What brand / Manufacture 7.62X39 ammo should I stay away from ?
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7.62X39 Ammo
- Thread starter jimmyj
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Arik
Member
None really. Like handguns, you have to find which your rifle likes best. If you don't want corrosive ammo stay away from anything surplus but it's usually the best performing ammo
jimmyj,
So I guess you got that SKS?
Short answer: don't worry about the ammo.
Long answer: There are two kinds of 7.62 x 39 ammo to stay away from and one kind I would think about avoiding.
Stay away from corrosive ammo (duh!) unless you want to spend more time cleaning after shooting or unless you don't mind corrosion. Also stay away from expensive ammo because I've found no advantage to brass case "high quality" ammo over the cheap stuff from Tula (TulAmmo), WPA, Barnaul (Brown and Silver Bear ammo), or surplus. We've shot probably around 10K rounds through all variations of Kalishnikov type rifles and the ONLY ammo problem we've ever experienced were a couple of FTE's with some lacquer coated Brown Bear ammo in a Bulgarian milled receiver AK-47 that I suspect was due to the lacquer coating so I avoid the lacquer coated Brown Bear ammo. Hundreds, if not thousands, of lacquer coated Russian and Chinese surplus ammo were no problem. On the other hand Silver Bear subjectively seems to cycle slightly smoother.
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Arik
Member
The advantages of more expensive ammo vs Wolf is that Wolf tends to be underpowered, sometimes by alot.....200 - 600 fps. It's across their whole line of black box ammo. The military classic so far seems fine. Their 5.45 crono'd at 2400 - 2600 fps where in actuality it should be 3000fps. That's a lot. But they do cycle and shoot.
Corrosive ammo is not some evil magic bullet. If you're cleaning then you're cleaning anyway and it doesn't take any longer to clean. People will tell you to use Windex or soap ...I use CLP, run a few patches and done. No rust issues since 1998
Corrosive ammo is not some evil magic bullet. If you're cleaning then you're cleaning anyway and it doesn't take any longer to clean. People will tell you to use Windex or soap ...I use CLP, run a few patches and done. No rust issues since 1998
I have never found any really bad 7.62X39 ammo and I've shot a lot of it up over the years. Corrosive ammo is only a problem if you don't clean the gun properly when you're done shooting. I have been collecting and shooting old military guns since the 70's, shot a lot of surplus ammo. The military forces of the world used corrosive for many years without issue.
Now as to modern commercial ammo, it is supposed to all be non-corrosive. If you're wanting easy cleanup then don't bother looking for surplus, not much left out there except the Yugo stuff anyway. I've never found a big difference in the Russian brands, all seem to work well enough. Accuracy will vary a bit but none of it is match grade. I've found the Bear brand is usually a bit more consistent than Wolf or Tula but I won't turn down a good deal on any of them.
Now as to modern commercial ammo, it is supposed to all be non-corrosive. If you're wanting easy cleanup then don't bother looking for surplus, not much left out there except the Yugo stuff anyway. I've never found a big difference in the Russian brands, all seem to work well enough. Accuracy will vary a bit but none of it is match grade. I've found the Bear brand is usually a bit more consistent than Wolf or Tula but I won't turn down a good deal on any of them.
The only 7.62X39 ammo that has given me any trouble is S&B brand.
The heavy coating on the case caused rounds to stick in the chamber
of my AK and that takes some doing. Of what's available today I have
found Russian ammo headstamped TCW (Tula) and Wolf to be good. I
would definitely avoid the corrosive primed Yugo that's on the market
now. I don't mind cleaning handguns or bolt rifles fired with corrosive
but the gas system of semi autos has to be cleaned as well as the
bores and that's a pain that's not worth it to me.
The heavy coating on the case caused rounds to stick in the chamber
of my AK and that takes some doing. Of what's available today I have
found Russian ammo headstamped TCW (Tula) and Wolf to be good. I
would definitely avoid the corrosive primed Yugo that's on the market
now. I don't mind cleaning handguns or bolt rifles fired with corrosive
but the gas system of semi autos has to be cleaned as well as the
bores and that's a pain that's not worth it to me.
Lotsa comments that I tend to agree with. One of the pluses of the AK is it typically isn't ammo sensitive and digests most everything you run through it. And as mentioned, the corrosive stuff is more time consuming but with proper cleaning, no harm done. With AK/SKS ammo, I typically go cheap, and some romy surplus and tula (both non-corrosive) are the last brands I've purchased.
Arik
Member
Not necessarily. What type of rifle is it and where & when was it built. It all comes down to who built it. If you bought a rifle built on a parts kit within the last 5 - 8 years chances are it has an aftermarket US barrel which may be cu to tight. Since 2005 there has been a ban on military barrels. All rifles, no matter what, that come in as parts kits have their barrels cut. The barrel is now considered an instrument of war.
CATI1835
US Veteran
The cheap Russian (Wolf, Tula) ammo works perfectly in my AK. After all, Russian rifle, Russian ammo. Seriously, I have never seen an AK that is fussy about ammo.
gregintenn
Member
The Ak and SKS were designed to fire steel cased ammo. I prefer the powder coated cases to the laquer coated cases.
Any of the cheapo stuff seems to work fine. Wolf, Hot Shot, Tula, Bear, etc.
If you want really top end accuracy, I'd look for some Norinco, or mil surp ammo. These haven't been available here for some years, but you can still find some on gunbroker.
Any of the cheapo stuff seems to work fine. Wolf, Hot Shot, Tula, Bear, etc.
If you want really top end accuracy, I'd look for some Norinco, or mil surp ammo. These haven't been available here for some years, but you can still find some on gunbroker.
mrrick
Member
Anything not made in Russia.
Ramikrav
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Two issues I've had with pretty much any ammo ever:
I had a squib once with wolf ammo in 9x18 makarov, from my CZ82 (still regret selling it, lol) it was the "polyformance" 100 grain "conehead" stuff. It didnt even have the power to send the slide back, and cleaning it up was "fun"- I had to ramrod the projectile from the bore and clean the unburnt powder from the magazine and gun.
The polycoat stuff that seems to have taken over in the imported rooskie stuff, from the green lacquered stuff, it always seems to rust VERY easily for me.
I've never had a problem with the lacquered rooskie stuff, from my SAR, my mosin, or my SKS.
IMHO and in my limited experience- the rooskie "polyformance" coat stuff is ****, both for the range and for the stash.
I had a squib once with wolf ammo in 9x18 makarov, from my CZ82 (still regret selling it, lol) it was the "polyformance" 100 grain "conehead" stuff. It didnt even have the power to send the slide back, and cleaning it up was "fun"- I had to ramrod the projectile from the bore and clean the unburnt powder from the magazine and gun.
The polycoat stuff that seems to have taken over in the imported rooskie stuff, from the green lacquered stuff, it always seems to rust VERY easily for me.
I've never had a problem with the lacquered rooskie stuff, from my SAR, my mosin, or my SKS.
IMHO and in my limited experience- the rooskie "polyformance" coat stuff is ****, both for the range and for the stash.
My mini 30 will not cycle Wolf
Actually I have three AKs and none of them are the the type
that has been sold recently in the US. Two milled receiver
Poly Techs and an early Romanian. Truthfully I would hate to
be AK shopping these days if I had to buy some of these
put together parts guns. I would probably spend the money
to get an older Chinese model like the two I have.
SuperMan
Member
It depends what you call "accurate" and what accuracy you and your rifle can generate.
I have a bunch of 7.62x39 rifles from folding stock AKs to a stainless Ruger #1KA single shot...and it is junk in, junk out.
Have a Ruger stainless Mini30 that was minute of paperplate accurate at 100 yards. With a receiver mounted scope as the barrel heated up it would walk off the target always to the 10:00 o'clock direction. Bought one of the Ultimak scout scope mounts that replaces the upper handguard and clamps to the barrel and accuracy improved and the walking off the target stopped. Changed from Wolf to Cheetah ammo and groups went from 6"+ to 2".
The accuracy improved also with a folding stock AK. Went from bigger than paperplate groups sitting with no sling to 4-5" centered on the plate groups going from Wolf to Golden Tiger.
I have several bolt guns that will shoot in the .5 MOA range with Lapua 124s. With Wolf well over an inch.
I have a bunch of 7.62x39 rifles from folding stock AKs to a stainless Ruger #1KA single shot...and it is junk in, junk out.
Have a Ruger stainless Mini30 that was minute of paperplate accurate at 100 yards. With a receiver mounted scope as the barrel heated up it would walk off the target always to the 10:00 o'clock direction. Bought one of the Ultimak scout scope mounts that replaces the upper handguard and clamps to the barrel and accuracy improved and the walking off the target stopped. Changed from Wolf to Cheetah ammo and groups went from 6"+ to 2".
The accuracy improved also with a folding stock AK. Went from bigger than paperplate groups sitting with no sling to 4-5" centered on the plate groups going from Wolf to Golden Tiger.
I have several bolt guns that will shoot in the .5 MOA range with Lapua 124s. With Wolf well over an inch.
