Tula Ammo now sold at Wal-Mart

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I grabbed .45acp, 9x19, and 7.62x39 ... it looks just like Wolf as far as I can tell, but competition is good on the ammo shelf.

We'll see how it runs, if nothing else steel case that ignites reliably is good enough for the zombie box.
 
I ran 100 rounds of the Tul 9mm through my CZ SP-01 Phantom this afternoon. It ate it up like a fat kid eating a bag of Gummi Bears.

It ran 100% and felt fairly hot.
 
Can someone explain the knock on steel-cased vs. brass ammo? Is it overall harder on the firing pin since steel is harder than brass?
 
Primers aren't the difference (in hardness, at least). Most steel-case ammo has a different type of primer, and sometimes it will be a "hard military style" primer, which is a whole separate issue having to do with hammer force and free-float firing pins ... but I doubt it will damage most centerfire guns' firing pins.

The steel is a very mild steel, but it will not expand and seal in the chamber the way brass does. It is also a bit harder on extractor claws in semiautomatics, although a robust design shouldn't be harmed by the very soft steel alloy used for shell casings.
Take a spent steel case and a spent brass case and put the pliers or vice-grips to them, the difference isn't that much as far as the strength at the extractor's grab point on the rim.

Some guns just don't like it, so test and check for reliability and wear, and if you're paranoid look up how much hassle a new extractor would be (in most cases, pretty easy and cheap).
It is often dirtier than comparable brass ammo, both due to the lack of seal (more crap in places other than down the barrel) and due to using cheaper powders that just make more crud.

And don't let some booger-eating-moron accuse steel-case ammo with steel-core or steel-jacket ammo, which can be harder on a backstop in some cases.
 
Can someone explain the knock on steel-cased vs. brass ammo?

I'm not an expert, but I believe it is mostly a function of the "springy" properties of the two metals. Brass cases will expand to the chamber walls under the high pressure of combustion, but will flex back slightly when the pressure is relieved. While steel cases will also conform to the chamber under pressure, but will not spring back as well. This makes the brass cases extract more easilly. While steel cases are more prone to sticking and are harder on the extractor.

Also, brass has a higher resistance to corrosion. While steel corrodes very readilly. So many steel cases have a lacquer coating on them to protect them from corrosion. This coating can make the case sticky in a hot chamber.

7.62x39 cases have a significant taper on them, and with just a few thousandths of an inch of movement, will be free of the tapered wall chamber. 5.56/223Rem is pretty much a straight walled cartridge and must slide out of the straight walled chamber. Hence AKs eat steel cased ammo. well and ARs not so well.

That's my understanding. Anyone knowing better, please correct me.
 
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Fed 20 rounds through a p-mag into my doublestar m4gery, no hiccups. Bro's Mini14 liked it as well. Traded in some more of my unwanted wedding gifts for a Walmart gift card and brought hom another couple hundred rounds to keep the gun safe weighted down.
 
Thanks for the explanation.

I may try this in my Beretta 96 and see how it likes it.

The .45 prices were VERY attractive (coming in at less than the Federal .40 50-count costs). Almost made me buy a Beretta Cougar .45
 
Buying Tula ammo from Chinamart is like the Greek Spartans buying swords from the Persians.
 
The guys at "SKSboards" have at least two threads about the Tula, under "Ammunition". Some of this shipment might be to compensate for an explosion at a Tula plant recently.

If the price for Russian petroleum goes up much higher in the future (as in '06-'07), maybe their plants will continue to export more of this ammo at similar prices to the US?

But prices for copper, steel, etc and the dollar's so-called "value" might hurt us by then, not only increased US demand in a better economy.
 
Does this seem to be a nationwide trend? This thread is the first I have heard of this and have not had a chance to check my local stores all though I now think I saw some Privi Partizan (great stuff and reloadable in 7.62x54) boxes at a local Walmart.
 
The .223 prices are tempting though. That would end up cheaper than my silver bear I have to order, plus no pesky zinc in the chamber. Too bad there is a ten box limit at my walmart.
Ive been buying silver bear 62gr HPBT from CTD before I noticed this stuff at walmart.

Ive heard of the cases oxidizing but I have never heard of zinc cases causing any kind of buildup in the firing chamber?
 
Tula (Russian) ammo, now at WalMart.

Bought four boxes of 7.62x39 today, for about $4.90 each + tax. They also have handgun ammo.
Is this a temporary trend for the Russian companies and govt. to raise quick cash, to help compensate for lost petroleum revenue, due to the recession?

Apparently there was an explosion (months ago) at the Tula plant, which hurt business for a while.
 
I have 3 AR's and have shot Tula in all of them without any problems. Almost all of what I shoot is Russian steel cased ammo. Most of it is Brown Bear and Silver Bear. I've never had any problems and I usually shoot about 500 rnds between cleanings.
I think that Tula is the least accurate of all the Russian brands. It's cheap and goes bang. Not every range trip is about trying to shoot Sub MOA groups from the bench.
I've only tried Tula in .223. I'd rather shoot Brown Bear. It seems to be the most accurate for me and it beats the rest of the Russian brands and Remington, PMC and even American Eagle. This is my experience. If you've had different results then so be it.
I've shot a few thousand rounds of 9mm Silver Bear through my Kimber and a Ruger P89. It's ok. I've never had an issue with it. The zinc cases seem to get some kind of oxidation after a couple of years of storage (top of closet). It still feeds ok and goes bang.
 
I bought 100 rounds of Tulammo 9mm from Walmart. I took it to the range today with my Springfield XD 9mm and had 4 FTE in 50 rounds. Also, after the last round of a magazine was fired, the slide did not lock back open. This happened 5 times is 50 rounds.

I stopped and went back to WWB, no problems. I gave someone who worked at the range the other box of Tulammo I had. The first person I asked didn't want it.
 
I just dont see the deal at Wally World. They want $4.97 a box of 20 plus sales tax gives me $5.32 a box. That works out to $266.00 a case of 1000 rounds (which they NEVER have even close to that much) I order the MFS zinc plated stuff online at Weaponsworld for $225 + $15 S&H (no sales tax) and Im paying $239.95 per 1000 rounds delivered to my door. I save $26 over Walmart and I get as much as I want.
 
Finally got a chance to run my Tula through my XD45 today. Out of a box of 50 I had to FTF. First two problems ever with my XD out of 1000+ rounds of various ammo WWB, Federal etc. I'll be passing on this junk and paying the extra buck or so a box for Federal.

I have a box of 9mm I was going to run through my SR9c but I am not even going to bother now, I'll just tuck it away.
 
I've shot 400 rounds of 9mm through my Glock and had 100% reliability so far. It seems fine for the range. It doesn't seem to be leaving any gunk from sealant and if anything is cleaner than WWB. I think everyone is going to have to try it for themselves and see if it works in their firearms.
 
Can someone explain the knock on steel-cased vs. brass ammo?

After having shot tens of thousands of rounds of steel cased ammo (6-8 years ago it could be had for $80-120/1000 rounds) in a very large number of firearms, my conclusion is if the gun don't work with it I don't want the gun!

I can practically guarantee that the gun will be more accurate with other ammo, but if its not reliable with steel cased ammo, I'd never count on it if things got tough.
 
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