Gold Tiger, Silver Bear, Brown Bear ... oh my

[Steelart99 0]

I keep reading various opinions on ammo types for ARs, but not too much specifically to the Saiga 7.62x39.  In general, I hear that the Gold Tiger is the better performing, Silver Bear next (and a bit cleaner), followed by Brown Bear (also not too bad but can be messier).  Wolf and Tula seem to follow behind in performance and consistency.  Hornady SST seems to be thought of as a good hunting round.

 

I know ... lots of different opinions, but want to hear what most people are using in their Saiga's.

 

Next question: FMJ, HP, polymer tip, etc ....???

 

FWIW, I have GT, BB and Hornady SST on the way.

 

Thoughts?

Edited November 29, 2013 by Steelart99

[Matthew Hopkins 1,065]

I buy whatever is cheaper for my AKs.

[XD45 7,124]

Pages of thoughts in the terminal performance thread 7 threads below this one.

[Steelart99 0]

Doh .... that was the forum discussion I read that detailed the performance of GT ... I just lost sight of the fact that it was this forum.  That's what happens when you do google searches ... sigh

[bert7.62x39 10]

I usually buy Tula because it's cheap and abundant.

 

With my Saiga, we hit 2-liters and silhouette targets @ 100 yards easy and spent shotgun shells at 20-25 yards and that's good enough for me.

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

Range ammo really doesnt matter, whatever is cheaper as long as there are no problems.

 

Now when there is a purpose to be achieved that is another matter.

If one wishes to store ammo for the long term then some type of lacquer coating for steel like GT or sealed primer and bullet for brass such as Yugo mil-surp. Both or either fit the bill as both perform very well.

 

For hunting, a much lower round count, Hornady fits the bill as would the Remington PSP but lately Remington has not been winning many friends. 

 

Maybe simplistic but meh for what its worth.

[Tool_of_Society 15]

I've read many times that accuracy is one part ammo and one part gun. IT seems that guns on an individual basis tends to like certain ammos. Having said that for my converted saiga I useTulammo for cheap range ammo (surplus is getting hard to find). I get better accuracy with tulammo then with wolf military and such.

 

As for hunting I prefer the 123g partizan ppu SP rounds.

[Steelart99 0]

Thanks for the insights guys.  Is Yugo mil-surp even available?  I haven't been looking long, but in that time I've never seen it.  I assume that is different than Red Army surplus.  Tula does seem to be readily available, usually in the .23 to .25 per shot range.  SGA has been the only place I've seen carrying GT.

 

So, I have BB, GT and Hornady but wanted to lay in a "small" supply bulk for range shooting. 

[Lone Eagle 839]

Yugo M67 is still out there, but you won't find it in the sub-$200 range anymore.  I bought a few 1260 cases when it was still $169 to $189.  Now, I've seen it for as high as $500 per case on forum classifieds.  Right before SH, I bought the last of the 15ct boxes from a local shop at $2.99 each.  Corrosive, yes, but one of the more accurate rounds out of my SGL21-61. 

 

For hunting I have a case(250 rounds) of Federal Fusion 123gr and about 1200 of Silver Bear 125gr.  The fusion gave me a test group of 3.75" at 200 yds scoped/rested.  At 50 yards, it cloverleafed them.  Silver Bear gives me quarter size at 50yds and around 4.25" at 200.  My old go-to round for white tails was Winchester Super-X, but I couldn't find any locally.  Federal is pumping the Soviet stuff out about as fast as .223/5.56.  Rumor is, they will be offering a Fusion round for the x54R chambering in 2014.

 

For range fodder, it's whatever the store has cheap.  When I do my initial sight in, I use high quality domestic loads and learn the limits of the Russian loads.  Yes, it's expensive at 50 cents+ a bang, but the domestic loads are more consistent.  For example, a bud at work pulled several Tula loads apart and weighed the charges.  More than one was a full 2 grains shy on the powder charge.  The M67's of mine we did were a flat 28.5 grains across the board, +/- .1 grains.