Russian ammo in 7.62 X 39 and in .223 why prices are so low?

[stinger 327]

Yes, yes! And FMJs are only supposed to wound the enemy, thus tying up support resources to deal with the injured soldier, and the Nazi's had proof of the extra terrestrials we captured and imprisoned at Area 51, and the ammo shortage was a deliberate strategy of the current Administration to scare so many people into buying all the ammo up that "regular folks" couldn't find any!



(Yeah...that last one was actually said here on THR ... seriously!)

Yes I remember that well the ammo scare. People that bought from Walmart couldn't find any ammo on the shelves along with other sporting goods stores. Those gun shops that did have the ammo raised the prices and put limits on how much one person could buy.
If I remember one of the stories for everyone to go buy up the ammo was that they were going to make it so that each bullet is identifiable to purchaser and this would result in prices going up. Also with the current administration it was said they would be cracking down on this after the health care reform issues.
Sounds like the so called gas shortage and crises of 1974 and 1979 when they had gas rationing odd plates one day and even plates the others.

 

[stinger 327]

Are you serious? Well better than half, depending on the round. I couldn't reload 5.45x39 cheaper than Soviet surplus stuff ($0.12 a round) but I can load something like .44 Spc. for probably close to 1/3 the cost of a box of factory ammo.

Of course. Actually, gun companies (all companies, really) don't want to pay any claim they don't HAVE to -- because any claim costs them money. Most don't give you a hard time if you've shot reloads, unless you're trying to get them to replace a bulged barrel or a whole gun that blew up "for no reason."

You are probably right and who knows what laws will be coming up to thwart reloading like the rest of the gun related industry.
Knowing my luck I would blow myself up with having gunpowder around so I will continue to buy factory ammo already made.

 

[GRIZ22]

This is true but do you think it is also reflective of the components and quality of the ammo made?

The low wages in Russia go all the way down to the miners that get thw raw materials from the ground. As far as quality goes it is not the best from far from the worst. There was a Russian General or Admiral who quoted as defining Soviet design technology as "perfection is the enemy of good enough" (supposedly paraphrasing Voltaire). This applied to all Soviet military designs. Want the best 7.62x39? Get Lapua (now about $1.25 a round) or some IMI if you can find it. Want something good enough? Get Russian military ammo or Wolf. This is not a quality control issue but a philosophy issue.

 

[stinger 327]

This is true but do you think it is also reflective of the components and quality of the ammo made?

The low wages in Russia go all the way down to the miners that get thw raw materials from the ground. As far as quality goes it is not the best from far from the worst. There was a Russian General or Admiral who quoted as defining Soviet design technology as "perfection is the enemy of good enough" (supposedly paraphrasing Voltaire). This applied to all Soviet military designs. Want the best 7.62x39? Get Lapua (now about $1.25 a round) or some IMI if you can find it. Want something good enough? Get Russian military ammo or Wolf. This is not a quality control issue but a philosophy issue.

Where do you get Lapua or IMI which I have never heard of. Ditto for Lapua.

 

[Kentucky_Rifleman]

I guess I better keep any Russian ammo away from the Ruger Mini-14 and just use PMC, Remington, Winchester, or Federal in .223.

No one mentioned this yet, but several of the AR guys will tell you to avoid surplus 5.56 surplus ammo, which is loaded hotter than American .223. I don't shoot ARs, mostly bolt guns, but it's an issue worth getting some expert advice on.

Russian .223 should be fine though.

As a point of trivia (which I learned here, BTW) the "Dum-Dum" rounds Sam 1911 mentioned earlier are soft lead slugs. I had always heard the term "Dum-Dum" used as a synonym for any lead slug designed to kill humans. The term began with the big British .455 Webley revolvers. They made a run of ammunition that was like a wadcutter on steroids, and they were dandy man-stoppers, but the Geneva folks bitched and the Brits redesigned the ammo. The term Dum-Dum came from the factory where that generation of ammo was made - Dum-Dum, India.

KR

 

[Kentucky_Rifleman]

You are probably right and who knows what laws will be coming up to thwart reloading like the rest of the gun related industry. Knowing my luck I would blow myself up with having gunpowder around so I will continue to buy factory ammo already made.

With a Mini 14, factory cheapo ammo might be the best solution anyway. handloading for a bolt rifle can yield ammo far better than anything you can buy, but reloading for an autorifle won't produce ammo as distinctly superior, some better? sure, miles better? no.

Plus, those Minis really sling the brass, and the ones I've seen ding the hell out of the brass in the bargain.

If you get into shooting bolt rifles or big-bore handguns, reloading will save you a chunk of dough (50-75% off factory ammo). If you want to shoot much and you're not independently wealthy, reloading can help keep the ammo costs under control. As a bonus, you can load much better ammo than you can buy.

KR

 

[GRIZ22]

Where do you get Lapua or IMI which I have never heard of. Ditto for Lapua.

Midway has Lapua (made in Finland). I ahven't seen any IMI (Israeli Military Industries) for several years. maybe someone else has seen it somewhere.

 

[stinger 327]

Where do you get Lapua or IMI which I have never heard of. Ditto for Lapua.

Midway has Lapua (made in Finland). I ahven't seen any IMI (Israeli Military Industries) for several years. maybe someone else has seen it somewhere.

Thanks I will ch eck into th at.

 

[Sam1911]

but reloading for an autorifle won't produce ammo as distinctly superior, some better? sure, miles better? no.

Heh, that statement needs to be clarified: Reloading for SOME auto rifles (like most Mini-14s, 5.56NATO Kalashnikovs, and maybe bargain bin ARs) won't produce ammo quite as distinctly superior.

If you have a match-grade, competition, or varmint-hunting AR, you aren't going to be feeding it surplus ammo. When your rifle is capable of shooting 1/2 M.O.A. or better (and you spent a lot of money to build it that way), feeding it mil-surp ammo is, in fact, "miles" worse.