammo when I can if it is comparable in price to lower quality stuff. If that makes me a snob, then I guess that's what I am.
 
Had some Silver Bear 7.62x54R (203 Grain I think) and it was impressively accurate out of my 1932 Hex Izzy, stuff shot about 4.5-5MOA which was better than the little surplus I've tried. Not mind bending accuracy by any means, but for an old 91/30 I was happy.
 
I've used Brown Bear in my AK with zero issues....make sure you clean the chamber well, particularly after rapid fire since the laquer finish can transfer to the chamber (when very hot) and eventually build up and cause extraction difficulties.....not a catastrophic problem just simple extraction issues requiring cleaning.
 
dcarch said:
You know, one of the most core things my dad taught me was that you take care of your possessions. You change the oil in your truck. You vacuum your house. You clean your rifle regularly. You store it safely and keep excess moisture out of the area you keep it in. I'm not an elitist, I simply want to make my weapon work as reliably as possible and last as long as I possibly can. I also don't have a lot in the way of spare funds, so I prefer to use better ammo when I can if it is comparable in price to lower quality stuff. If that makes me a snob, then I guess that's what I am.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good philosophy your dad passed on. Just don't overclean which is damaging. I've run Wolf, Tula, Bears and old surplus with no problem. And let my AK and ARs get pretty dirty. I think you'll be pleased with Brown Bear.
 
When I had my SKS and AK all I fed it was Wolf and Wolf Military. When I couldn't find that ammo, there was always Brown Bear on the shelf and I wondered why. Well after a magazine I found out why, constant jamming in both rifles. And buddies rifles too only had problem with Brown Bear and the Bear lineup of ammunition.

We cleaned out guns on a regular basis, so that couldn't have been the issue. I guess just bad ammo, and they were all different lots, of ammo. Not the same lot number in the guns.
 
Not bad ammo, fairly accurate for the price, but the lacquered cases get hot and leave a nasty residue behind in your rifle. Better than no ammo though.
 
"Fairly reasonable" is seven dollars for a box of twenty. I think that's reasonable, considering how unstable the market's been.
 
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