Red Army Standard

It's been around for awhile, maybe five years?

I'd guess it's like Wolf*, a US importer of rebranded Tula, or
the other main Russian factory, who's name escapes me at the moment.

*or Monarch, etc.
 
Steve912 said:
It's been around for awhile, maybe five years?

I'd guess it's like Wolf*, a US importer of rebranded Tula, or
the other main Russian factory, who's name escapes me at the moment.

*or Monarch, etc.
Click to expand...
Monarch is Academy's store brand. Brass is going to be PPU, I think steel is Barnaul.

As for Red Army Standard, I looked into it a bit, it's a Century label. I think it's mostly Russian, but I believe it was also Ukrainian for some stuff.

I think it's exclusively steel, berdan primed. I've shot it in .308, through my Cetme C308; and I've also shot a fair bit in .45 acp. No problems with either caliber.

The C308 (as well as PTR and HK roller-delayed guns) mauls cases on ejection, and if the case is thin or soft it can hang up in the fluted chamber. I've had a brass case (Armscor) do that. Steel has been 100% reliable, and as accurate as I need it to be. It's basically a 2 MOA rifle to begin with, and with iron sights my eyes couldn't get below that at any significant distance anyway. With cheapo steel, it's a fun plinker at the range.

I've had zero issue with any steel .45 acp fmj through my Tisas, ATI or High Standard/Armscor 1911's. Decent accuracy while standing, etc. It's not match grade, but it runs fine and hits paper.
 
scoobysnacker said:
Monarch is Academy's store brand. Brass is going to be PPU, I think steel is Barnaul. .
Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah, Barnaul!

Tula & Barnaul are the actual Russian factories (as I understand
it, anyhoo). Wolf may be Barnaul or Tula, depending on who the
contract a run with. Same for Monarch--neither produces, they
just import/retail it.

Same with the "Bear" (Brown, Silver, Gold Bear), silver is/was
Barnaul, while Gold (brass case, boxer, reloadable) was PPU.


PPU is Prvi Partizan, a Serbian mfr. Totally unrelated to Russian
Tula & Barnaul. AFAIK they only do brass case/boxer priming.

Prvi Partizan Ammunition

Edit: well, I stand correctiated, First Sergeant!

Looks like RAS may be from another former COMBLOC
source...Romania and/or Ukraine.

In Soviet Russia, Red Army Ammo Reviews You :: Guns.com
 
Last edited:
Steve912 said:
Thanks, yeah, Barnaul!

Tula & Barnaul are the actual Russian factories (as I understand
it, anyhoo). Wolf may be Barnaul or Tula, depending on who the
contract a run with. Same for Monarch--neither produces, they
just import/retail it.

Same with the "Bear" (Brown, Silver, Gold Bear), silver is/was
Barnaul, while Gold (brass case, boxer, reloadable) was PPU.


PPU is Prvi Partizan, a Serbian mfr. Totally unrelated to Russian
Tula & Barnaul. AFAIK they only do brass case/boxer priming.

Prvi Partizan Ammunition

Edit: well, I stand correctiated, First Sergeant!

Looks like RAS may be from another former COMBLOC
source...Romania and/or Ukraine.

In Soviet Russia, Red Army Ammo Reviews You :: Guns.com
Click to expand...

Wolf is Tula.
 
Okay, I do have a box - it reads as follows:

Lead Core
Non-Corrosive
Brass Case
Boxer Primed

The back of the box says:

"Distributed by Century Arms".
Made in Czech Republic

Side of the box:

9mm Luger * 124 GR FMJ * AM3295

I'll presume AM3295 is a company code and of no interest to us but the rest is all relevant.

So that answers all of the relevant questions except is it any good? Does anyone have experience with it?

I did a BING search for "red army standard" and "redarmystandard.com" and it went straight to Century Arms. The search brought up a ton of information but I prefer to hear about it from folks on this Forum:

red army standard - Bing

(c) Bing 2021

Apparently, there is plenty of this stuff around. And way too much irrelevant information. So getting answers here is best. ;)
 
I just recently fired 800 rounds of Red Army in 45acp and experienced no issues. Gun was just as dirty as it was when I fired Aguila ammo. Accuracy at 31ft ran around 3.36" from a Tisas 1911. Fired 200 rounds through a S&W 1911 and accuracy came in at 2.767".

Now, I fired 1000 rounds through a CPD Beretta 92FS and experienced no malfunctions with accuracy coming in at 2.613".

At current pricing, I'll pass Red Army in favor of Geco 9mm at 21 a box.
 
Hit the range today and put 150rds of RA 9mm ball through a Sig P229 Scorpion, didn't experience any issues and it shot 2.58" groups at 31ft.
 
I have shot a ton in 7.62x39 out of my SKS and Ruger American, and it is reliable, and plenty accurate for what it is. I was buying it for $4.25 for 20 rounds a couple years ago, even hollowpoint.
 
Got 500 rnds of M-2 ball yesterday mfg by PPU, try to sell it at gun show this weekend. Everybody I’ve talked to says it just fine. Years ago when had AKS and SKS fired many Com block rounds through them, ca’t recall any issues.
 
Ok, I'm going to lob this out there, take it for what it's worth. I might get skewered, I might get some agreements...

Red Army Standard, (Tula, Wolf etc) is just fine, for what it is.
It is not going to be precise match or extreme accuracy hunting ammo. It does not give the reloaders any brass to work with; it's a one-shot deal.

But if you're going out to hit a target, plinking, ringing steel, etc for the fun of it, I find it works great. As stated, my semiauto rifles happily chew through it without issue in .223, .308, and 7.62x39. Complaints of inaccuracy- if I'm shooting iron sights, I can easily get fist-sized groups with some effort, and I can 'hit the target' just fine. I have ARs that eat it happily, as stated my C308 does too.

Today's prices for everything are insane, but the most palatable option going is a case of 7.62x39 for under $400. I built (slapped together, really) a cheap AR in that caliber, price including a number of mags is still under $600. It's reliable so far, and going forward it looks to be my cheapest blaster. I'm not going to war with it, but for my usage (fun range time), it's a wonderful item. I made it specifically to take advantage of the cheapest steel ammo.
 
No tweakage of my proboscis.

Ivan (and his current or previous subordinates) know how to make
stuff for killing.

AFA steel cases--if a gun won't run steel, it's marginal in
some regard, and it's given a warning.

Edit: the 7.62x39 is getting down to $299 with shipping.
 
Last edited:
Steve912 said:
No tweakage of my proboscis.

Ivan (and his current or previous subordinates) know how to make
stuff for killing.

AFA steel cases--if a gun won't run steel, it's marginal in
some regard, and it's given a warning.

Edit: the 7.62x39 is getting down to $299 with shipping.
Click to expand...
I will never badmouth Russian steel-cased ammo again. I saved my brass ammo and shot exclusively steel, during the last year. It runs, it's been as reliable as anything else, it's cheaper than anything else, and it's been available if you ever needed to restock.
And if you happen to own something in 7.62x39 in particular, it's really been the only affordable option since the beginning of this year.

Now, that being said, I had enough on hand not to buy at inflated prices. But my future buys, I think, are going to be steel.

I know, you can reload brass (much easier). I don't reload. And as we've seen, if you hit the primer supply lines, reloaders are just as limited as anyone else.
 
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