Russian Made Brown & Silver Bear Rifle Ammo: Yea or Nay

[nero45acp]

I'd appreciate some opinions/info about the quality of the Russian made Brown & Silver Bear ammo. I'm thinking about buying some Brown Bear 55gr. .223 REM for my Saiga .223 Rifle, and some Silver Bear 145gr. FMJ .308 WIN for my Spanish FR8, and I'd appreciate any opinions/info about shooting those specific cartridges through those specific carbines. Thanks.


nero

 

[groda]

It's not match ammo, but it does what you tell it to. Never seen any damaged rounds, nor have I had any duds.

 

[TX1911fan]

I've shot both brown and silver in my AR. No problems. Shoot almost exclusively Wolf now, unless I am hunting with it, in which case I shoot brass cased hunting ammo. NEVER had a misfire, FTE, FTF or any other problem.

 

[Dollar An Hour]

Good stuff for your Saiga... No worries.

 

[cland]

Got some Brown Bear when I ordered my Golani from J&G Sales, it's soft point, seems more powerful and more accurate than black box wolf, and about as barrel fouling nasty as any russki ammo. But it was $200 some odd for a thousand.

 

[Grassman]

Anyone familiar with Monarch ammo? I get 20 rounds of 7.62x39 at Academy for $5.69 +tax. It's cheap steel case ammo, but my SKS don't mind.

 

[nwilliams]

I orderd 700 rds of the Silver Bear .223 mil-spec ammo a few weeks ago for a little over $200. It may not be the highest quality ammo but it's fine for plinking and I've hear it's about on par or maybe a little better than Wolf.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

In a saiga you say? Run either. Which ever is cheaper or more easily obtained. It's decent range ammo, better than any of the wolf stuff, but no it's not anywhere near match ammo either.

I've got a couple 223 saigas, both rifles have ran easily over 1,000 rounds of each brand: silver bear, brown bear, and wolf. Zero malfunctions in either rifle. Although in order of most accurate to least it seems to be silver, brown, and then wolf.

 

[Bentonville]

I shot Wolf Military Classic and Black Box through my AK and SKS. When I cleaned the rifles it was like mud comming out of the bore. The casings often split from the neck down to the shoulder on both guns (not that it's a safety problem but I just didn't "feel" as comfortable about the quality of the steel casings). I sold that stuff and bought the Bear ammo, Silver and Brown and , in my opinion, it is cleaner and no problems with the casings splittling. I checked on several forums and most agree that the Barnaul factory in Russia, which makes Silver and Brown Bear, makes good ammo.

 

[Onmilo]

I shoot a lot of Silver Bear .223 ammunition.
As stated, it isn't the most accurate stuff but groups well enough as stay in practice ammo.

It is gratifying to find your groups are nice tight little clusters when you shoot premium ammo.

I haven't had any problems with stuck cases or functioning in my rifles and it really isn't any dirtier than some of the cheaper US made promo offerings.

 

[nero45acp]

Thanks for the helpful/informative replies.

I just ordered 500 rounds of the Brown Bear 55gr FMJ .223 for my Saiga. I got the (16.3") .223 Saiga rifle a couple of weeks ago and I bought a couple of 10rd Surefire mags for it, and changed out the rear sight with a Mojo Micro-Click aperture sight. As soon as the ammo arrives I'll get it out to the range and see how it shoots.


nero