Just realized I know nothing about buying 7.62x39

[Arizona_Mike]

So, I recently bought a VZ (never been an AK fan). I realize I have not owned a 7.62x39mm firearm since I sold my SKS in the mid 1990.

It just dawned on me that I know nothing about which cheep ammo is good/bad?, corrosive?, what a good price is?, where the good deals are?, etc. The role is beater/truck gun/atv gun so I will probably only buy cheap ammo.

I'm 20 years out of the loop. Can you point me in the right direction?

Mike

 

[rule303]

None of the commercial ammo is corrosive primed anymore. Surplus is all corrosive, but rarely seen lately. IMO one steel cased ammo is as good as the next reliability wise.

 

[Bruce Hanson]

I like Wolf 122 gr fmj, the stuff in the black box, for plinking at the range. I've shot the Wolf Military Classic as well. Never had a problem with either through any of my guns; a WASR 10, an unconverted Saiga and a Yugo SKS.

 

[Speedo66]

Aim Surplus and Sportsman's Guide have some decent prices on that ammo.

 

[270WSM]

Wally World where I am has Tul Ammo $5 + tax per 20 rounds. 122 Gr FMJs steel case and like others said non-corrosive. I have no complaints for using this el cheap ammo. If you are looking to buy more I have seen the best buys at gun shows for 500 rounds+ for the same tul ammo in 7.62 x 39.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

1) buy it cheap

2) stack it deep

I agree withh 270WSM around the $5 mark for 20 is about right for steel case (which is likely bimetal jacketed and the bullet will attract a magnet)

 

[M1key]

Try some Golden Tiger. It is what I exclusively shoot in my Arsenal SAM7. It costs no more that the lesser stuff and is noticeably more accurate. Other than that, the Arsenal brass-cased, boxer primed stuff.

M

 

[js8588]

I've heard great things about Golden Tiger. I stock Wolf and Silver Bear. Looking into the Red Army Standard stuff that's been proliferating of late.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I guess I should probably get a case or two before Russia starts their bad behavior up again.

Mike

 

[119er]

Golden Tiger for sure when you can find it. Last place I bought it was at SGAmmo. Always fast shipping too. I believe it is/was the only one with a boat tail bullet but I have been wrong before. How effective that boat tail is at 100-200 yards is debatable though! It does shoot great. Lacquered case with sealed bullet and primer.

I have used Wolf, Brown Bear, and Tulammo. All have been fine. Just got a case of Wolf military classic and it is the poly coating instead of lacquer. None should be corrosive to my knowledge unless you run across old surplus or brass cased Yugo.

 

[bullseyebob47]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ojqSIMAH-w&index=12&list=PL0k8IScA_ejxiR4Bvt8P98KbrgwxcV9T4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8HKd2tDJC0&list=PL0k8IScA_ejxiR4Bvt8P98KbrgwxcV9T4&index=19

 

[wally]

IMO one steel cased ammo is as good as the next reliability wise.

^^^ this.

And IMHO accuracy wise too, the lot to lot variation within a brand is easily as large as the brand to brand variation. I've shot 10's of thousands of rounds of the stuff at steel plates and water filled plastic bottles over the past 10+ years and have settled on just buying whatever is cheapest when I need more.

Sportsman's Guide or AIM surplus has usually been the best price once S&H is factored in over this time period.

I saw nothing special in Golden Tiger to make it worth paying more for, in fact it was among my cases with highest dud rate, but as I said lot to lot variations are large and I'd buy it again if it was the cheapest.

 

[GaSwamper]

Never knew a lot about it myself except I shot a lot of it over the years. I no longer have a weapon that shoots it but still got a surplus of a little over about 500 rounds of the old Norinco 125grn. fmj that I bought by the thousands don't know how this compares to new stuff but its always went bang and never a bad feed over a lot of years.

 

[nastynatesfish]

Nothing laquer cased. That <stuff> will glue itself in you chamber if you run hot and stop with one in the chamber. I used a bunch of the 123 Tula hp ammo. PRetty good stuff

 

[MIL-DOT]

Nothing laquer cased. That <stuff> will glue itself in you chamber if you run hot and stop with one in the chamber.

The well known ammo source "SGAmmo" is a member over at AR-15.com, and in a related thread last December, posted the following concerning the alleged issue with laquer coating:

"The case mouth sealant was the primary cause of 'lacquering' in 223/5.56 cal AR15 rifles in conjunction with poor firearm maintenance. The seal of course would be broken when the round was fired and this would leave residue. Guys would go shoot several hundred, even thousands of rounds without cleaning the firearm and the buildup would eventually cause chamber problems in ARs. As most folks are quick to jump to assumptions without researching the facts, this spawned the false rumor that the lacquer was melting off the cartridge case and gumming up the gun, when in fact it was the gun owners lack of cleaning the residue from the sealant from their firearm. There are a lot of folks out there that just do not clean their guns and still expect them to work properly. The Russian factories and the importers identified this and in an effort to cut costs and 'clean up' the ammo's image and performance in guns that were not properly cleaned, they made the choice to ditch the sealant and lacquered case. This was a double win for them in a way because it without lacquer there was nothing to slander their product about, plus it saved a lot of time and money in production. It looked like they they were coming out with a better product in the eyes of many consumers that had been warned to avoid lacquered ammo, when in fact it was more about saving costs, increasing production and improving the image of the product. Although the change did substantially improve function in the AR15 that was not properly maintained it was a real loss for the rest of the calibers in production that did not have issues common to the AR15."
http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=4&f=54&t=152280&page=2

And to address the OP, my favorite has also long been Golden Tiger, or Barnaul's "Bear" stuff, but I've never had any issues with any of them, Rusky,Romy,Yugo,Chi-com......

 

[wally]

Nothing laquer cased. That <stuff> will glue itself in you chamber if you run hot and stop with one in the chamber.

No issues at all for me, lacquer or not, red sealant or not in the 7.62x39.

Its potentially an issue in cases without a lot of taper like 5.56, but I ran through my lacquer .223 in the ARs without issues. I shoot mostly steel plates. 150-300 rounds per outing, and its 95+ outside 7+ months of the year, so very hot guns are a way of life.

I'm sure the Russian ammo magnates are laughing all the way to the bank with their "improved" ammo made for the American market

My steel cased ammo "stuck cases" experiences (all in 5.56 ARs) have been defective extractors, FOD, and oil left in the chamber -- think suction cup instead of lubrication.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I've got a case on the way 22 cents a round.

Mike

 

[wally]

I've got a case on the way 22 cents a round.

Outstanding if that includes S&H, but in any event its very good for these days!

 

[gunnutery]

Check out thefirearmblog.com they've started a weekly ammo price comparison and you can find out who's got the best prices.

I like about half of my stock to be HP and half FMJ.

 

[tahunua001]

yep, surplus is almost non existent and what is, is corrosive.
x39 is mostly all made by barnaul or ulanovsk. bear brans(brown bear, silver bear, golden bear) are made by barnaul. Tula, WPA, wolf, herters, and most recently red army standard are all made by ulanovsk.

tula is the lowest of the low, lots of duds, jams in a lot of rifles, especially AR15s, but it is also the cheapest, usually can be had for about 23-25 cents a round.

next up comes brown bear, wolf and WPA. WPA runs a little more than the others, but these are fairly reliable as range ammo, usually a good medium, sometimes you'll get a dud or two and failure to feed/extract out of 1000 rounds.

silver bear, golden bear, herters is next. these are all supposedly top shelf but I've never noticed any improvement between these and wolf. despite what they look like, they are all steel cased, not reloadable.

sellier and bellot, PRVI partizan, and wolf gold are the best of the range ammo. usually you spend quite a bit, north of 40 cents a round unless you find a good deal but it's all brass cased, good quality control and fairly decent accuracy wise.

a lot of the stuff you shot in the 90s like norinco, golden tiger, and USA(love that stuff, actually was an ulanovsk company made in russia), are long gone and non existent anymore.

 

[geo57]

tahunua001,

The Tula plant in Russia also makes a lot of the 7.62x39 ammo. I'm pretty sure they make the Wolf black box and Herter's in addition to their Tula brand.

Wolf Military Classic is made by Uly IIRC.

 

[1KPerDay]

Herter's/Tula gives me occasional hangfires. Try Wolf or Golden Tiger or Red Army or whatever.

 

[Hullraiser]

Wolf comes in several flavors , is non corrosive but dirty like the rest of the cheap stuff. I still find it to be better than Tulammo in any caliber.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

It is basically all the same now except:

Golden Tiger used to give you 4 extra boxes when you bought 1k, since they packed it 6x3x3 = 54 (x20 = 1080). The others pack it 5x5x2 = 50. Not sure if they still do. This probably makes up for the random box of 19 that they all have.

The Yugo surplus is corrosive however it is not too common anymore. Be careful of this if someone has a deal on brass cased ammo with an orange colored sealant around the primer. I wish I had picked up a few more cases of this when everyone was awash in it.

 

[sniper69]

Sebastian the Ibis - I kick myself for not buying more of the yugo when it was $89 a crate. Great shooting stuff. I have some czech stuff with a 1963 headstamp that had some hard primers - but it is quite accurate (came in an ugly sealed spam can that looked like it had water damage - bought in 93 or 94). The Samson (sp?) 7.62x39 that century sold in 2003 time frame is some nice stuff too. $70/1000 was definitely a nice price to pay.