Russian ammo

[ChronoCube]

What is the difference between the various brands of Russian ammo?

• Wolf black box
• Wolf Military Classic
• Brown Bear
• Silver Bear

And how do those differences affect their use in centerfire rifles?

 

[rugbyer81]

Wolf black box and Wolf Military Classic are similar, though one of them (I can't remember which one), has a slightly heavier bullet than the other. They are both steel-cased.

Brown Bear and Silver Bear are from a different manufacturer, Barnaul, and I have heard that they burn cleaner than the Wolf ammo. Brown Bear uses a straight steel case, while Silver Bear uses a zinc-plated steel case.

I have used all except Brown Bear in my Wasr-10, and for my part have found no appreciable differences in them.

 

[stubbicatt]

The Golden Bear has an appearance as of a brass casing.

Being a handloader, my brass means a lot to me. First, it is mine. Second I've put a lot of prep into it. Don't touch it, even if it hits the ground.

At a local forest service range, there is this duffer who comes up there and scrounges brass from around your shooting bench. You tell him to stop, but he sort of sneaks in anyways. Annoying.

Last time I saw him there, I shot maybe 30 rounds of the Golden Bear and told him not to to pick it up. I giggled up my sleeve when he would sneak in there and grab a few pieces when he thought I wasn't looking.

That berdan primed steel case which looks like brass probably made his day.

 

[wnycollector]

Wolf black box and Wolf Military Classic are made in different factories. IIRC Black box is made at the Tula plant and Mil classic at the ulyanovsk plant. The Ulyanovsk plant has the reputation of producing very high quality ammunition.

 

[jdc1244]

And how do those differences affect their use in centerfire rifles?

Accuracy will vary among each type and the rifles using them, particularly in a bolt action. Case design may also effect how a semi auto functions. Some have reported function problems with the lacquer-coated cases, for example.

Many AR owners won’t touch the stuff.

All of it functions fine in an AK.

 

[CTW]

I have had good results with the military classic hp, barnaul, and brown bear. For some reason they all shoot quite a bit more accurate out of my wasr and 2 sks's than the regular wolf black box. It still functions flawless, but less accurate for me.