I was wondering if anyone used WOLF ammo in competition. I know it's not the most accurate stuff but the allure of CHEAP is greater than the allure of greater accuracy.

If not in competition, do you use it in practice? Do you shoot paper and steel targets with it?

Just curious.

You have to make sure it doesn't have a steel in the bullets that will penetrate steel targets. I believe some Wolf does, some doesn't. The people that run the match will hate you if you put holes in their steel. I saw that happen and the RO was not happy. At a match I shoot they use a magnet to check your ammo before a stage with steel.

I've shot some of it for practice. It just makes your chamber really dirty and I think I remember getting stuck cases in the chamber after switching back to my brass-cased reloads. I figured the brass was expanding more so than the steel cases were and getting stuck in the chamberthe Wolf had made so dirty. I also remember getting duds with it. I would use quality brass-cased ammo that you know your zeros with for matches. It sucks going to a match and having problems you could have solved with a few more bucks spent on ammo.

Yah but that's Steel CORE ammo which is alot different than Bimetal jacketed. Even the soft steel core ammo will dent deeper than the lead core... BUT I've "accidentally" shot the iron frames at a local gun range with both mild-steel core 7.62x54R and Lead Core FMJ Mil Surp .308. They both made almost identical size gashes in the frame. The x39 makes one half as deep. I just can't see a plate that is designed to take FMJ .308 and 30-06 caving to a bimetal x39

At the range that holds the rifle matches I shoot they tested a S&B .223 load with "bi-metal" jacketed bullets like Wolf uses and it went right through their AR500 plates.

I find this VERY hard to believe.

Wolf is fine for most competitions. You don't have to pick it up and it is plenty accurate to 100yds (1" group out of my 16" lightweight .223). What caliber are you shooting in matches? What distances? The last match I shot I used the Wolf for everything within 50yds and everything past that I had picked my most accurate brass case load which happened to be my reloads. Depending on distance, thickness, and velocities the .223 will go through several type of metals even if they are not steel cored. Trust me I have done it. Wolf uses dirty powders and primers, but if you shoot guns then you should know how to clean them. Lacquer coated Wolf should not be shot in .223 or most .308 (lacquer melts and gums up the chamber) but most is now "Polyformance" and not subject to this unless you found a really old batch.

Using the Slower moving 7.62x39. I did some reading and the higher velocity .223 does cause it to puncture steel easier. The 7.62x39 shouldn't have that issue.

Also, not to digress, but it's been shown that the "Lacquer" and "Poly" coats don't melt off. The gumminess of the chamber is powder that works its way back because of the steel cases not expanding to the chamber as tightly. This causes the next brass to expand around the carbon buildup and jam the rifle.

I agree that a fast .223 has better AP potential than 7.62x39 regardless of the makeup of the round. The x39 is too slow to cause the penetration seen in .223 from the soft steel bimetal jacket.

I shoot Wolf in almost every match, but using Kreb's KTR-03S in 7.62x39 and not .223. In our matches shots range from 10 yards to 200 yards and it works just fine for that. The magnet test on any wolf is not valid because of the bi-metal jacket which will be magnetic but will not harm any steel targets. We build steel targets with a lifetime warranty using both 3/8" AR500 and 3/8" AR550 and Wolf .223 does not do any greater damage than any other .223 ammo. But the velocity of .223 will generally pit almost any steel targets if they are pushing much over 3000 fps. Some brands like American Eagle 55 gr. .223 regularly pit steel targets more often that say winchester 62 gr. The difference is the velocity. Also, a 24 or 20 inch barrel .223 will pock steel much easier than a 14.5 or 16" barrel .223 because of the greater velocity. Some frangible .223 is worse than standard ball .223 because they are using lighter projectiles (40-50 gr) and higher velocities.

From the mouth of a Target manufacturer! THANKS! This is Perfect!

The trouble is if your round sticks to a magnet you are DQED Period End of Subject. Wolf is not AP and we all know it. Some Wolf is non-magentic. Best thing to do is get clairification with the people running the match before bringing it, or like I do at Black Creek shoot x39 walmart WWB on stages with steel and Wolf for paper.

Depends on the match. On the rifle stages where there is steel plates-no metal jackets.
Last match I ran had all paper targets for rifle, used wolf. Getting goods hits with wolf out to 100yds is not hard to do. Some matches go alot farther out, so maybe then it would make a difference, but then again I'm more the issue than a 3 moa bullet vs a 1moa bullet.

Been shooting Wolf 223 for years at matches with no issue on steel. The steel was no closer than 150 yds though and everytime I've checked they Chrony around 2800fps at 3 yds from the muzzle so at 100+yds it's well under the 3000 mentioned above. It has also been reliable with no issues that I can remember.

I do have my first batch of Wolf 9mm, however, that has had several FTF with good primer strikes. Only using this for practice at this point and getting good at the tap, roll, rack drill. Running it in a Glock with unknown springs. I'll give it a go in some other guns before I condemn it.

I've been shooting Wolf 7.62x39 on steel targets for at least 8 years now and I have yet to find a 7.62x39 round that will even make a mark on the steel besides removing the paint (haven't tried any steel core ammo). That is because no 7.62x39 is running more than 2400 fps, it just isn't going to damage the steel. I've shot tons of surplus and factory .308 on steel targets as well and none of it has pitted 3/8" AR500 steel, mostly because it is never pushing more than 2700 fps and most surplus .308 is closer to 2500-2600 fps. Might be different story out of a long barrel bolt action rifle. 3000 fps seems to be the unofficial threshold for damaging a steel target.

We build rubber and steel bullet traps (up to .50 bmg) for indoor ranges and you will usually get indoor range owners concerned over Wolf 7.62x39, but there is no problem as long as you are not bring in AP or Chinese steel core.

Where I shoot 3-gun, the distance is no more than 80 or so yds., and I used to use Wolf exclusively (.223). Now I'm reloading my own, as I can do that cheaper than I can buy Wolf. Most Wolf was non-magnetic, but more and more, it's been magnetic. Like Action Target said, I think it's a bimetal jacket, which is going to be cheaper on raw materials than straight copper. But, like Topmaul said, if the range says to magnet check your ammo, and you fail the magnet test, you're DQ'd. While a bimetal or soft steel core bullet may not damage their targets, they have no way of knowing which you have, bimetal or soft steel core, or AP. They're not going to take any chances, to save their investment (targets).

I keep a little on hand (Wolf), and even some reloaded Wolf, for rainy day matches. I hate to try to get water and mud out of rifle cases.

The AK just gets Wolf, as everything else is prohibitively expensive. I haven't shot any Wolf .308, as I've not seen it cheap enough to bother, I have a bunch from before the surplus dried up (2500 rds.), and I'm setting up to reload it also.

As far as Wolf jamming up ARs, my opinion is that if your AR isn't working properly, you have something else wrong with it. I've fired over 1200 rounds of Wolf through mine, about 400-500 of it was lacquer, the rest polymer, and several hundred of my brass cased reloads and a couple hundred Wolf cases reloaded. I haven't cleaned the rifle once through all of this, just lubed it as necessary, either before or after every shooting session. It's a 16" A1 carbine, built from scrounged parts. I even went through five mags, all loaded with Wolf lacquer, about one round a second, then a mag change as I had five loaded, to see if getting it hot would stop it or ruin the Duracoat on the barrel. The rifle never hiccupped, but I turned the Duracoat on the barrel brown, and the handguards were too hot to hold onto. There's a pic of the rifle down in the business section of Firearms Sales in AR work, it's still brown.

Maybe it is an official rule for some sanctioning or something but at our matches they weren't DQing for failing a magnet test. They just did the test before the stage was shot and people that failed just borrowed non-magnetic.

They definitely had been getting holes poked through their steel at 80 yards, not just dimples. This is a large club that regularly holds Area and Section matches, and their steel is the good AR500 stuff. I wish it wasn't true. Steel is fun to shoot with the rifles yet we don't have the space to have many 100+ yard stages.

It's range policy where I shoot, which is also one of the places Topmaul shoots.

Usually we have to magnet check the ammo before the stage, and come up with someting else if our ammo fails. However, if there is reason to believe you put holes in steel, then your remainig ammo would be checked.

With Wolf coming out with their new 75 grain stuff (the steel cased polymer coated, not the Wolf Gold, Brass cased 75 grain Privi Partizan) I am going to look into using it.

So far it does approximate the flight characteristics of the 75 grain Privi ammo out of my gun (16 Inch, 1 in 7, LMT MRP) at 100 yards. Not nearly as accurate but at $260 a 1000 it's almost half what the Privi 75 grain stuff is. Until I get off my ass and start loading 5.56, when I can I will use it.

IPSC_GUY
SIERRA II ALPHA