So a few weeks ago my brother and I were out testing some precision .223 and .308 loads we had been developing. I took my M92 SBR out to test some Golden Tiger in it. Bought the GT about a year or so ago and I never shot any out of my M92 and wanted to make sure it functioned ok.

Anyhoo, we have an 10x10 steel plate hung at 100 yards or so that I was shooting at. Couldn't hit it and my bullets were flying everywhere. My brother told me I was hitting 3 foot left and then 2 foot right. Now I am not the best shot in the world, but I'm not that bad. Loaded a new mag and shot 10 rounds at our cardboard target we were using to shoot groups. Went down and the few rounds that hit the cardboard were all sideways. I was like . My M92 never shot like that with Wolf or Brown Bear.

So thinking maybe the GT didn't like the M92(or vice versa) we shot some in his Romy and it shot the same. All over the place and keyholed.... Broke out some Wolf and both guns shot normal.

So know I'm sitting on almost 2k of GT that my only AK doesn't like. UGH!! The lot I shot was E-25-16. This weekend I am going to take some from the other lot and shoot it. Maybe I just got a bad lot....

I am just really confused because I've always read that GT was some of the best 7.62x39 ammo out there. My brother is sitting on a bunch he bought many many years ago and he is hoping his shoots better than mine did.

Anyone else have this issue with GT in any of their AK's?

TIA

Toad

That is really odd!

There isn't anything design wise I know of on the G.T. ammo that should make it behave so differently...

Every round (thousands) I've fired through several AK's performed as expected.  You may have a bad batch.

Send it to me

Topic Moved

I certainly hope mine isn't like that too.  I've been packing it back over the past couple of years because my old GT (like from 8 years ago) stash was getting low.

Do you have any way to measure the bullet dimensions accurately?  If the bullet is too small in diameter or too long, it won't stabilize and will keyhole.

hoping it was just a bad batch since i'm sitting on close to 15k of it

I will take some to my brothers over the weekend and pull a few and mic them. Going to try the other lot number I have and some Barnual I just got in as well this weekend. Hope it shoots straight.

Toad

Do you know the lot number?

E-25-16

off to check my stash

Phew. Mine is E-05-16. Haven't had a chance to shoot any yet. Hopefully there won't be any problems with it.

Well, one can always hope it is the ammo and not their gun, lol.

So I didn't get to try the Barnual in my M92 this weekend due to rain. Our shooting spot tends to flood when it rains. But I did pull down and mic the GT.

Powder - 24.5gr of a stick powder that looks just like IMR4064.

Bullet - 124.8gr, 1.56" long and .308 in diameter.

All seems right with the ammo as far as I can tell.

Seems like GT ammo and my gun do not play well with each other. Next time we get out to the range we are going to take 3 of my brothers other Ak's and see if they like the ammo. I'm hope so...

Toad

Did you guys ever further evaluate the GT through other guns?

.308 diameter? Shouldn't 7.62x39 be .311 in diameter?

I just opened a case from my stash and measured the bullet.  .3105.  Tried a couple and all the same.

Lot # E-67-14  Case No. 198/540

Roguetoad is my brother.........  Disclaimer

I'm not going to measure tonight i've already been drinking.

It will be interesting to run a test i have some old golden tiger It was bought when Henderson Defense made the last of their ak's.  
So long ago i don't remember who i even bought it from.

I have a few different varieties of ak's we will take and shoot including my AK that shot like shit with his Golden tiger we will see........ old vs new.

I know the ak of mine that keyholed has dinked IPSC steel at 300 without issue with three different kinds of ammo I find it hard to beleive his gun and my gun went bad at the same time.......... Cosmic crazy if they did that ak only has around 5k down the pipe.

Finally made it out to the range to test some more ammo through the M92. Shot a mix of Brown Bear, Tula, Barnual I just bought and some 2007 Golden Tiger my brother had in his stash and another lot of GT I have. They all shot fine out both previous guns and 2 other AK's my brother took. The GT that was keyholing did it in all the guns again. So not really sure what is up with the keyholing GT, but it is going to the river tomorrow for mag dumps with some of my friends. They are quite appreciative, lol.

I am sure I will buy some more GT in the future, but for the next few purchases it will be Barnual with the sealant.

Here is the lot number for the 2007 GT that shot fine in my gun.

It is your rifle, GT is proven to be the most accurate and cleanest ammo among any other Russian made.

Source?

Its not his rifle if the bullets are undersized as he posted.

I have shot over 3,000 rounds of GT through various AK's and I have not had one failure of any kind. Just purchased another 1,000 rounds recently. If there was a problem with GT, I would most likely know of it. It is my go-to ammo.

I don't think 4000 rounds is a big enough sample size for spot checking ammo quality, even if you spaced the cases out over the years.

GT is certainly my 'go-to' after having found that it seems to be the most accurate of the inexpensive ammo, equaling M67 in my opinion and obviously non-corrosive.

I just got back from the range.

Background:   I have been a Golden Tiger user since 2010 and I have run a few thousand rounds through a half dozen different AK's and never had an issue.    All of the GT that I have used has been purchased from SGAmmo.   I have probably fifty AK magazines and they are scattered all over the place.   So when I want to go to the range I grab a half dozen or so magazines and I go to the range.   When I get back I reload the magazines and put them back wherever I got them from.

Anyway, I went to the range to zero a couple of red dots.    I had two AK's that I have recently changed the setup on and I needed to zero them.    I started at 25 yards and started working on the zero.   It was pretty close to being zero'd at 25 when I noticed a flyer.   Flyer was two inches up and two inches right.    When I approached the target I found that I had two keyholes.   Keyhole at 25 yards?   Not good.   The problem is that I don't know what lot those bullets came from.    I believe that they were from 2011 but I cannot say for certain.



https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/415398/Target-854467.jpg

I suspect that there are some undersized rounds mixed in with the rest.   So my plan is to gather all fifty magazines, unload them, and check each bullet.    I will also check each bullet from now on as I load magazines.

2Hut8

I just pulled out a stashed case of Golden Tiger and took some measurements.
Not sure if I'll have any issues shooting through my VZ2008 and CSA VZ58.

You need to pull that bullet and measure the base instead of just behind the ogive.

He said it Mic’d at .308”

Shouldn’t AK ammo Mic at .310/.311?

Those calipers aren’t the best. I have some.

Yes, but this thread is so old I doubt any of will see an update or pulled bullet.