[airjoren]

I might be purchasing 500 rounds of .223 off midway usa.

There are two brands for about the same price.

Wolf Military Classic Ammunition 223 Remington 55 Grain Full Metal Jacket (Bi-Metal) Steel Case Berdan Primed Case of 500 (25 Boxes of 20)

Barnaul Ammunition 223 Remington 55 Grain Soft Point Steel Case Berdan Primed Case of 500 (25 Boxes of 20)

I know both are not the best brands and can be dirty, but for general plinking and target practice, does anyone have opinions on which is better?

 

[airjoren]

anybody?

 

[Spawnz]

I have never used either so I can't help you.

Seems more people on here mention using the Wolf than Barnaul, so I would go with the Wolf if the price difference isn't that much. I can't seem to get the links to come up with my computer today.

Oh well.............I vote WOLF! :lol:

 

[toolboxluis]

what kind of rifle you have AR-15 or AK-47 that shoots .223 ????????????????????????

 

[airjoren]

its an AR-15

 

[toolboxluis]

its an AR-15

ok have you try any of this ammo on your AR-15???

 

[Joeywhat]

It's been my understanding that they're basically the same thing.

I would rather have the FMJ, though.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I shoot nothing but Wolf through my AK. I have never had a failure to feed, stovepipe, or any other type of malfunction. Now I have talked to talot of people who say do not shoot a steel casing through a new gun. They say steel is under more preasure, and will damage your barrel. On the other hand I have read articles in magazines when testing new firearms. Where Wolf was one of the ammunitions used to test. Believe it or not it was one of the more accurate rounds. Infact I think shooting Wolf my void some manafactures warranties. I would check with the manafacture before I did so. I will say Wolf is a quality cheap ammunition. Hope that helps!

 

[airjoren]

I have not tried it in my gun yet as its still in the mail. should have it sometime next week. FMJ better than the softpoint though?

 

[sourpatch45]

I have not tried it in my gun yet as its still in the mail. should have it sometime next week. FMJ better than the softpoint though?

an ar15 can bent the tip of a soft point. which can cause accuracy problems. when you cycle a loaded round through your ar you can see the scratches on the bullet and thats on copper just imagine what it would do to lead.it shouldnt be too much of a problem with plinking ammo but FMJ would probably be more accurate

 

[airjoren]

thanks for all the advice. I think I will be going with the wolf ammo now.

 

[toolboxluis]

I have not tried it in my gun yet as its still in the mail. should have it sometime next week. FMJ better than the softpoint though?

maybe you should have gotten a few of both brands to make sure your AR-15 can use them personal experiences my ak_47 eats wolf no problem but my AR jams on them but i use to have another AR and wolf work good on that one
so i guess is a hit and miss on the AR,s when it comes to wolf

personally i enjoy HP or FMJ on my AK-47
i use the HP on some of my mags for close quarter :twisted::twisted: for inside the house
and FMJ because their cheaper :grin:

for AR-15 i use regular 55 gr .223/5.56
but for close quarter :twisted::twisted: for inside the house
i use TAP ammo in 75 gr HP

 

[xdmikey]

my Bushy's love wolf but you'd better bring a chamber brush to the range w/you or scrub it before you go.
I read on sa myth-busters type of forum that the only problem they could duplicate was "mixing" Wolf with other brands. the laquer coating reacts w/brass, making them difficult to eject.
I've never had any problems but I always clean my chamber and usually bring one type of ammo-Wolf or reload by me.

 

[lutheranpriest]

DON'T DO IT!!!!! Steel-cased ammo will take it's toll on your AR. If you want to save $, get yourself a reloading set and get a few hundred rounds of brass cased, boxer primed .223 or 5.56. I made the mistake of running around 500 rounds of Wolf through my AR-15. After 500 rounds, the added strain of the steel cased ammo I had a major failure. The buffer spring had lost adequate tension and as a result the buffer retainer popped out because the buffer didn't engage the retainer quick enough. In the process the retainer spring broke, the recess for the buffer retainer was marred (I repaired it with a dremel), and I was without a functioning AR until the replacement parts arrived earlier this week. Spend the extra $ and get some decent brass cased ammo from Ammunition To Go. They have new 5.56 M193C rounds for roughly $220 per 500.

Yes, Wolf is cheap, but remember there is a great difference between cheap and inexpensive.

 

[azguns0331]

DON'T DO IT!!!!! Steel-cased ammo will take it's toll on your AR. If you want to save $, get yourself a reloading set and get a few hundred rounds of brass cased, boxer primed .223 or 5.56. I made the mistake of running around 500 rounds of Wolf through my AR-15. After 500 rounds, the added strain of the steel cased ammo I had a major failure. The buffer spring had lost adequate tension and as a result the buffer retainer popped out because the buffer didn't engage the retainer quick enough. In the process the retainer spring broke, the recess for the buffer retainer was marred (I repaired it with a dremel), and I was without a functioning AR until the replacement parts arrived earlier this week. Spend the extra $ and get some decent brass cased ammo from Ammunition To Go. They have new 5.56 M193C rounds for roughly $220 per 500.

Yes, Wolf is cheap, but remember there is a great difference between cheap and inexpensive.

i dont know about all that but i dont like steel cased in general. Barnaul is extensively used by the military for training btw

 

[lutheranpriest]

IMHO the best solution for less-expensive ammunition is reloading, not cheap steel-cased loads. After shooting 500 rounds of Wolf, my buffer spring was almost half the length of the replacement spring. It did take its toll on my AR, but whether or not it will on others remains to be seen. It just isn't worth the risk to me to chance further damage to my AR. Besides, if certain cartridges are ever restricted or prohibited in this country, those who reload will be ahead of the game.

I did the math when it came to reloading .223/5.56. It cost roughly half of new ammo for the powder/primers/bullets. If you spend $300 for an inexpensive Lee single-stage press and dies, calipers, powder scale, powder measure, and case trimmer, your reloading set will pay for itself in a few hundred rounds. Of course, brass doesn't last forever, though most reloaders will tell you no more than 5 uses out of .223 cases.

 

[AZXD]

DON'T DO IT!!!!! Steel-cased ammo will take it's toll on your AR. If you want to save $, get yourself a reloading set and get a few hundred rounds of brass cased, boxer primed .223 or 5.56. I made the mistake of running around 500 rounds of Wolf through my AR-15. After 500 rounds, the added strain of the steel cased ammo I had a major failure. The buffer spring had lost adequate tension and as a result the buffer retainer popped out because the buffer didn't engage the retainer quick enough. In the process the retainer spring broke, the recess for the buffer retainer was marred (I repaired it with a dremel), and I was without a functioning AR until the replacement parts arrived earlier this week. Spend the extra $ and get some decent brass cased ammo from Ammunition To Go. They have new 5.56 M193C rounds for roughly $220 per 500.

Yes, Wolf is cheap, but remember there is a great difference between cheap and inexpensive.

Per the laws of physics, steel cased ammo did not cause this problem.
It would have happened with brass ammo.

Think of what the buffer spring does in relationship to the ammo case.

"The buffer spring had lost adequate tension"
That was your problem ... NOT the ammo being used.

What moving parts make contact with the ammo case ??
The bolt assembly, to include the extractor, ejector, firing pin, and carrier ... Right ??

The worst IMO steel cased ammo will do is cause premature wear of the extractor, and it's really not that much different than brass ... Russia spent a lot of time figuring out the correct steel composition for a steel ammo case.

 

[AZXD]

IMHO the best solution for less-expensive ammunition is reloading, not cheap steel-cased loads. After shooting 500 rounds of Wolf, my buffer spring was almost half the length of the replacement spring. It did take its toll on my AR, but whether or not it will on others remains to be seen. It just isn't worth the risk to me to chance further damage to my AR. Besides, if certain cartridges are ever restricted or prohibited in this country, those who reload will be ahead of the game.

I did the math when it came to reloading .223/5.56. It cost roughly half of new ammo for the powder/primers/bullets. If you spend $300 for an inexpensive Lee single-stage press and dies, calipers, powder scale, powder measure, and case trimmer, your reloading set will pay for itself in a few hundred rounds. Of course, brass doesn't last forever, though most reloaders will tell you no more than 5 uses out of .223 cases.

I agree, it is cheaper to reload, especially if you purchase in bulk ... But your problem was a bad spring and/or the gas system being improperly adjusted, not the ammo being used.

Something caused the spring to be compressed beyond it's design limits, or it was just a bad, as in defective, spring.

 

[AZXD]

thanks for all the advice. I think I will be going with the wolf ammo now.

This is probably best ... Most of the Barnaul I have seen has the laquer coating ... Of course I've only looked at 7.62x39, and haven't actually looked at 5.56 stuff so I could be wrong.

 

[Doc 3773]

I, ordered an upper for CMMG and they said the warranty is void if I, use Wolf ammo. They claim the steel cases cause excessive wear.