Since we seem to be heading down a new track, I think I will join in.
I will second the comment about a "cheap" SKS being one of those "must have" firearms in every gun safe. I have two, one stock and one modified. I know my two sons are going to fight over who gets which one......although if one of them lives in California, that one might not be able to fight too much. In my fathers age the M1-Carbine was the kick-about rifle everyone had. For my generation it is the SKS, which is legal to hunt with in many states and has more power than the M1-Carbine.
I would also indicate that I think that there are lots of Russian and eastern block ammo production factories that after the collapse of communism have figured out that they need to make a quality product that can compete in the market place. After all, they are not supplying ammo to revolutions all over the world like they use to or being used by the Soviet government as an instrument of foreign policy. In the non-comunist era, it is sell or starve at these factories
The US civilian market is perhaps the largest non-government ammo market in the world, and the smart eastern block companies are trying to figure out how to get market share, brand recognition, and hard US dollars. As such they are making great strides to improve their products and try to figure out price versus quality issues.
Wolf got into this early and is trying to improve their image and quality. If you look at the artwork on a Barnaul box of ammo, with the guy in the cowboy hat shooting a scoped, bolt action rifle you wonder what that has to do with the Russian ammo they are selling.....it is what they think the ammo purchaser would like to view himself as looking like. Shades of "Marlboro Man." Right now they are competing mainly on price, but they are having to differentiate themselves from mil-surp ammo which is cheaper and that will push for quality difference in packaging, bullets, corrosiveness, etc. Soon they will discover that many Americans like real brass shells and boxer primers, even if they have to pay $2 more a box of ammo.
I try to avoid the green lacquer coated steel shells as I have had problems with them in the past. I find that Wolf brand has copper washed steel shells that seem to feel just fine in my SKS. I even see the quality of some of the bullets as getting better. At first most of the bullets were FMJ. Then to make them "hunting rounds" to allow for easier import they had little holes drilled, punched, or cast in spitzer tips of the ammo. I would never have used any of those as a hunting round. Now I actually think that a few of the "new hunting bullets" might actually mushroom inside an animal if used for hunting. Quality is coming up and so is the price, but the price is still low by US mfg standards.
Sorry for the thread drift.
