I have shot the zinc plated Silver Bear .223, but not the .308 or 30-06 FMJ. This ammo is NOTHING like the green lacquered steel cased Russian ammo youre used to. My AR is a bit picky when it comes to lacquer buildup in the chamber with the green stuff (mostly messiness, its never caused a serious stoppage). However, this zinc plated stuff is a lot cleaner and leaves very little residue. I cant find anyone other than CTD that handles Silver Bear 308 and 30-06 FMJ (other than asshole wholesalers like Zander's who wont sell to even C&Rs). Since I live in Texas, I have no desire to pay both shipping and sales tax for this stuff. Anyone find any elsewhere?
Mark my words...Russian steel cased ammo will be our best alternative for affordable practice/blasting ammo once milsurp begins to dry up. While I have never had any significant problems with any Russian steel cased ammo (with the notable exception of Wolf 45 ACP), I think a lot of American shooters have it in their heads that lacquered steel cased ammo will somehow damage or cause undue wear on their guns. This zinc-plated stuff is the best compromise for that fear. Paying $200 for 1000 rounds of US made brass cased FMJ meant for practice/blasting is simply outrageous and really shouldnt be tolerated by we the consumers.
Right now, Silver Bear not priced very attractively, but there hasnt been much imported into the country thusfar. If the price can come down some (say, $120-$140 per 1000 rounds) for .223/.308/30-06 FMJ, this could very well be a good sustainable source of new production ammo to supplement the dwindling amounts of military surplus ammo. The green lacquered steel case stuff aint going away, though. Russian and Chinese plants have been tooled up for this stuff for decades and can churn it out by the billions of rounds very cheaply. Those who arent anal retentive about ammo cleanliness or shoot rifles more suited to this sort of ammo will still find it to be the best deal.
Importers simply need to become more creative at cost cutting and profit management (The Russians' cost for ammo production is insanely low...most of what you pay for with Russian ammo is shipping, packaging, warehousing and markup) in order to offer this stuff to us affordably...if they can do that they will have themselves a very sustainable business. I also hope the Chinese can be convinced to join the bandwagon as well. Their production costs have to be even lower than the Russians' and they already have a more robust shipping infrastructure to get it delivered to the US more cheaply.
Theres a certain irony in capitalism being a saving grace for former communist ammo manufacturers. This only proves to them that a capitalist free market can be a win-win situation.