Russian "Wolf" ammo in .45 ACP...?!

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Pendragon

New member
I ordered 500 rounds of this stuff a couple weeks ago and ran 300 rounds of it through my Colt Defender.

I like the price - but I had a lot of malfunctions.

The rangemaster said he sees that a lot with the Wolf ammo - he thought it was a little thicker or something.

Has anyone else had this experience? other ammo seems to function perfectly.

Of course, you get what you pay for...

props to ammoman.com for good prices and prompt delivery...

comments?
 
Pendragon, I have only use the 7.62x39 tuff from wolf and it works well, but only reason I use in that Cal. is because I can't handload it cheaper! Using cast 200gr. SWC and paid for brass I can load .45s @ 1/3 the price of the store stuff. If you pratice like you should then handloading is the only way to go.
 
elaborate...

Hmm.

From what I have seen, it seems to cost about $5-$6 per 50 just for the bullets. (230gr FMJ)

The Wolf is $7.90 for 50

By the time I buy the equipment, powder, primers and time, I dont see a savings for like at least 10,000 rounds :P

Also - there is weirdness about running lead rounds - is it that they are corrosive or what? Is this an issue? how do you mitigate this?

What does it cost you to produce say - 1000 rounds?

It would cost me $158 if I got Wolf or $209 if I got a mainstream name brand...
 
Wolf ammo uses steel cases and the green coating that they use on the casings, while looks kinda neat, tends to gum up the gun. Wolf ammo has been noted to lead to a lot of failures to feed and extract. I have even heard of instances where the extractor has broken and it was traced back to the ammo - overstressed by the steel case. I didn't even get through one box of Wolf with my Ruger P90 (it is purported to eat anything). The failure to feed was so bad (the slide would not return to battery fully, about 1/8" to 1/4" out of battery), that the RO had to get a rubber mallet and tap the slide back. Only brass cased fodder, from then on.
 
The big cost is the brass ($90per 1000)but with 45acp I can load them more than 10 times.$40 for lead 200gr SWC $20 for primers, $15 for powder. $165 per 1000 ! Save the brass and it's $75 per 1000. Now that you live in PRK it will probably be higher but you can see where I'm going with this. As far as leading, find the slowest burning powder you can get for the bullet you want that the manual sugguest and leading will only be something that you hear about from other handloaders. Search up www.dillonprecision.com and look into the Square Deal B if you are only going to load for handguns, the RL 550B if you want to do rifle as well. Hope this helps. Stay safe
 
Thanks

That sounds a lot more reasonable...

However - as for slow burning powder, my Colt has a three inch barrel! not a 3.5" - a 3" :p

I would imagine I would need faster burning powder - hmm.


Well, it sounds like the main cost difference is in the bullets.

I have been thinking about doing IPSC limited - if I do that, I would have to reload for certain.

So - can anyone say - what is so nasty about lead in your gun? I thought lead was soft and stuff - what can it do?

And if you use lead, do you just have to detail strip it more often or what?

Talking about 1911s here...


Thanks in advance - you guys are awsome and really make me feel at home here...
 
The problem that many have had with steel cased ammo is that it is coated with a laquer. If you are firing a lot of rounds in rapid sucession, the barrel/chamber can heat up and melt the laquer. Then, if it cools in the chamber, the round can glue itself in. That's where you get your extraction problems. For the occasional plinking, I never had a problem with Wolf (in 223 Rem).
 
I use it for shoots where I can't recover my brass. I have had no problems with it in my P90, or EAA Witness. Accuracy seems fine, at least for plates and poppers. Ammunitionstore.com had it for $59.00 for 500. Cheaper than some 9mm ammo.
 
yeah but how much was shipping....?

Also - I have been looking at bulets - best prices seem to be about $40ish for 500 for cast bullets - where are you getting 1000 for that price?
 
Be Afraid, be very very afraid!

Wolf ammo sucks. No two ways about it. The stuff just doesn't work through machines built to exacting standards. Just that simple.:rolleyes:
 
I'm getting my cast bullets straight from a local company and don't pay shiping. and I'm sure that is the reason for the cost diff. with lead
 
Pendragon, I buy 200swc for $30 per 1000 from hardcast in lancaster ca. I go pick them up there and so I pay no shipping or tax. Here's the phone #. for the shop where they make them, (661) 723-6700. Shipping shouldn't be too much. Mark
 
One more thing on lead rounds you get the same fps with less pressure than copper and you don't have clean them any more, just use a good lead solvent like shooters choice.
 
I have used at least 2000 rounds of Wolf 9mm ammo in my Glock 26 with no problems, however, I have had problems with hard primers on Wolf .45 ammo.
 
Wolf is the ammo people love to hate.

In my 9mm glocks, it's been terriffic, at least 3K rounds without any problems, and i've gone 1K rounds between cleanings.

I can pick it up from miwall.corp or the local PDX gunshows for about $90 /1000. Hard to beat.

Perfect for cheap practice, IPSC gaming etc. I can't speak to the other calibers.

Regards,
Francis
 
I have probably put 2,000+ rounds of 9mm through my Ruger P89 and have not had one problem.

I put 100 rounds of .45 through my Glock 30 several FTF and FTE.

I put 150 round of .223 through my AR15 again several FTF and FTE.

I love their 9mm but it seem to be the only Wolf ammo I can shoot with a problem
 
Use it on my Kimber, no problems. Although I noticed it cakes the gun with residue and smells bad. Also, some loads seem hotter than others, but A-Ok for the price, watch out for your extractor though :D
 
I shoot the Wolf 7.62x39 w/o a hitch, it's consistent and accurate enough, and cheaper than anything I can reload.

For my pistols however, I just prefer brass cases.

45acp hand loads, with used brass and Rem 230gr FMJ, run me $6.18/50. I can drive my bullet cost down somewhat by buying larger quantities, but I like buying different ones to see what they'll do. Hard cast lead would be even cheaper. If you reload often enough and for several calibers, your intitial and ongoing equipment/accessory costs are made up quicker than you think.

Of course, if you count your time, then the economy of handloading becomes questionable. If you count handloading as time spent on a hobby, then it's no longer a factor.

And the reward of shooting your own loads - priceless!
 
Colt Defender -is this your carry/self defence gun?

I wouldn't recommend Wolf in this application because of all the comments above. low tolerances, steel casings, laquer coating.

Even if you "carry" the highest quality HPs afterwards, be cautious of how Wolf ammo could have abused your pistol during range time. That laquer can really gum-up AND the steel casings can weaken your extractor -which may fail that one time when you most need it.

If this is you primary, spend a little more for real brass. Try Fiocchi or S&B from ammoman.com.
 
thanks

Yeah - the Defender is my primary weapon now.

Its weird - I have a BHP which is nice because of the higher capacity - but I think the superior power and accuracy of the Colt is enough to make it be the primay weapon.

The BHP is actually not a Browning - its Israeli made and has a full beaver tail and some other nice features.

Realisticly, I should probably run more ammo thru the Colt before I rely on it...

I have 200 rounds of Wolf left - do any of you really think its that hard on the Colt that I should not use it?

Or is it just that after a few thousand rounds, I could have a problem?


Also - as a rule, do SWC rounds feed very well?
 
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