Surplus "sniper" ammo?

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Shrinkmd

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Has anyone actually tried out surplus sniper ammo, such as the 7N1 in 7.62x54R or Yugo M75 (supposedly coming into the country soon) I would be using it in a bolt gun, not a PSL or Romak or Hakim or whatever other semi-autos were chambered in these calibers. Is this ammo a waste of time and $? How does it compare to new production Prvi Partisan, for example?
 
I dont know about the ammo you are looking for, but i recently tried some Lake City M118 (.308 "sniper"). It was "surplus" and/or reject due to poor brass quality. It did not shoot very good. It shot about 4" groups at 100yds, while Federal Gold Medal Match from the same rifle, same day, shot less than 1". I don't know what the quality of what you are getting is like, but you may want to try reloading.
 
No matter the hype, no surplus is going to be any better quality then any well made new production ammo.

Such as the case with this lot of M75 8mm "counter sniper" ammo that is coming in for the M76, there is no way that i see this stuff outshooting new production S&B, Privi, or even Igman in the same caliber.

That being said, it is a lot cheaper, and i could be wrong.

With the 7N1 its kind of a diffrent deal, the 7N1 is designed for the SVD's and there for works very, very well in the PSL's as well in terms of accuracy, BUT, it is a projectile designed to retain its wounding capibility for longer distances through its design, when it has lost sufficent temporary cavity velocity, it is still effective as the lead core is placed to the rear of a steel "knocker" that shifts the center of gravity upon impact causing tumbleing that would otherwise possibly not occur.

Both are probibly more about being cheaper, being surplus, and just being what they are. More so then being the ideal premium round.
 
Having shot the 7n1 i will say that I would put it against ANY other commercial offering accuracy wise in the same gun. it's that good. also the price is very attractive for match grade ammo.

having said that... :) i will say that they dont surplus ammo becasue it's first rate stuff. it has something that someone no longer wants, and that is RARELY because it was superceded by a better offering. usually it menas that it exceeded it's shelf life or the performance no longer met specifications (fliers)
 
The Soviet 7.62x54 7N1 will out perform commercially made ammo. Also, the Swiss GP 11 will outperform anything commericially available. As far as the rest of the 7.62x54 and Swiss 7.55, it is a crap shoot.
 
Right here from Outdoor Marksman.

I picked up a full case plus every last loose packet from Dan's ammo back when he was selling it for about $150/ case. I figured I'd keep it squirreled away until I got a Dragunov, SVT or wanted to sell it to somebody that did.

I haven't put any of it through my Finns yet because I had heard that it gave less than stellar performance from bolt guns. Something about being optimized for a gas-op rifle. Again, that's just hearsay and I haven't checked it for myself...

On 7.62x54r.net they had some test data posted for 7N1 ammo. I can't seem to open that page to make a link.
YMMV


Ek :)
 
I bought several packs of 7n1. it is interesting because the wrapper says "sniper" in russian.

in my finn m39s accuracy was ho hum but mainly that is because i was a mediocre volley sight shot at the time. today i am much better but i still dont shoot it because frankly i dont need sniper ammo to punch paper at 100 yards.

sniper ammo (the 7n1 at any rate) i see as being useful if the zombies come invading and I have to put the zombie master down from concealment at 150 yards. until the dead walk the earth, my sniper ammo is just mainly for cool factor and a lot of cartridge fondling in the dark.
 
Silverlance, make sure that you differentiate the stuff. The headstamp on 7N1 ammo is identical to that of the standard ball ammo made at the same factory (#88 if memory serves...). Most of my standard russian ball is from that factory so I keep all the sniper stuff wrapped up in the paper and the loose is in a labeled ziplock baggie. After you unwrap it, it's just like any other ammo. ;)
 
Another one is the Swedish M/41 Prickskytte ammo- if there is a new production ammo that is as accurate in 6.5x55, I haven't found it yet.
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Do you know a good source for this? I have a couple of Swedes that I'd like to test that ammo out in for accuracy.
 
Do you know a good source for this? I have a couple of Swedes that I'd like to test that ammo out in for accuracy.
Click to expand...

The stuff I had, Ihad gotten 5-6 years ago. Samcoglobal.com probably has some or at least the outsourced (Hansen, I think) version of it.
 
Speaking of Samco Global

It looks like they have some other "pricey" 8mm surplus ammo:

8mm MAUSER BALL (7.92x57JS)

Finest quality 8mm Mauser surplus ammo. Mfg. FNM Portugal. FMJ, 198 GR. Boatail NC/BE. Loose Ammo. Some on Stripper clips. 800 rds per wooden case with rope handle. Wt. 63# per case.

* 29.9 cents per Round
* 400 rds $ 119.60
* $ 239.20 per case
* 5 cases or more: $ 223.20 per case

8mm MAUSER BALL (7.92x57JS)

Mfg. Hirtenberger Patronen, Austria, '80s, FMJ, NC/BO (reloadable) 197 gr. Boattail. Packed 20 rds per box. 1920 rds per case. Wt. 132# per case.

* 36.9 cents per Round
* 200 rds $ 73.80
* $ 689.28 per case
* 5 cases or more: $ 670.08 per case
Click to expand...

I wonder how this stuff compares to the Yugo sniper M75 coming in...and the Austrian in reloadable! Hmm...
 
Silverlance, make sure that you differentiate the stuff. The headstamp on 7N1 ammo is identical to that of the standard ball ammo made at the same factory (#88 if memory serves...). Most of my standard russian ball is from that factory so I keep all the sniper stuff wrapped up in the paper and the loose is in a labeled ziplock baggie. After you unwrap it, it's just like any other ammo.
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7N1 is wrapped in paper with the Russian word for "sniper on it, and the can will be labeled as well. Since I don't have cryllic leters on my keyboard, it looks something like: "CHANnEPCKNE". But you are right, out of the package it looks like other Russian ammunition. It's some nasty stuff, probably the nastiest stuff than you can still buy, though a good ballistic tip or Barnes "X" might match its terminal performance, but that's because military ammunition has to be FMJ to be legal. In my ROMAK III, I don't see that big of a difference as compared to Czech light ball, but I haven't tested it in MN bolts or an SVT-40. Lake City match is also pretty good, when you can find it.
 
Indeed, 7N1 is most easily distinguished via its wrapper. It also looks different from the run of the mill surplus CZ / ROM so it's not that easily confused except perhaps with russian LPS.

7N1 was designed to kill humans, even humans wearing light armor. simple as that. hunting ammo tips might match it on animals, but not on lightly armored humans.
 
I know people have good things to say about the guys at Wideners, so here is their testing from earlier today!


Test Result: Nov. 14th, 2007. When this ammo came in this morning, we just couldn't wait. We grabbed 3 boxes, a Yugo M24 8mm (made 1944) rifle and off for a quick test. This ammo is just unreal. We shot six 5 shot groups from about 60 years from a bench. Average group was a little under 2" with a $100 rifle!! We chronographed 3 five shot strings with the following results. 2410 2420 2407 2400 2414 2407 2403 2428 2401 2402 2385 2473 2404 2412 2407. I fired the first two strings and Chris, (who is a champion benchrest shooter) first the last string. That is the only thing I can say to explain the 2473 shot. No sign of pressure or problems, so I think it was a benchrest shooter using iron sights that did it. (Just kidding, Chris) The close velocities and extreme accuracy really means this is true sniper ammo. I guess the special powder, case annealing and other factors all came together for this lot. AND PPU to beat all!! This ammo is better than anything available, new or surplus. Buy it now, limited supply. We will pull and measure later.
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So, if this is true, imagine what a scoped yugo mauser could do. This is cheaper then the essentially unreloadable GP11. People have no problem paying for that, so if this ammo turns your average milsurp mauser into a 2-3 MOA shooter that doesn't seem so bad, eh? They need to do some 100 and 200 yd testing, maybe scope it out.

All I can say is, unless we wake up one morning to see that more 70's Yugo is available for 50 bucks a case again, this may still be a good deal, pricey as it is. Hey. new Prvi M193 costs the same thing. and I personally have more fun with a Mauser than an AR.
 
7n1 also has a bullet design that makes makes it displace its center of gravity very early once it hits something denser than air. This causes massive tumbling very quickly.
 
I'm just a little suspect at a rifle being shot at 50 yards give or take for accuracy. I'm going to get a sample and use it in a 76 and see what it does. The last batch of suplus Yugo 8mm was just ok at best 1950's stuff and the last batch of 7,62 x 54r Yugo was the worst of the ammo tested last time by us..it was just horrible.

The 7n1 is just in a class by itself.....:)

I know where there is supposed to be the 90's dated stuff, I am told by a different dealer, they will let me know today. I'll get a sample down here.
 
sniper ammo (the 7n1 at any rate) i see as being useful if the zombies come invading and I have to put the zombie master down from concealment at 150 yards. until the dead walk the earth, my sniper ammo is just mainly for cool factor and a lot of cartridge fondling in the dark. :)
if you need sniper ammo to hit at 150yds you need to gt to the range a lot lot more:)
 
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