I've used other types of Russian ammo before, but this was the first time I've shot any Tula. After all the horror stories I've heard about this ammo online, I was expecting stoppage after stoppage. But I just fired off about 300 rounds of the stuff in two different rifles and guess what? Nary a problem. It smells horrible, but functions just fine in my Colt 16" LW as well as a 16" Del-Ton M4 kit gun. I also expected it to be terribly underpowered, but that isn't the case. This stuff is running only slightly slower (average of about 2,975 fps) out of a 16" barrel than M193 spec ammo. Accuracy isn't bad either. It was like firing a stinkier version of American Eagle .223 55 gr FMJ that uses steel cases.

Since this is the cheapest stuff on the market, I guess I need to spring for a few thousand rounds to serve as training/plinking ammo. Other than the horrible smell, it seems quite okay for the purposes of training. Who has the best price on Tula 55 gr FMJ right now? Anyone know?

So what problems DID you experience when you say "nary" a hitch?

I would guess none,
since the word 'nary' is a form of the word 'not'

The only problem noted was the smell. When fired this ammo stinks. It is as bad if not worse than the South African (cat piss) battle pack ammo that was available about 10-12 years ago. But it functions fine. No stuck cases. Decent consistency. Decent accuracy. Pretty hot for commercial .223 ammo. For the price, I can learn to live with the smell.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_16/503946_AR15_Ammo_Price_Lists___check_here_for_the_best_prices_on_mail_order_ammo_.html

$119 for 500 in a spam can at some Walmarts.

I shoot it all the time with no problems it is fairly accurate also.

what would that be, in objective terms?





 

No worse than any of cheap bulk brass cased. No crazy odd fliers. All of them in the size of a fist at a 100 yards.

There is a good reason for the smell.

It is to remind you to clean the rifle extremely well ! ! !

I won't shoot it but I know a few who do, and they are anal about cleaning after shooting sessions.

Me? I clean, but not as detailed as they do.

The only reason I don't shoot much Tula or other steel cause is because of the bi-metal jacket... cuts barrel life in half.

Remember you rarely hear from the people who shoot it and everything shoots fine.  It's only in the poop threads you hear of those who shoot it okay.   Just remember many guns will feed this stuff fine.  Many guns will not however.   Barnaul steel 223 > Tula steel 223.  IMO

uh no



 

Uh yes.

Link


I'd wager the BM that fired the federal .223 would have lasted 15-20k before it started to show the same signs of key holing the steel case bi-metal rounds did. Right there is pretty solid evidence that bi-metal jackets eat up a barrel at a minimum twice as fast.

5k of brass vs steel you would maybe save $350-$400... So it's almost a wash for a new barrel every 5k.

I have shoot steel and I thought it did good in my guns. If it wasn't for the accelerated barrel wear I'd be all over it. The little bit saved with steel in the short term isn't worth it to me.

If your rifles shoot it well, use it.

I've shot Tula in my SIG 556R and my brother has shot some in his AK47.  Both shoot much better groups with Wolf ammo.

As far as function?  We have a couple AR15's with 250 rounds or so of Wolf through them and they worked just fine.  I don't know for sure that I could even say the Russian ammo is dirtier than US ammo, since the ARs are just dirty all the time anyway.

fallacy in the test as its one barrel type, also conditions are suspect.





its doesn't double barrel wear twice as fast on ALL barrels.





 

They were shooting those rifles until they were damn near glowing hot. Of course it will wear faster in that application. For most people you'll never notice a difference.

Even in the test they showed "the little bit saved" would pay for a new barrel by the time its due for one.

My experience has been eye ::clap:: denticle.

 

i have used tula since about 2008 for testing a new build, i run
100 rounds through every new build. i have never had any
issues with it.

i also liked silver bear but it is harder to find.

Tula rocks and it is reloadable. Too bad Obongo and his executive order banning further imports.

This.  They shot those guns so much they were cooking off rounds in them, and as stated what you save would more than pay for a new barrel anyway.

 

MOM = minute of man at 100 yards.

One large issue with that test was that it did not separate the effects of powder and bullets.  The Tula used in the Lucky Gunner tests was very obviously hard on the throat and crown of that gun, but did the barrel wear because of the bimetal bullet?  No way to tell.  Barnaul's ammo uses bimetal bullets as well, AND caused more throat erosion in the Lucky Gunner tests...  Was it the powder, the bullets, or both combined?

A SOFT steel jacket can't damage a hard steel barrel.  Theoretically, the bimetal jacket should be made with steel that is as soft as the gilding metal (95% copper, 5% zinc) used in US bullet jackets, which is how steel-jacketed M80 7.62 NATO bullets are made.  Even with poor compliance with this ideal, it would be expensive and difficult to make those jackets hard enough to wear on barrel steel.  BUT, if you add in powder that is shown to erode barrel throats quickly (suggesting higher flame temperatures and other factors), the steel jackets could accentuate the powder's effects.

The ONLY way to say that bimetal bullets do anything specific, you MUST do extensive testing with those bullets in carefully loaded rounds using a variety of quality powders (including both single- and double-based powders).  That's a lot of work to find out whether there's a small likelihood of a particular bullet construction causing a specific type of wear.

My batch of Tula was extremely variable in velocities when I chrono'd it, so I sold something like 700 rounds during the panic on Gunbroker.

That same money bought me a thousand rounds of PMC 62 gr X-Tac ammo later in the year.

Edit: I reloaded some of the Tula 223 steel Boxer primed cases, just because I could. You can get a couple of reloads out of each one, no issues at all!

Biggest thing I noticed with the Tula is the horrible mess it made.  Took me 3 times as long to clean the rifle afterwards.