5.45x39is hard to find.  Occasionally I see Wolf(WPA) online, but there are polymer coating which I don't really like.  Recently found some Monarch 5.45 at Academy, I was surprise to find it was lacquer coating.  Looking at the box it's made by Barnaul, the same maker of Wolf ammo.  The Academy price for 5.45 is about 36cent/rd the online Wolf price is about 25cent/rd.

So what the deal with that?  Did Academy pay more for lacquer coating? Why can't Wolf offer lacquer coating?

First, are you sure Wolf 5.45 is made by Barnaul? Barnaul is not Wolf's primary supplier in 7.62x39, but I don't know definitevely who makes the bulk of their 5.45. Second, Monarch is simply rebranded Brown Bear; if Wolf is indeed having contract ammo made by Barnaul they can specify the case type. Wolf went away from lacquer completely several years ago. I'd guess because of myths surrounding lacquer-coated cases fowling chambers, but there are a number of theories. Regardless, I don't expect to see Wolf going back to lacquer anytime soon, if ever.

I picked this 1000 rd case of Golden Tiger 5.45x39 at a gun show two weeks ago, the guy was asking $260 for it & talked him down to $230 because I told him I didn't like the lacquer coating. It really doesn't matter to me, it all fires but my 5.45 AR doesn't do well with the corrosive ammo.

Down to 5k rounds of 7N6. Wish I'd stacked deeper

Anyone have experience with golden tiger in a 5.45 saiga?

comparing online pricing to in store pricing is your first mistake

 

I guess my real question is why Wolf/other ammo importers can't get lacquer 5.45 while Academy can.

They can; they choose not to.

I think it's either because poly is cheaper to produce, or because most US shooters are under the false impression that lacquered ammo is bad for a rifle.
Not sure who Wolf's main supplier is these days since they stopped buying from Tula but except for GT out of Vympel the only lacquer I come across is from the Barnaul factory (Brown Bear, Monarch, etc.) but I know Barnaul makes both lacquer & poly case. Wolf is a USA brand and they buy from whichever factory makes it cheapest

At $10/box ($8 when it's on sale) Monarch is priced about the same as most Brown Bear bulk prices plus shipping, so I consider that reasonable when buying by the box.

I concur with that sentence 100%.