Response from DSA regarding Wolf ammo.

[Deer Hunter]

I sent an email to DSA regarding the use of Wolf ammo in their STG58 rifles. Since I hear South African is running out, and Wolf is nearly as cheap as SA, I thought maybe it'd be a good substitute. This email is making me rethink my original position.

I know there are other threads regarding this subject, but I thought I should post a new topic instead of dragging another one out of retirement.
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Hello Nick,

Wolf ammo is subject to case head failure, and even worse, the occasional double powder load. In short, it may blow up your rifle. Russian quality control on ammo is one of the worst in the world. We have had more problems with customers blowing up rifles with Wolf than any other brand. We had a SA58 rifle in here last week as a result of using Wolf ammo. Also, the FAL was not designed for use with steel cased ammo, nor is Wolf ammo Nato Spec. Can the rifle function with it ? Yes, will it do so flawlessly ? Perhaps....but you should know extended use of this type of ammo causes excessive wear on your rifle. Can you get lucky and never run into a bad batch of Wolf ammo>? Probably. But is it worth the risk to save $30 per thousand rounds? if you use Wolf in your rifle ,you will void your warranty. We would know because the case would be stuck in the chamber, or we would ask for the case that blew up the gun. There are always at least pieces left of the case.

There are many other types of surplus ammo out there besides South African. We take the time to post this info on the web because we want you to avoid having problems with your rifle. There are no rifles out there that would not sustain major damage from case head failure or double powder loads. As you stated, the FAL is robust, but not indestructible.

We suggest you take a look at Shotgun News, or Gun List as there are usually several companies in each that list Surplus ammo that is not on our warning list. If you can't find surplus ammo , we suggest Winchester USA Brand, Federal American Eagle, or Remington UMC. These are slightly higher than surplus costs, but they are excellent and well below the cost of premium ammo. Unfortunately, surplus ammo is getting scarce in any caliber.

Hope that answers your question.

Best Regards,

Marc Galli
General Manager
DSA Inc.

 

[DMK]

That's a pretty strong opinion. Almost everyone who owns SKS or AK rifles shoots a good amount of Wolf. I've not heard of one problem from them. The FAL is at least as strong as an AK or SKS, if not stronger.

Yet, I find it hard to believe that DSA would alienate customers by lying to them about it blowing up their rifles. They'd certainly sell more guns if they said they would shoot the cheap stuff, no problem.

 

[Deer Hunter]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I especially like the line of

Russian quality control on ammo is one of the worst in the world

Anyone want to colaborate that statement?

There are many other types of surplus ammo out there besides South African

Like what? I've only found some from Aimsurplus, and it was either more expensive than SA, or 80's production austrian stuff made in south america or something, which have had worse reports than Wolf.

 

[Thin Black Line]

I guess I'm just lucky with the thousands of rds of wolf so far.....

Are they suggesting such "surplus ammo" I've seen over the years such as
the Indian corrosive, the no-name steel-wash with the off-center bullets
(literally tipped to one side), or the gummy-bear indonesian?

And, considering that the powder charge for a 308 usually fills most of
the brass case as it is, how does one "double powder load" it?

This is the typical "the ruskie stuff is crap" cuff-shooting with little basis
in reality. I actually have a higher reject rate with my US-made milsurp
--which, if I had used it, would have blown up my rifle.

 

[ny32182]

While everyone has their opinion on Wolf, and most people aren't likely the change it, this is the first thing that jumped out at me about the email as well:

And, considering that the powder charge for a 308 usually fills most of the brass case as it is, how does one "double powder load" it?

Pull some bullets, and you will see that double charging a .308 (or .223) looks to be physically impossible. At least, it does to my relatively untrained eye.

When the SA runs out, I'd be shooting Wolf/Silver Bear/etc in my DSA rifles before I start paying 400-500 a case or whatever UMC costs these days.

 

[Onmilo]

Many global ammunition manufacturers use just one or two production lines to manufacture all of their offered calibers.
The same powder hoppers are used for small caliber rifle, large caliber rifle, and handgun cartridge production.
If a worker is careless about removing all of the previous cartridge powder before dumping the powder for a new caliber it is all too conceivable that a double or even triple charge of all the wrong powder can find itself in one or a hundred or more of the new production caliber.
Not that this could possibly happen in a Russian manufacturing center, what, with the high wages and excellent working conditions there,,,,,

Finished cartridges typically fall in vats and those hundred cartridges can become mixed into several different boxes in a single lot.
American producers regularly issue recalls when something like this happens, and yes, it does happen here in the states too.
I know of no case where Wolf has issued a recall on anything bad that they produced though the US import group is known to try and rectify problem situations quietly with customers who are persistent.

DSA is an honorable manufacturer, I have dealt with them on a number of occasions.
If they recommend that you don't shoot a particular brand of ammunition in their firearms I would take them at their word and heed the advice.

 

[Deer Hunter]

I read about another Wolf Ka-boom in an FAL over at Falfiles. I think that maybe their .308 ammo has some QC issues, because that's around the thirt of fourth I've seen on that site. I can only hope that by the time our surplus dries up, Wolf will have fixed this problem.

 

[mec]

"Wolf ammo is subject to case head failure, ...."

sounds like Barbara's experience. She posted a picture recently but it is now a red x

 

[Father Knows Best]

Is Wolf .308 ammo o.k. for my SA58? Probably.

Am I willing to take even a SLIGHT chance of blowing up a $1400 rifle and voiding my warranty in the process? No way, Jose!

I'm sticking to NATO milsurp for plinking. Thankfully, I have close to 7,000 rounds of Belgian and Portuguese laid in, and another 2,000 of South African. I should be o.k. for, oh, another couple of months maybe?

 

[WayneConrad]

"Almost everyone who owns SKS or AK rifles shoots a good amount of Wolf. I've not heard of one problem from them."

SKS, Wolf ammo blew out the primer. Hot gasses hit the firing pin with enough force to bend it so that it was able to clear the firing pin stop pin and sail out the back of the bolt. Had to use a hammer on the bolt to get the casing out of the chamber.

My nephew was firing when this happened. Let's just say that he wasn't entirely happy once he learned how much mayhem had happened a few inches from his face.

Now you've heard of one problem from them

 

[taliv]

heh, Wayne

"heard" maybe... "listened" no.

 

[Deer Hunter]

I'd love to have that much ammo on hand, Father Knows Best, but sadly I only have around 1500 rounds of South African. If it's the only cheap ammo I can put through my FAL, then I'm screwed when (and if) it dries up. I hope that Wolf gets their act together and turns out more reliable ammunition (Other than Wolf Gold). Hopefully after I get paid a bit (People owe me some money), I'll be able to purchase some more South African.

Good thing I'm buying a Mosin to go along with my FAL.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

That's a pretty strong opinion. Almost everyone who owns SKS or AK rifles shoots a good amount of Wolf. I've not heard of one problem from them. The FAL is at least as strong as an AK or SKS, if not stronge.

In my personal experience, AKs using Wolf are far more reliable than American made rifles shooting Lake City, Federal, or Aussie/S.A. surplus. And Russians are known for reliable small arms.

Also, saying that a company hears more problems from people using Wolf than any other brand--doesn't more Wolf get shot than any other brand? Does anyone have statistics?

 

[browningguy]

If you absolutely have to save the very last quarter per 1000 on your ammo, then shoot Wolf. I personally don't understand why anyone wants less than good accuracy, even through their AK/SKS, but to each his own.

For those looking for accuracy, reliability etc. there are plenty of other options, as a great man once said, it only costs a dollar more to go first class. I did once shoot a box of Wolf through my Yugo SKS, groups went from 2-3 MOA to 5-6 MOA. Good enough reason not to run any more through my rifles.

If a manufacturer tells you your warranty will be voided by using a certain brand, take off the tin foil that, they may actually be trying to help you out. I doubt if they are secretly trying to bankrupt Wolf, but of course I could be wrong...