Just bought a FAL...

[JAJF]

and I have noticed South African surplus ammunition. I am curious if anyone who owns a FAL, specifically an Entreprise FAL, has any experience with South African surplus .308 ammo? If so what their experiences are, i.e. good/bad, and if they wouldn't recommend SA surplus, what would you recommend?

JAJF

 

[TexasRifleman]

I've shot lots of SA (R1M1) through my DSA FAL. It's shoots fine. It's not the most accurate I've used but I have had no function problems at all.

It's good stuff, wish I'd bought more when it was $99/1000

Be sure and work the gas setting up from wide open, as with any new ammo you try in the FAL.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

These days you better jump on any decent deal you can find for any surplus .308...

It's highway robbery asking what most of these inconsiderate #&%@! want for ammo these days, esp .308.

 

[JAJF]

What about Prvi Partizan in the FAL?

JAJF

 

[TexasRifleman]

What about Prvi Partizan in the FAL?

The PP in the white boxes and a clear plastic bag is VERY good ammo.
If you find that stuff you should grab all you can find.

I'm not really sure what it is though, the boxes say "308 Winchester" not 7.62, and there is no NATO headstamp so it's commercial of some type,
just packaged in similar bags as the South African. The headstamp has the Cryllic "nny" looking letters.

I don't have the lot numbers off the top of my head but it was extremely good stuff. As with most of it, I wish I'd bought more.
Boxer primed so reloadable.

There may be other PP stuff out there, all I have is the white box. I believe PP makes the Wolf Gold line too (can't remember that for sure)

 

[Deer Hunter]

I'm still sitting on about 2k rounds of SA. Great stuff. My STG58 eats it like candy.

Also I used PPU (Serbian softpoints from Academy) pretty regularly in my FAL. That's my load of choice for deer.

 

[JAJF]

I have continued looking for different kinds of ammo, and I came across RG British surplus, is this about equivalent to PP or SA surplus ammo?

JAJF

 

[Deer Hunter]

RG British is also very good ammo.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Yep, Radway Green is good stuff. Probably better than SA in my opinion.

With the adjustable gas system I think you will find there is very little ammo that the FAL won't digest.

 

[chris in va]

Save your brass, even if you don't reload.

 

[JAJF]

What about Wolf .308?

I found 1,000 rounds of Wolf .308 for a lot lower of a price than every other kind of ammo, and I have read that they use a steel casing and varnish on their weapons that can cause the round to stick in the chamber, as well as fouling the barrel quite easily. Thoughts, suggestions? All readily accepted.

JAJF

 

[Shear_stress]

Wolf no longer lacquers their cases. I've never run their .308 through my FAL, but I've had nothing but luck with Silver Bear (which is also steel cased).

 

[Deer Hunter]

Depends on how old the Wolf .308 is.

They had bad QC early on when they first started producing it. M1As, FALs, G3s, they all had kabooms with Wolf.

But the Bear line from Baurnal has worked just fine in my FAL. I also have never heard of one being the cause of a KB.

 

[JAJF]

Thank you both for the info. Where could I find some Barnaul or Silver Bear? Also what is the difference between silver bear and brown bear?

JAJF

 

[lightbulb0413]

The difference between Silver Bear and Brown Bear and Golden Bear is the coating. Nickle coating, laquer coating, brass coating. They are all coatings. For instance the Golden Bear has a brass coating but IS NOT brassed cased.

 

[JAJF]

Which is better? Lacquer, nickel, or brass plating?

 

[TexasRifleman]

You do not want lacquer coating at all. The newer steel case comes in a polymer coating which is better, but stay away from the lacquer.

It's been out of production for a good while now, but I still see places selling it, so watch out.

 

[Deer Hunter]

Lacquer hasn't been put out for a good while.

All the barunal stuff is good.

 

[mordechaianiliewicz]

The SA is quality stuff. Radway Green is also excellent. Portuguese and CAVIM is also pretty good. I've seen some Malaysian 7.62NATO on stripper clips but haven't had a chance to try it. I'd love to hear from someone that has.

As for WOLF. Get it. WOLF .308 will work just fine, it'll just be a little dirty.

 

[Deer Hunter]

Malaysian works just fine, it was made under the same specs as RG.

 

[JAJF]

How good is portuguese surplus from the early to mid 80s?

JAJF

 

[TexasRifleman]

You should go search through the archives at Fal Files. There are tons of threads with in depth reviews of just about every type of surplus 308/7.62x51 on the planet.