Russian Mfg-Steel case ammo

[Usmc-1]

All right I didnt see another section for ammo other than reloads , so Im gonna you guys your thoughts on this ammo , its so cheap just curious if its reliable at all , Im sure its as old as the 1911 I'll be shooting it with , but my god "500" rounds for 127 bucks!!! How many FTF's could it be?

 

[Nushif]

Up on Mary's Peak it's a time honored tradition for people to roll up with their tricked out AR-15s and an assortment of other weapons, and then bust out some russian steel ammo.

Much to my dismay, because they by default don't leave brass behind. 8(

But other than that I've never noticed them having problems.

 

[Remllez]

Sounds like a great buy to me! I have bought and shot steel ammo in a couple different calibers and had good luck with it. For trigger time I thinks it's a fiscally sound choice. I'm not sure I would carry it...(ball)... for CCW but practice with it makes sense to me.

 

[Usmc-1]

no I wont be carrying it , I would like some practice ammo and this seems to fit the bill!

 

[galena]

I've shot several thousand rounds of Wolf .45ACP with absolutaly no problems. It is dirty so good cleaning habits are a must.

On the other hand, I bought a bunch of Wolf .40SW and have had nothing but problems. The only pistol I have that will digest the stuff is my Glock 23. Everything else, S&W M&P, Colt Series 80 MK IV (of course the Colt wouldn't shoot anything else either) and Browning Hi-Power all had multiple FTE, only with the Wolf, everything else works great.

Give it a try for practice ammo. Keep shootin'

 

[Usmc-1]

well it be fired through my colt govt series 80 mk 4 , we'll see and Ill let ya know if im gonna have a sale my self!

 

[Heretic]

My AR prints 2 moa with remington bulk ammo, but prints 6 moa with tulammo, and 9 with some really cheap crap they won't even put a brand on.

Also the only "fail to extract" I've had with the weapon was russian crap.

However, I hear Wolf is OK, but I haven't shot any.

 

[NoobCannon]

Haven't had any issues with Tula in my .40. Haven't gotten my hands on it in any other caliber, so I don't know if I just got lucky with it.

 

[Mr.454]

The only thing it will do is smell bad and chew up your extractor. I've used brown bear, silver bear, wolf, and tula. Best groups were with Wolf in .223. The Tula ammo seriously smells like rhino fart, my wife refuses to shoot it even with a breeze.

 

[Strahley]

I've never had a problem with steel ammo, of any caliber. In fact, I don't care to own a gun that can't cycle it

 

[SGW42]

My P220 eats it up.

Steel case shoots sloppy groups in my rifles, but the pistol stuff always works for me and is on par with the brass. If the range lets me shoot it, I figure double the trigger time.

 

[WardenWolf]

Silver Bear is the cream of the crop of the Russian ammo. It's very nice, very accurate, and it's often cheaper than Wolf. The zinc plating fixes a lot of the extraction issues usually associated with steel cases.

 

[galena]

Addition to earlier post. The only Silver Bear I have used was in 9mm. Never had a problem. Keep shootin'

 

[wally]

Silver Bear is the cream of the crop of the Russian ammo. It's very nice, very accurate, and it's often cheaper than Wolf. The zinc plating fixes a lot of the extraction issues usually associated with steel cases

Not in Houston's heat and humidity. The cases rather quickly coat themselves in a talc-like zinc oxide white powdery film. This sometimes causes bolt over base feed failures from the extra friction in the magazine.

I won't buy it unless the price is truly compelling as I didn't find the marginal accuracy improvement to be worth the hassle of either wiping off the oxide when loading the mags or living with the feed failures. I should note the oxide is a non-issue in an AK, but becomes a problem in other guns or calibers.


The only extraction issues I've ever had with steel cased ammo was in an AR with an out of spec extractor. Filed it to match an in-spec one and problem solved. I did eventually replace the extractor just to be safe, as I didn't know if these have some kind of surface hardness I'd removed, but it did work fine until the replacement arrived. This gun worked fine with brass cased ammo, the steel cases exposed a latent issue so count me in the camp than considers a gun broken if it don't work with the steel cased ammo -- its not the most accurate, and you'll have to clean your gun more often, but the price is right!

That said, Hornady is loading their Vmax bullet into virgin 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 steel cases so the accuracy and cleaning situation should improve at the cost of a higher price.

 

[Prince Yamato]

Honestly, I don't think there's a difference in Russian ammo. I call it "animal brand" because each brand is named after an animal of some sort- bear, wolf, tiger, monarch, etc. I think it all shoots the same. I also think it's all produced in the same factory or under the same management. They just print different boxes with different animal pictures on then and say, "this one goes to Academy Sports, this one goes to Dick's, this one goes to smaller stores." It shoots hotter than American brands and smells a little funny, but it's been as accurate as non-Russian ammo, at least in my Glocks.

 

[Hondo 60]

The Russian steel cased ammo isn't very accurate (atleast not the calibers I've shot).
But I've never had a FTF.

My AR dislikes it. As it heats up the laquer coating can "melt" a bit & cause FTEs

 

[Sport45]

The only thing it will do is smell bad and chew up your extractor.

I read this often, but haven't seen a chewed up extractor yet.

As it heats up the laquer coating can "melt" a bit & cause FTEs

AFAIK, the laquer coated stuff hasn't been sold here in a LONG time. It may still be out there in the surplus market, but the Wolf, Tula, etc they sell today does not have any laquer on it. At least the stuff I've bought wasn't coated with anything that gums up when its hot.

I've shot Wolf and Tula steel case .223 and .30 carbine with no function issues. It's not as accurate as the more expensive store-bought stuff, but it has worked for me.

 

[PabloJ]

Hornady also loads ammo using imported iron cases. It's called Match or something similar to that. I believe they use domestic priming, powder and slugs to assure certain quality level.

 

[Locoone]

Why shoot steel case ammo when you can get brass just as cheap? Just search around the net a bit.

the only things that ever see the steel case ammo are my ak and sks, none in my pistols. I dont trust it in weapons (other than the 2 mentioned) as it may not be doing the damage thats obvious, but we all know what steel on steel does, if not in the short term then the long.

 

[Sport45]

My guns all have plenty of steel surfaces sliding across or banging against each other already. Throwing a steel case (designed for the purpose) into the mix seems inconsequential.

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

no thanks. i like my guns too much to shoot cheap russian steel cased crap through them. rather not have that lacquer stuff melting in my chambers. i've never found it much cheaper than american made quality stuff anyway. it used to be much cheaper years ago.

 

[Sport45]

Not much cheaper????

Graf's current prices:

WOLF AMMO 223 REM 62g FMJ POLYFORMANCE 20/bx 50/cs
Our Price: $4.89
In Stock
Item #: WO22362

The least expensive "american made quality stuff"

FED AMMO 5.56mm 55gr FMJ -BT AM.-EAGLE 20/bx 25/cs
Our Price: $7.89
Out of stock
Item #: FDXM193

The least expensive stuff in stock is WIN 55gr FMJ at $11.29 and the least expensive 62gr is American Eagle at $12.89

I don't think the price difference is insignificant.

rather not have that lacquer stuff melting in my chambers

Have you had this happen in your gun or seen it in any gun?

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

Not much cheaper????

Graf's current prices:

WOLF AMMO 223 REM 62g FMJ POLYFORMANCE 20/bx 50/cs
Our Price: $4.89
In Stock
Item #: WO22362

The least expensive "american made quality stuff"

FED AMMO 5.56mm 55gr FMJ -BT AM.-EAGLE 20/bx 25/cs
Our Price: $7.89
Out of stock
Item #: FDXM193

The least expensive stuff in stock is WIN 55gr FMJ at $11.29 and the least expensive 62gr is American Eagle at $12.89

I don't think the price difference is insignificant.

Quote:
rather not have that lacquer stuff melting in my chambers
Have you had this happen in your gun or seen it in any gun?

you should learn how to ammo shop.

quality american 223, like american eagle can be had at many places for $5.99/box. i actually have a hard time NOT finding it for that price. i've never paid more than $6.99/box for american 223 ammo in my life. i get it at cabelas stores (not online), dunhams sporting goods, sgammo, etc. at these prices all the time.

and yes, plenty o times i've seen the lacquer melted in chambers, and you can't always get it all out either.

 

[Sport45]

you should learn how to ammo shop.

Nah. 95% of what I shoot is my own reloads. I have a stock of Wolf / Tula that I keep on hand for the times I don't think I'll be able to recover my brass. It's not as accurate as my stuff, but it goes bang and impresses the kiddos that get to shoot it. I haven't noticed a bit of difference in cleaning the guns afterwards. But the stuff I shoot doesn't have lacquer anywhere on it.

AmmoEngine results for .223Rem

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I've shot Wolf, but the last time was c. 2004. Never any trouble with the pistol ammo (9mm Luger, .45 Auto). The powder was very stinky, somewhat like burning hair, but it all fed, fired and ejected as it was supposed to.