Brown Bear "Match" 7.62x54R ammo

[ChronoCube]

I picked up a box of Brown Bear ammo labeled '7.62x54R "Match"' yesterday at a gun show. For $8/box I thought it couldn't hurt to try it out (I haven't gotten around to it).

I wasn't aware that the Brown Bear brand included match ammo. Has anyone tried this? The box looks exactly like a regular Brown Bear ammo box except for the minor difference in labeling.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Might want to ask and search over at Surplusrifle.com, or mosinnagant.net or 7.62x54.net

 

[Col. Plink]

intersting timing: my buddy just tried out a box or two of it in his tastily-accurate Romak PSL and did not like the results. 'All over the place' was his remark...

 

[Deus Machina]

IIRC, Brown bear is an importer or supplier, not the manufacturer. In much the same manner as Wolf.

And Wolf does import some of the best .22LR, so I don't look down on anything an importer calls 'match' until you try it.

 

[ChronoCube]

I shot the ammo in question through a 1942 Izhevsk M91/30. Iron sights at 25 yards. The attached photo shows groups from my shoot.

Brown Bear groups are in green boxes.
Yugo 1999 brass-cased surplus groups are in orange boxes.
The remaining groups are 1977 Russian surplus.

Before the groups on this page, I had shot some Russian and Czech surplus at another target sheet.

I shot the Russian groups at top first, then the Russian groups at bottom, then the Yugo, then the Brown Bear. I've included a clip of ammo for size reference.

Observations:
The Yugo and Brown Bear match ammo both exhibit vertical stringing but it is not perfect.
The Russian ammo seems to have potential for good accuracy, but it seems inconsistent.
Also, I think my consistency suffered at the end because I was getting worn out from having shot 90 rounds of 7.62x54R prior to the Yugo and BB ammo.

Vertical stringing aside, the BB ammo seemed to do better than the Russian surplus and about the same as Yugo surplus. But given the small sample size, it's hard to say for sure.

 

[RevDerb]

I shot the ammo in question through a 1942 Izhevsk M91/30. Iron sights at 25 yards. The attached photo shows groups from my shoot.

Brown Bear groups are in green boxes.
Yugo 1999 brass-cased surplus groups are in orange boxes.
The remaining groups are 1977 Russian surplus.

Before the groups on this page, I had shot some Russian and Czech surplus at another target sheet.

I shot the Russian groups at top first, then the Russian groups at bottom, then the Yugo, then the Brown Bear. I've included a clip of ammo for size reference.

Observations:
The Yugo and Brown Bear match ammo both exhibit vertical stringing but it is not perfect.
The Russian ammo seems to have potential for good accuracy, but it seems inconsistent.
Also, I think my consistency suffered at the end because I was getting worn out from having shot 90 rounds of 7.62x54R prior to the Yugo and BB ammo.

Vertical stringing aside, the BB ammo seemed to do better than the Russian surplus and about the same as Yugo surplus. But given the small sample size, it's hard to say for sure.

Nice looking groups even at 25 yds.