I was in Academy the other day looking for 06 ammo and ran across some steel cased Russian 150 gr. soft point for 6.00 a bax of 20. Is this ammo any good and can it be reloaded?
Would have to know the headstamps on it, but likely it is berdan-primed, which can be reloaded, but are normally considered non-reloadable, as it is much more labor intensive to do so.
Most of the Russian surplus is steel-cased with either a copper wash or lacquer-coating. This makes them non-reloadable. You need brass cases to reload.
As for if they're any good, you can check the headstamps here: http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo.htm and it will tell you a lot about what you've got, including how it performs. There's very little 7.62x54R out there that doesn't perform well.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by just_a_car
Would have to know the headstamps on it, but likely it is berdan-primed, which can be reloaded, but are normally considered non-reloadable, as it is much more labor intensive to do so.
Most of the Russian surplus is steel-cased with either a copper wash or lacquer-coating. This makes them non-reloadable. You need brass cases to reload.
As for if they're any good, you can check the headstamps here: 7.62x54r Ammunition Evaluations and it will tell you a lot about what you've got, including how it performs. There's very little 7.62x54R out there that doesn't perform well.
damn near any of it'll shoot.
i have bought all kindsa milsurp ammo and the only one that misfired was 8mm.
it was about 4 cents a round so............
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Russian ammo is ok for plinking and range shooting. I would use brass cased ammo designed for hunting applications of taking game.
Also be carefull, a lot of ammo is corossive and extra care should be used in cleaning the firearm after every shooting session!
I use wolf 7.63x39 ammo in my Ruger Mini 30 because it is hard to find brass cased 7.62x39 ammo. (thankfully it is becoming more abundant in recent times) There are some missfires and you get red primer sealer all over the action, but a little extra cleaning and it is gone.
Steel cases are harder on your action and magazines than brass cases are. It will probably not really be noticable in a bolt or lever action. Sigle action rifles should not be a problem at all. Semi-autos are where you really see the extra wear and tear over time from using steel cased ammo. Usually you will have to replace your semi-auto magazines once or twice in the lifetime of your rifle or pistol.
Russian ammo does not always have a very consistent powder charge. With my mini 30 i can notice "hot" and "cold" rounds here and their.
Summary - russian steel cased ammo is a cheap way to be able to take your firearms to the range. Just remember it is just that, CHEAP and you get what you pay for. Expect some missfires, an overly dirty action, and slightly more wear. I would NOT use wolf ammo in any expensive high preformance firearm. Dont Expect tight groups, even out of inherently accurate firearms. Don't use Russian steel cased ammo in any type of "Target" firearm either.
Bottom Line - If you have a nice quality firearm, use good quality ammunition from a manufacture with a good reputation of quality and consistency. Dont ruin a quality firearm with third rate ammo just to save a buck.
