What are the disadvantages of Brown Bear .223?

[Mr.Atoz 0]

Hi,

 

I have always just used brand name, American ammunition (e.g. Remington) in my Saiga .223, but I am looking to save some money since ammunition is getting pricey. I noticed the Russian Brown Bear ammo is very inexpensive, and I wanted to hear about what others have heard about it and experienced with it. How reliable, accurate, corrosive, etc. has it been for you and/or others you have heard about? Is Brown Bear safe to use?

 

In general, what are the disadvantages? Why is it so cheap?

 

 

Thank you very much for your time and advice!

 

-Atoz

[jimdigriz 580]

It's not really good for fighting, as it will not fragment and is unlikely to tumble. It's decent target ammo.

[Shandlanos 1,470]

It's cheaper because labor is cheaper in Russia, and the materials used are relatively inexpensive - iron and a little carbon are cheaper than a mix of copper and zinc. It's much dirtier ammunition than most brass-cased stuff you'll find, and the casings expand differently than brass, both of which often create issues with ARs - fouling and extraction problems, respectively. AKs don't seem to give a shit. Some people complain about poor accuracy with BB, but the one .223 AK I've had the chance to use regularly performs similarly with brass-cased ammo, BB or Wolf - that is to say, with mediocre accuracy.

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

Try to avoid mixing brown bear and brass cased ammo when you go the range. A number of people on other forums have reported stuck cases. All Russian ammo is plated or painted to prevent corrosion of the casing. The zinc plated ammo does not seem to have the same problem with cases sticking as the lacquer coated types of Russian ammo. What happens is the lacquer burns off a bit with each shot, and can cause a build up over time, because the steel case does not expand to fill the chamber completely like brass cased ammo does. So when you run a bunch of lacquer case ammo and heat the gun up then switch over to brass the lacquer sticks to gun and the expanded brass case when it fires.

 

Good cheap plinking ammo. Not so good for precision accuracy. Have yet to find a good accurate Russian round. Nothing seems to shoot as well as brass cased for precision.

[superA 289]

Try to avoid mixing brown bear and brass cased ammo when you go the range. A number of people on other forums have reported stuck cases. All Russian ammo is plated or painted to prevent corrosion of the casing. The zinc plated ammo does not seem to have the same problem with cases sticking as the lacquer coated types of Russian ammo. What happens is the lacquer burns off a bit with each shot, and can cause a build up over time, because the steel case does not expand to fill the chamber completely like brass cased ammo does. So when you run a bunch of lacquer case ammo and heat the gun up then switch over to brass the lacquer sticks to gun and the expanded brass case when it fires.

 

Good cheap plinking ammo. Not so good for precision accuracy. Have yet to find a good accurate Russian round. Nothing seems to shoot as well as brass cased for precision.

 

 

 

For info sake I have heard that it's not the lacquer that burns off, but that the case does not expand as much as brass and let's carbon build up. When you switch to brass it expands and things get tight. Either way it doesn't matter if the end result is the same.

[bpipe95 8]

It is a piston gun, it will eat what ever you feed it.

 

Might be a bit less accurate, but that is about it.