Has anybody else noticed a sudden change from boxer primed Tulammo 223 to berdan primed? I bought a case from walmart today, and after opening it i realized it was berdan primed. Thinking this only happened in the tins, i checked out some boxes i bought two weeks ago, also berdan primed. I then went and looked at some boxes i bought early summer, and those are boxer primed. Also, i pulled a bullet from a boxer primed case, and it was a ball powder, i pulled a bullet from a berdan case and it was a stick powder.  I tried searching google for any threads about it, but came up empty. Any thoughts? The pic correlated the lot numbers and years produced.

Left to right; boxes from tin, bought 2 weeks ago, bought 6 months ago.

The odd thing to me is that the tula ammo ever used boxer priming since people generally don't reload steel cases.

Well at least pre panic, you couldnt reload plinkers for less than the cost of the tula. So why do it? That doesnt mean you cant or wouldnt... In fact many here have.

I guess it does bring up a good point, OP, why does it matter? If its plinking throw away ammo... Who cares? Is there something about this lot that bothers you? Shoot differetly, etc?

my original plan was to shoot these, then reload the relatively clean steel cases and put them away for a rainy day. that way i could use my brass cases for better looking, shooting ammo. but i'm just more curious that i haven't heard anything about the change from boxer to berdan primers.

For me, the only reason to buy Tula .223 was reloadable steel cases.  Since "generally nobody reloads steel cases" that left more for me, and I didn't mind the guys at the range giving me odd looks when I swept up their steel cases.  I've been pretty well hooked on Barnaul's steel cased stuff for years now; it's more consistent, hotter than Tula, and easy for me to find (Academy Sports' "Monarch Steel" line is all Barnaul-made).  This shift by Tula is interesting, and I'm in for more information.

I have a buddy who shoots Tula all the time and he swears that Tula in the tin is all berdan primed and Tula in the 20 round box is boxer primed. I don't know, Tula .223 is the only steel cased ammo that won't run 100% in my BCM when I run a heavy buffer and it doesn't shoot as consistent as Wolf Military Classic for me. I have great luck with Monarch for bargain ammo in .223, 7.62x39 and 5.45x39.

Aren't all Berdan primers corrosive?
I bought some silver bear that turned out to be corrosive, rusted the shit outa a M1A and 1919 barrel!

All the boxes say "Non-Corrosive", so i think thats not a factor. Next time I'm able to ill check my local walmarts and see if the individual boxes are still boxer primed, i highly doubt it though.

no it was something else

Not at all.  All non-surplus Berdan primed ammo (and loose primers for reloading) I've ever seen have been clearly marked as non-corrosive, and I have no reason to doubt them.  Silver Bear should NEVER be corrosive; Barnaul has a fine reputation and there's no reason for them to screw up like that.

Absolutely not true. You should doubt them.

Wolf caused a big stink awhile back when they started selling the Ukranian 7.62. It was labeled non-corrosive, but actually was corrosive and caused damage. They have since corrected the issue, but it clearly shows this does happen and you cant just assume by whats on the box.

That's a good point, but it's important to note that Barnaul (Silver, Golden and Brown Bear) is NOT Ukrainian.  And remember that Wolf is not a manufacturer, they're an importer.  That's an important difference.  Wolf contracted with the Ukraine state ammunition maker, and managed to not get what they contracted for.  It looks like the manufacturer just sold Wolf surplus stuff instead of newly made, non-corrosive ammunition.  The issue here is buying from an importer that is at the mercy of a manufacturer that may or may not do what they contract to do.

On the other hand, Barnaul IS a manufacturer, and they have a huge reputation to protect - it's their name on the box, or enormous contracts that could be at risk if they screw up.  I stand behind my earlier statement that Silver Bear should NEVER be corrosive.  But Barnaul is not the only maker of zinc coated, steel cased ammo, so it's quite possible that it wasn't really Silver Bear.  I know what Barnaul's headstamp looks like, so I'm going to know if I'm shooting their stuff or not.

Finally, "corrosive" primers aren't like acid.  They leave behind a salt compound that draws and holds moisture, allowing for corrosion.  They can't, by themselves "rust the shit outa" anything.  Something else went on with that poster's guns, way beyond what corrosive primers can do by themselves.