I am new to the AK platform, and was wondering if anyone here had good advice on if the Russian ammo (Wolf, Tula, Golden Bear, etc)is ok to shoot in an Arsenal, and if not, what is a good alternative to these brands. I ask this because I have shot wolf in an AR is it seemed dirty. Also the local gun shop told me to stay away from the milsurp. However, i beleive the gentleman wanted to sell me some overpriced stock he had.
Additionally, if it is berdan primed but says non-corrosive, can I trust this...? Thanks.

If you can it find the old steel core chinese but it hasn't been on the market for years.

The guy had Norinco (Chinese?) for 10.00 a box. The case was an odd red color and the cardboard box seemed 1960-70's era. I had not done any research on the ammo, so I did not buy, is this the ammo you are possibly referring to?

I have shot the Russian ammo in my American made AK with no problems. I just take it for granted that the ammo may be corrosive and clean after shooting. Some ammo shoots better than others, but its all ok.

Do not think so this stuff was in mil tin cans card board wax paper wrapped.

Norinco isn't bad stuff

I paid 60.00 for each 1200 rd case back in the early to mid 80's. Should have gotten more then I did

I paid $100 for the same stuff. Wish I could still get it at that price.

Caution: Do not believe what is printed on the box of all 7.62 x 39 ammo that is manufactured offshore. I have some Russian stuff that clearly states: "non-corrosive hunting ammo". It is full metal jacket and definitely very corrosive.

Most com-bloc is made with corrosive primers.

I shot mostly Herter's 122gr FMJ from Cabela's through my MAK-90. Shot very well, no malfunctions from what shooting I did do with it. Price was good too.

My gaggle of AK's loved Wolf "black box" and "military classic" HP's. ZERO ammo induced malfs. Wolf primers ar non-corrosive. Filthy ammo but reliable. After several shooting sessions I would:

field strip the rifle
soak bore with CLP
spray all other parts with CLP
scrub all other parts with old toothbrush
degrease parts with Synthetic Safe GunScrubber
run bore snake though barrel half dozen times
grease and reassemble

With the modern Russian made commercial ammo, I generally clean the bore within 24 hours on all my guns, and the gas piston, detail receiver and gas tube every 3rd trip to the range. It has not been corrosive for my AKs or SKS rifles. If the ammo is clearly Russian military surplus, then it is field stripped inside of a day and cleaned as it probably is corrosive. For cleaning I use Hoppes #9, or Breakfree.

The Chinese and Russian steel cased ammo has worked well for me, I get what is cheap.

I have been shooting AKs since they were first imported and I've got 4 or 5 currently. I have always shot milsurp in all of them with no problems. I treat it like it's corrosive.

Guys,

Thanks for all the input. I finally was able to shoot mine the other day for the first time. In light of all the comments and considerations, I ended up going with the Monarch brand, which is sold by Academy Outdoors as there private label brand. It is Barnaul per the box. After sighting in with a red dot, the gun (slr-107) and the ammo were able to produce 1.5 inch 5 shot group @ fifty. Being from a benchrest background, and taking all the guff I had heard second hand about the AK, I was pleasantly surprized. I shoot around 200 rounds that day, and when I went to clean the rifle, again I was surprized at the lack of what I thought would be "dirty". The piston was covered in residue, but CLP on a cloth took care of that, and the bore was in tip top after a through and through of Hoppes 9.
Overall, I am very happy with the ammo and the gun. I fear that the AR may become a safe queen in the very near future.

quote:

Originally posted by Hizzie:
My gaggle of AK's loved Wolf "black box" and "military classic" HP's. ZERO ammo induced malfs. Wolf primers ar non-corrosive. Filthy ammo but reliable. After several shooting sessions I would:

field strip the rifle
soak bore with CLP
spray all other parts with CLP
scrub all other parts with old toothbrush
degrease parts with Synthetic Safe GunScrubber
run bore snake though barrel half dozen times
grease and reassemble

+1 to all of the above!

quote:

Originally posted by Hizzie:
My gaggle of AK's loved Wolf "black box" and "military classic" HP's. ZERO ammo induced malfs. Wolf primers ar non-corrosive. Filthy ammo but reliable. After several shooting sessions I would:

field strip the rifle
soak bore with CLP
spray all other parts with CLP
scrub all other parts with old toothbrush
degrease parts with Synthetic Safe GunScrubber
run bore snake though barrel half dozen times
grease and reassemble

Agreed. Wolf is all I feed my AK and my SKS. It's dirty as hell, but I've never seen any indication that it is corrosive. I've probably run 5000 rounds through my old SKS and it didn't rust, even after leaving it sitting for several days between shooting/cleaning.

I have 5 7.62 X 51 battle rifles and I won't use any steel cased Soviet ammunition, they're quality control is too sporadic.

The whole point of an AK is that you can shoot anything through it. Wolf is not corrosive. My rule of thumb is to always assume corrosive ammo if it comes from a mil source. The yugo mil surp stuff shoots beautifully....but you gotta clean up afterward or you are in for a world of hurt.

I've had function issues with the Russian steel stuff in my the AR and FN platforms.

On the other hand, I've never had an issue with it either the SKS or AK platforms in 7.62x39. I believe the steep taper of the 7.62x39 covers a variety of sins.

I have no personal experience with it but on several of these type threads I've heard a lot of people comment that thier AK's really like the Golden Bear brand ammo. I will probably try some oneday.

Every place around here carries Tula and it seems to do pretty good in my Arsenal SGL20. If there is a choice when I buy it I usually grab the 124 HP's. I've never bothered to measure groups but it seems to hit what I aim it at more often with those.

Terry

whats so scary about corrosive
if you have a chrome bore an chamber
just wipe the piston off and clean the gun once in a while
no ak is a collector

I've never had any "bad" ammo for an AK. It all seems to work and none of it makes an AK fit my definition of "accurate".

Gentlemen,

I wanted to give an update on my thoughts on ammo after trying several brands in a couple different AKs. First, I tried Wolf (both the laquer and the poly), Tula, and Brown Bear. All performed excellent. after 1200-1400 rounds out of a Norinco, SLR, and Century with polish parts I can honestly say that all will go "bang." I settled on the Brown bear for now due to the fact that it seemed the least dirty of the three. That being said, it was still quite dirty compared to American ammo IMHO.
Thanks for all the input.