Russian 7.62 question...

[Tech23]

Okay, so I seen some cheap 7.62 x 39 and bought several boxes of it. It said steel casing, but did not mention that the bullet itself would stick to a magnet and I was not smart enough to know much about the different ammo.

So my questions are:

1) Is this ammo okay to shoot at outdoor ranges?

2) Is this ammo going to be considered Armor Piercing?

3) Is it going to be bad for my gun?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[TomO]

Okay, so I seen some cheap 7.62 x 39 and bought several boxes of it. It said steel casing, but did not mention that the bullet itself would stick to a magnet and I was not smart enough to know much about the different ammo.

So my questions are:

1) Is this ammo okay to shoot at outdoor ranges?

I'm sure it's fine


2) Is this ammo going to be considered Armor Piercing?

No...


3) Is it going to be bad for my gun?

Depends on who did & when was the manufacturing....if it's older it might be corrosive and you will need to clean the weapon after you get done with it. Otherwise it's probably dirtier than premium ammo but nothing than any AK or SKS can't shrug off.

[Tech23]

Thanks Tomo,

I know the guys one of the ranges here in town check rifle ammo with a magnet and won't let any in that it sticks to...so I did not know if that makes it AP ammo or not.

I am used to shooting wolf ammo and it really doen't get much dirtier than that...does it? LOL I have ran over 600 rounds of wolf through my gun before without cleaning it and it ran just fine.

What do you normally shoot through yours?

[TomO]

Thanks Tomo,

I know the guys one of the ranges here in town check rifle ammo with a magnet and won't let any in that it sticks to...so I did not know if that makes it AP ammo or not.

It's probably sticking to the case more than the projectile but some manufacturers will use a mild steel core to save on the lead alloy (mild steel is cheaper)...but that's not the same thing as a tungsten or hardened steel core. Alot of people get confused because they think that if it goes through body armor it's armor piercing....just about any fmj rifle round will sail through body armor. To tell you the truth I wonder if the russian stuff will generate enough pressure to get a true AP up to the velocity needed to be effective as AP. *meh* I'm meandering.

One way to find out for sure is if you don't like your neighbor put a round into his engine block.....if it splits a Detroit V8 it's AP :)


I am used to shooting wolf ammo and it really doen't get much dirtier than that...does it? LOL I have ran over 600 rounds of wolf through my gun before without cleaning it and it ran just fine.

D'ats why we luv dem Commie guns. :)


What do you normally shoot through yours?

Anything I can get my hands on that's cheap Ulyanovsk, Tul, Bear, Wolf.....to be honest I think they are all pretty much made by the same people anyway. :ak2:

[Tech23]

One way to find out for sure is if you don't like your neighbor put a round into his engine block.....if it splits a Detroit V8 it's AP :)


http://bestsmileys.com/lol/5.gifhttp://bestsmileys.com/lol/5.gifhttp://bestsmileys.com/lol/5.gif

[Schuetzenman]

Okay, so I seen some cheap 7.62 x 39 and bought several boxes of it. It said steel casing, but did not mention that the bullet itself would stick to a magnet and I was not smart enough to know much about the different ammo.

So my questions are:

1) Is this ammo okay to shoot at outdoor ranges?

2) Is this ammo going to be considered Armor Piercing?

3) Is it going to be bad for my gun?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

1. Yes it's OK to shoot at outdoor ranges.
2. No this ammo is not armor piercing. AP 7.62x39 ammo is not importable for resale to civilians.
3. No it's not going to be bad for your rifle.

To elaborate further, the bullets will have a lead core, the jacket is a thin soft steel with a copper plating over it. The copper will be between the steel and your rifling, which should be chrome lined unless its a Yugo barrel or possibly a replacement US barrel. The OK for an outdoor range depends on the range and if they know shit about ammo. Simply sticking to a magnet does not steel cored ammo make. You might want to pull one bullet and section it so they can see it has a lead core. I will say this the steel jackets if they strike a stone or a steel plate will spark, I've seen em do it at dusk when the sun has set beyond the horizon. In a dry climate this might be enough to start a grass fire, but I think it's a long shot, (no pun intended) to actually start a fire.

Real steel cored 7.62x39 ammo got banned in 1993 after Olympic arms produced 2 prototype AR15 pistols and submitted them to BATFE technical branch for approval. At that point the round went from being a Rifle round to a Pistol round. Then BATFE banned sale to civilians under a piece of Federal legislation called The Cop Killer Bullet Prevention Act, (or words to that effect). It was legislation passed over a bunch of hype and hysteria surrounding a teflon coated handgun bullet that a company was making to sell to Police Departments. "The Law" sates that a handgun bullet can't have more than 30% of it's core made out of anything harder than lead; like steel, bronze, titanium, tungsten carbide, etc. It also banned the teflon coating thing as well.

[Tech23]

1. Yes it's OK to shoot at outdoor ranges.
2. No this ammo is not armor piercing. AP 7.62x39 ammo is not importable for resale to civilians.
3. No it's not going to be bad for your rifle.

To elaborate further, the bullets will have a lead core, the jacket is a thin soft steel with a copper plating over it. The copper will be between the steel and your rifling, which should be chrome lined unless its a Yugo barrel or possibly a replacement US barrel. The OK for an outdoor range depends on the range and if they know shit about ammo. Simply sticking to a magnet does not steel cored ammo make. You might want to pull one bullet and section it so they can see it has a lead core. I will say this the steel jackets if they strike a stone or a steel plate will spark, I've seen em do it at dusk when the sun has set beyond the horizon. In a dry climate this might be enough to start a grass fire, but I think it's a long shot, (no pun intended) to actually start a fire.

Real steel cored 7.62x39 ammo got banned in 1993 after Olympic arms produced 2 prototype AR15 pistols and submitted them to BATFE technical branch for approval. At that point the round went from being a Rifle round to a Pistol round. Then BATFE banned sale to civilians under a piece of Federal legislation called The Cop Killer Bullet Prevention Act, (or words to that effect). It was legislation passed over a bunch of hype and hysteria surrounding a teflon coated handgun bullet that a company was making to sell to Police Departments. "The Law" sates that a handgun bullet can't have more than 30% of it's core made out of anything harder than lead; like steel, bronze, titanium, tungsten carbide, etc. It also banned the teflon coating thing as well.

Wow, thanks for all the great info and for taking the time to share this with me...much appreciated!

[TomO]

To elaborate further, the bullets will have a lead core, the jacket is a thin soft steel with a copper plating over it. The copper will be between the steel and your rifling, which should be chrome lined unless its a Yugo barrel or possibly a replacement US barrel.

I thought they stopped importing the steel jacketed stuff? Not doubting what you're saying I just really haven't been paying that close of attention and that's what I've been told.

Maybe I should scrape one of my bullets. :bigsmilebounce:

[AK-J]

I thought they stopped importing the steel jacketed stuff? Not doubting what you're saying I just really haven't been paying that close of attention and that's what I've been told.

Maybe I should scrape one of my bullets. :bigsmilebounce:

If you look at Wolf Ammo's website, you see they have two types of projectile jackets listed: Copper and Bi-metal. The Bi-metal ones are the mild-steel copper washed jacketed bullets. Most of the surplus ammo (whether warsaw pact or Nato) is of this type as well.

[TomO]

If you look at Wolf Ammo's website, you see they have two types of projectile jackets listed: Copper and Bi-metal. The Bi-metal ones are the mild-steel copper washed jacketed bullets. Most of the surplus ammo (whether warsaw pact or Nato) is of this type as well.

Whoops...so it does. You know I've never gone to the Wolf Website before, I just bought from whichever distributor was selling at a low price (most of the descriptions just say FMJ)...

Thanks:cool1:

[Tech23]

If you look at Wolf Ammo's website, you see they have two types of projectile jackets listed: Copper and Bi-metal. The Bi-metal ones are the mild-steel copper washed jacketed bullets. Most of the surplus ammo (whether warsaw pact or Nato) is of this type as well.

So, what might be the advantages or disadvantages of using either style bullet???

[AK-J]

So, what might be the advantages or disadvantages of using either style bullet???

For blasting/plinking there really is no advantage of one over the other IMO. I think the only reason Wolf even markets copper jacketed plinking ammo is for the dumbass ranges that use the magnet test to falsely determine whether a bullet is AP or not (if it is an outdoor range, why would it matter if it was AP anyways, it's not like it'll blow through the burm or anything). The steel used in the jacket is about as soft as a copper jacket is, so I don't think there is any real chance of your barrel prematurely wearing out do to use of steel jacketed ammo.

[Tech23]

For blasting/plinking there really is no advantage of one over the other IMO. I think the only reason Wolf even markets copper jacketed plinking ammo is for the dumbass ranges that use the magnet test to falsely determine whether a bullet is AP or not (if it is an outdoor range, why would it matter if it was AP anyways, it's not like it'll blow through the burm or anything). The steel used in the jacket is about as soft as a copper jacket is, so I don't think there is any real chance of your barrel prematurely wearing out do to use of steel jacketed ammo.

Cool...appreciate you explaining this to me.

[O.S.O.K.]

Oops - moved this by mistake - I'll get it moved back.

Done.