a question about AR ammo

A

AR15shooter

New member
A friend told me thatI shouldnt fire Russian made ammo thru my Armalite AR-15 he didnt say why just something that he heard, also I always fire 55 grains thru it 9:1 twist how much will accuracy suffer with a 62 grain bullet is it really noticeavle? I thought it would be OK for blastin but not for competiton.
 
I haven't had any serious problems with the russian stuff. I've tried the barnual and the wolf, 55 gr hp & fmj as well as the 62 gr fmj.

Basically the fear of many AR shooters is the laquer coated steel casings. Some claim that when rapid firing, the hot chamber will melt the laquer and clog up the works. Some claim the steel will lead to increased wear on your rifle.

I haven't had any feeding laquer problems in my AR's (20" NM, DPMS SS Bull, 16" Colt) but then again I don't fire full auto, nor do I empty mags as fast as I can pull the trigger. I do shoot alot, I went through about 1000 rounds last month, I just "breathe-relax-aim-sight- squeeze" every round. I also have not noticed any acellerated wear (but I've only shot about 3k of the russian stuff so far )

Accuracy is another issue, the russian stuff (all that I've tried so far) does NOT do very well in my guns. Average groups run about 2-3 MOA in rifles that normally do sub-moa with match grade ammo.

Also I have had a few duds.

Bottom line for me, is russian = cheap and fun plinking (and good "throwaway" ammo when recruiting new shooters) but not suitable for home defense or serious target work.

I am certain you will hear other opinions... :)
 
My advice would be not to fire steel-cased ammo in any weapons that weren't made by folks with steel teeth.

You might see great accuracy with your 1:9 barrel, with weights up to and just past 69gr.
 
I've heard too many people warn about Russian ammo in AR's so I never tried it. When I want to buy cheap ammo for playing, I get the South African stuff. The 62 grain bullets will work fine in your 1:9 twist barrel. The 62's wont hit the target in the same place the 55's did. The farther you shoot, the more you'll notice the difference. You should pick one bullet weight and stick with it.
 
My experience with Wolf wasn't tragic but I'll never use anymore unless there are NO options. It did melt the laquer and stick the shell in the chamber. I was firing as fast as possible to see what the weapon would do.

That was about the only thing bad I can say about it.

sks
 
AR15shooter,

The russian ammo can be very hard on your AR15, the steel cases can cause premature wear on the extractor, and often times the bullet is not copper, it's copper washed steel. Shooting steel rounds through your barrel will cause excess wear on the barrel.

There have also been many reports of people having problems with the laquor. There has been many threads written on the subject at http://www.ar15.com

My suggestion would be to not fire Russian stuff through your rifle, for more on the russian ammo ask over at ar15.com

Semper Fi
USMC03
 
Okay, how's that 55 gr South African stuff for a 1:9 barrel? Accuracy? Reliability? Plinking or serious ammo? Who (online) has good prices?

TIA
 
I haven't measured groups with the SA 55gr, but I think I remember "a couple inches at 100m".

These rounds are smokin. I chrono'd them out of a 20" barrel at: 3268 and 3240 fps.

Here's the other data I got, for comparison:

Hornady 60gr TAP: average 2986 sd: 19.5
IMI M855: av 3073 sd 5.6
Black Hills "blue box" 52gr match: av 3290 sd 10

-z
 
I stopped shooting the Russian stuff back about 2 years ago even before all the warnings and manufactures began recommending against it's use.


The main reason why I stopped using it was because of it's SMELL! The acrid powder residue made my eyes water like crazy, I don't know if it's changed in recent months but the stuff I was shooting back then gave off a very strong ammonia smell that was so bad that after a few shots my eyes were watering to the point I couldn't see the front sight.


With all the other hype about using this stuff through ARs I've just never gone back to it. I like picking up my brass to reuse for reloads anyhow.
 
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