Wolf Ammo Stinks!

[Roger Williams]

Really! It shoots ok, I guess... (not as good as most other ammo I've tried) but it really literally stinks! I ran 150 rounds of it through my CZ75B this weekend and BARF! It stunk something terrible every time I shot it. The gun even reeked as I was cleaning it!

I usually shoot the winchester value pack ammo for target shooting and occasionally shoot Hydra-Shoks through it as my SD ammo. Before deciding on these 2 types, I tried a LOT of different ammo. Wolf is the only one that has that "special scent"! Why does it have to stink so bad, yet be so cheap?!! :banghead:

 

[Beetle Bailey]

Can't tell you why it stinks , but I can add that Barnaul has a similar stench and that Silverbear smells worse .

The worst part of that is when I got together with some other THR members for a shoot and someone whose name won't be mentioned (you know who you are ) exclaimed " , what's that smell? Did someone kill an animal?"

"Sorry, just my Russian ammo."

 

[Wildalaska]

Why does it have to stink so bad, yet be so cheap?!!

So when ya show up at your gunsmith with a busted gun he can sniff and say sagely..''"Yep, Wolf ammo again, that will be $$$"

or..............

Why does it have to stink so bad.....

Becasue ***t stinks.....

WildfriendsdontletfriendsshootWolfAlaska

 

[Treylis]

Silverbear smells worse

I'll second that. Shot a box of that stuff out of my stepmother's S&W 3913 and it was just terrible.

 

[bountyhunter]

Can't tell you why it stinks , but I can add that Barnaul has a similar stench and that Silverbear smells worse .

Well..... in most third would countries, animal dung is used for fuel due to the methane content. It was only a matter of time before they figured out how to make pistol ammo using it for the propellant.

 

[Kalos]

Oddly enough, I've never noticed this whole wolf=stinky thing. Doesn't smell any better or worse than anything else I've shot. What's stinky is Romanian surplus 8mm--the occasional whiff of that burns my nose...

 

[JA]

I first noticed the bad smell of the powder when shooting Chinese military surplus 7.62x39mm ammo in the mid 1980's. It has a ammonia/urine smell to it. I have noticed the same bad smell from most rifle/pistol ammo I have shot that came from communist or former communist countries.
It must be a totally different chemical formula they use in the mfg. of gun powder. As I noticed the smell last Friday while shooting with a couple of friends. The Uylanovsk 7.62x39mm ammo really stunk but the Wolf 7.62x39mm ammo didn't stink.

 

[Route 66]

I've put Wolf 7.62 x 39 through my Albie SKS last summer and got a rotten egg smell. Maybe it's the Russians way of getting back at us from the fall of communism.

 

[Sobell]

Wolf has changed

You need to try some of the (very) new Wolf. Not the laquer coated cases, but the polymer coated cases. Gone is the smell, gone is the smoke, accuracy is fine, and it's much cleaner burning.

That's the new Wolf....not the old stuff. At 6 bucks a box, it's got to be worth a try, right?

Sobell
(it's a guitar, not a gun)

 

[sundance43.5]

Maybe it was the old lacquered stuff, but it did stink. I'll have to find a box of the new stuff and take a whiff.

Chris

 

[Black92LX]

i use silver bear in my Saiga and have never smelled a bad smell. but i am outside when i shoot it so maybe it just blows away.

 

[Snowdog]

Yes, I've noticed the smell of Wolf ammuntion, but it never really bothered me.

What has bothered me to the point of "calling it a day" was high quality Hirtenberger .308win soft point ammunition. It had such a strong smell of ammonia that my eyes eventually began to water.
If it weren't for the smell, I'd give this .308 ammunition an A+.

 

[Rocko]

I'd noticed the ammonia smell before when shooting it in some of my semis, but it never really bothered me much. However, I recently got an M11/9, and it is pretty much unusable w/Wolf - squeeze off a burst or two and the fumes burn my eyes and literally make them tear up.

I was always told to use an ammonia based solvent to clean up after shooting corrosive ammo. I wonder if this combloc ammo isn't still slightly corrosive and something similar isn't added to neutralize it.

Rocko

 

[silent one]

Roger Williams,
I wouldn't use Wolf ammo. The smell you are getting is most likely from the lacquer coating on the steel casing mixing with the powder residue. the lacquer melts and coats the chamber and the rest of the barrel causing a mess. When the weapon cools after firing, the lacquer hardens and is very difficult to remove. I know how hard it is to save up the money to purchase a quality firearm. Why would I risk shooting questionable ammo through it?
There are a lot of companies out there manufacturing good brass cased ammo for a little more than Wolf, but it's worth the extra expense IMHO.
good luck, and be safe.


SILENT ONE

 

[Third_Rail]

Silent One has it! It's definately not the powder, there's really only one way to get nitrocellulose from cellulose, and all procedures taught and possible use a nitrating acid mix. They're all neutralized the same, so that isn't it either. But "commie" ammo is laquer coated. Don't blame the powder, it's the laquer.

 

[Rocko]

I guess that makes sense as well - although the newer polymer coated stuff has the same issue. However, for the purpose at hand, I guess they aren't really much different.

 

[Daniel T]

I only shoot Wolf rifle ammo, but yes, it definitely stinks. On the other hand, S&B is like perfume.

 

[MN_Strelok]

It may be the lacquer, but I know it's not necessary to fire the rounds to get that nasty smell. I buy about 500 rounds of 7.62x39 at a time and store it in an air-tight ammo can between range trips. When I open the can after a couple weeks, the ammonia-type chemical smell is REALLY bad.

And FWIW, I use Wolf in cheap SKS/AK style arms, but I agree that running it through a more expensive arm to save a few bucks may not be the best idea. In fact, if I ever calculated the extra time I spend cleaning my rifles after firing Wolf, I'd probably stop using it.

 

[Third_Rail]

It seems to be whatever "plastic" coating that they use to seal the primers is also outgassing, then.

 

[phantom309]

I shot 200 rounds of the new stuff in .45ACP just tonight. Didn't smell too bad and it shot perfectly fine - my groups were pretty much the same as Winchester white box, and the Wolf is a lot cheaper. Dirty, but I didn't see any lacquer or poly residue, just soot.

 

[JA]

It is not the laquer coating it is the powder as I pulled the bullets from a Wolf,Chinese and Ulyanvosk 7.62x39mm cartridge. Dumped about 5 grains of the powder from each cartridge one at a time in a ashtray and touched a lit cigarette to each one . All the powder was the same color/size stick powder and produced the same acrid ammonia smell. After burning the powder I had to leave the room and close the door as my eyes were starting to burn.

 

[Henry Bowman]

All of this is distressing. I haven't shot Wolf ammo yet, but normally I find the smell of burnt powder to be . . . therapeutic.

 

[Heraclitus]

I once put a box of Wolf ammo through a CZ-97 I used to own, but didn't notice any peculiar smell. Maybe I was upwind.

Functionally, though, I agree with your assessment.