7.62 X 39 what are the choices other than dirty Wolf?

[His lordship.]

It has been very weird how it seems that all you can get at a decent price is the dirty, and 2nd rate accuracy of the Russian Wolf brand in 7.62 X 39.  I bought some Sellier and Bellot 7.62 X 39 about 4 years ago and it is great stuff, only I am reluctant to shoot off the final 170 rounds that I have left as it is not available anymore, even though S/B's other calibers are, what gives?! :x  :roll:

I have tried the Russian Silver Bear (made by Ulyanovsk Machinery Plant) Match ammo, it is accurate.  And the Russian Brown Bear (Barnaul Machine-Tool Plant), also accurate in my AK-47, but not so good in my SKS.  Even then I had to get these from a limited number of dealers at the big gun shows.  I think that the powder is as dirty as Wolf if I remember right, which may be correct as it is all Russian made.

I shot some Wolf brand .223 in my bolt action rifle last summer and if you let the gun heat up the lacquered coating on the steel case will fuse itself to the chamber wall.  I had to bring the rifle home and knock out the spent case with a hammer and the pounding ruined my aluminum cleaning rod, but at least I got the case out of the chamber.  I had heard of this happening with the varmint hunters in their single shot pistol-rifles.  The semi-autos with the exception of some AR-15s, usually expel the cartridge out before it can melt into the chamber.  At least the Silver Bear brand uses zink plated cases which should prevent the fusing problem.

I shot some very nice brass cased South African 7.62 X 39 about 4 years ago, but I can't find it around anymore.  Shotgun News had an advertisement for Zimbabwe made stuff on Norinco machinery, I have not seen that either.  I could use the American made ammo as I have done in the past, but at $9.00 plus, for a box of 20 rounds, that is spendy.  I had to be careful about closing the bolt slowly on the Winchester and Remington brand as I had a slam fire, not a safe thing if you are not careful due to the soft primers.  Handload, but that takes time, and the SKS dents the brass case mouth.

Does anybody know why the Wolf stuff is so prevalent, and the other brands so scare?  :?

Thanks

[securitysix]

Look for PMP ammo.  Made in South Africa, fairly cheap, good brass.

[Mikey]

Chris:  the S&B is still plentiful and very availalbe.  Check out the Shotgun News or Cheaper than Dirt for it's availability.  Hope this helps.  Mikey.

[1911crazy]

Go to aimsurplus.com they have russian military spec 7.62x39 / $59.95 for 700rds I haven't bought any yet but i'm sure its better than the wolf stuff.  I'm still shooting norinco stuff from way back when it was $59/1,000rds.  I sure wish we had more of this stuff available to us but slick willy turned the supply off for us.                   BigBill

[dragthewaters]

at one time didnt winchester make some 762by 39?, actually i seen some on sale at kmart for 8 bucks a box, that is still way to much for plinking

[Robert]

You guys send all that horrible Wolf ammo to ME.
552 Country Club Rd
Hood River, Or
97031                      Thank You

[His lordship.]

Robert,

I see that you live in Hood River, not too far from my shooting spot.  I used to live in the Portland, OR area and my regular shooting spot was on the Western side of Larch Mountain in the Mt. Hood National Forest.  I did not have an SKS then, mostly black powder and Japanese bolt actions.  One of the Forest Service maintenance people told me in 1991 that they were wanting to outlaw target shooting in that area as people were leaving alot of trash around, refridgerators, old cars, after shooting them with holes, etc.

I used to have to bring a bag to cleanup the garbage at my personal spot myself.  Can people still target shoot in the Mt. Hood National Forest?

[Robert]

Where else ya gonna go?  Just have to find a place aaaway from all the bikes and hikers where you wont scare anybody, and shoot into a safe bacldrop, a hillside or something.  Where do you live now?

[His lordship.]

Hi Robert,

I moved to Minnesota as I could not find a job in Oregon after getting my degree.  I eventually bought 3 SKS's in the early 1990's when they were piled up at the gun shows in crates.  2 Chinese, and one Russian, traded the Chinese off, just sold the Russian last week.  Used to shoot all of that cheap Norinco ammo, sooty like the Russian stuff too!  I have a Romanian AK that I keep more for emergencies, but that is a good shooting rifle as well!  The SKS's were nice and accurate, but the AK is more compact.

Plan to move to Texas eventually, would like to see what the AK does on varmints!  As a varmint hunter I figure it will be easier to get access to private land, cleanup the property.  I shot crows and lots of house sparrows in Oregon, used a cat as a bird dog.  If I wounded a house sparrow with a pellet rifle, get the cat to go into the bushes and grab the bird in its mouth, then release it back to me for destruction.  Had 9 cats, (my ex was a cat freak) only one of them would work really well as a bird dog, even looked like a golden retreiver. Cleaned up alot of noisy vermin that way.

I started shooting black powder in Oregon, and centerfire rifles too.  I don't feel I should have all that Russian sooty ammo in my rifles like I was shooting cap and ball!  :lol:

Oregon has all those mountain areas and I have heard it is hard to build a gun range and stay in business.  The 2 indoor ranges that I pistol shot in both went out of business, Clackamas and Vancouver, WA, so everybody heads to the mountains.  Sure it is free, but the snow makes it impossible to get into there half of the year.  The Minnesotan's have gun ranges, but it is spendy unless you are a member, I joined a club here, good move, but I hate some of the rules.