New ammo from Tula?

Never thought I'd start a Tula thread, but here goes...

Has anyone else seen the new .223 they've released? It's still steel case, but they're loading "range friendly" non-steel projectiles. Generally, I don't shoot steel cased ammo. Not because of the case, but because of the bi-metal bullets. While the severity might be overstated, they do wear barrels faster.

They're priced just over $200 for 1,000 rounds. Even with the rock bottom prices on brass, that's a considerable savings for range/plinking ammo. Unfortunately, for a few reasons, Tula's pretty much seen as the worst ammo out there. Still, I might pick some up to see if they're worth a more serious look.

Just figured it was worth checking to see if anyone's had a chance to try them out.

I went to Tula's website, but all I saw was their promotion of their zinc line. The way they worded it, I wasn't sure if it was bi-metal but just using zinc instead of copper. Can you provided a link to the "range friendly" ammo? This would be a big deal here in Calif. No range that I'm aware of here in Calif allows bi-metal because of the possibility of fires. On a personal level, I stayed away from bi-metal, right or wrong, I didn't like the idea of steel in my barrel, plus I couldn't really shoot it anywhere except the desert.

Sorry. I'd done the same and didn't see it on their website. Although, it looked like they weren't too ambitious with timely site updates:)

Only place I've seen the ammo so far is LAX Ammo...

https://www.laxammo.com/tulammo-223-...jectile-detail

Like you, I've opted to stay away from ammo like Tula because I'm not keen on throwing steel projos down my barrels. Range restrictions where I live are not much of a concern. So, hopefully this helps my friends trapped behind enemy lines.

Let me know if you're able to find any more info.

Does it comes with more powder in the case and in more consistent quantities than their normal 55gr craptastic ammo?

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Originally Posted by Kdubya

Sorry. I'd done the same and didn't see it on their website. Although, it looked like they weren't too ambitious with timely site updates:)

Only place I've seen the ammo so far is LAX Ammo...

https://www.laxammo.com/tulammo-223-...jectile-detail

Like you, I've opted to stay away from ammo like Tula because I'm not keen on throwing steel projos down my barrels. Range restrictions where I live are not much of a concern. So, hopefully this helps my friends trapped behind enemy lines.

Let me know if you're able to find any more info.

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There's a LAX ammo 15 mins from my house. I'll have to tool on over and check it out. The bullets in the picture don't look all that silvery, like on their website, indicating zinc. Maybe they went with a conventional guilding metal jacket. I might try some of this stuff in the really close range shooting at my next 3gun, accuracy isn't as critical. I'm going to a public range next week to fine tune my rifles out at 200 yds, so I think I'll shoot a few groups with this stuff as well.

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Originally Posted by Kain

Does it comes with more powder in the case and in more consistent quantities than their normal 55gr craptastic ammo?

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Probably the only way to find out is to pulled down a few and measure the charge. I don't think I ever chrono'd any Tula. Were the velocities all over the place?

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Originally Posted by TomMcC

There's a LAX ammo 15 mins from my house. I'll have to tool on over and check it out. The bullets in the picture don't look all that silvery, like on their website, indicating zinc. Maybe they went with a conventional guilding metal jacket. I might try some of this stuff in the really close range shooting at my next 3gun, accuracy isn't as critical. I'm going to a public range next week to fine tune my rifles out at 200 yds, so I think I'll shoot a few groups with this stuff as well.

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Hadn't even considered LAX was local to you. Double bonus potentially with those new ammo laws you guys have to deal with. I almost wonder if it'll be an exclusive for LAX/Tula. Kind of like the Walmart/Perfecta deal that once was.

Keep us posted if you try them out.

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Originally Posted by Kain

Does it comes with more powder in the case and in more consistent quantities than their normal 55gr craptastic ammo?

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That was my thought as well.

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Originally Posted by TomMcC

Probably the only way to find out is to pulled down a few and measure the charge. I don't think I ever chrono'd any Tula. Were the velocities all over the place?

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I haven't shot any, but have seen many sources who indicate it's either inconsistently loaded and/or underpowered. The Lucky Gunner 10k torture test is a good example. The carbine(s) running Tula had all sorts of problems which they attributed, at least partially, to it being underpowered. Wolf and Brown bear did not exhibit the same issues.

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Originally Posted by Kdubya

I haven't shot any, but have seen many sources who indicate it's either inconsistently loaded and/or underpowered. The Lucky Gunner 10k torture test is a good example. The carbine(s) running Tula had all sorts of problems which they attributed, at least partially, to it being underpowered. Wolf and Brown bear did not exhibit the same issues.

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Pretty much this. Usually slow and all over the place. I mean, I've shot some of thier stuff that was like 4 inch groups at 50 yards. When before and after I was throwing 1 inch, 1 and half inch groups with IMI M193
On a note though, I have had better luck with their 75 stuff, at least functionally, it seems to run to better. Whether that is because it is more consistent, which I doubt really, or because the heavier round is going slowing down my tube and getting more dwell time that helps run the action, I can't say for certain. It was still shitty as **** accuracy wise. I mean with the 75gr ammo they had I have had M855 that shot more accurately. Granted, haven't done a full burn of a lot of the stuff, but I don't even use it for getting on paper any more. If I end up with some it is close range drill shit when I'm hitting the range cold after a few weeks or more of not shooting.

It's not Tula (Barnul?), but the Grendel steel case is a bit mild, but not excessively slow. And it's accuracy is very much limited by the projectile. Mexican match tests with decent bullets it did well. So it's projectile variance that makes it 2.5-3 MOA.

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Originally Posted by pinzgauer

It's not Tula (Barnul?), but the Grendel steel case is a bit mild, but not excessively slow. And it's accuracy is very much limited by the projectile. Mexican match tests with decent bullets it did well. So it's projectile variance that makes it 2.5-3 MOA.

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Agreed.
Just because something is steel cased ammo does not in and of itself mean it is shit accuracy. Because I hear that often, at which point I point to Hornady Steel match and some of the groups I have shot with that stuff. I have just found Tula to be shit though, yes, projos are shit and I would not be surprised if there was as much as a 5gr variation in their stuff, and Probably not that much off in their powder. in the 55gr stuff I have also heard the theory that the powder throw is the same as the 5.45 ammo, that the just chance casing and projectile when doing runs. I don't know.

Maybe I'll get really ambitious in the near future, grab some various tula loadings and break them down and weigh the projo and powder and see.

I shoot about 8000 rounds of Tula or wolf 9mm mainly Tula 115 gr and it shoots 3 inch groups at 25 yards all day. I find it very consistent and with the money you save you can get a new barrel and another couple thousand rounds to shoot.
I have a couple training buddy’s who also do the same thing and we love the stuff.


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Originally Posted by Kdubya

Hadn't even considered LAX was local to you. Double bonus potentially with those new ammo laws you guys have to deal with. I almost wonder if it'll be an exclusive for LAX/Tula. Kind of like the Walmart/Perfecta deal that once was.

Keep us posted if you try them out.

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Will do.

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Originally Posted by mattieb

I shoot about 8000 rounds of Tula or wolf 9mm mainly Tula 115 he and it shoots 3 inch groups at 25 yards all day. I find it very consistent and the money you save you can get a new barrel and another couple thousand rounds to shoot.
I have a couple trading buddy’s who also do the same thing and we love the stuff.

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Upon further consideration, I actually have shot Tula. It was quite a while back and only in pistol calibers. FWIW, I don't recall any issues. Fed, fired and ejected just fine. Don't remember anything out of the ordinary accuraccy wise either. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the same can be expected with their rifle caliber loadings.

Still, I'm interested in their new non-steel version. Spending $80-$100 less per case is a pretty significant savings. If it's reliable, I could deal with accuracy on the poorer end of the spectrum for basic range/plinking use.

Nothing new. Wolf's been having the occasional run of copper jacketed ammo for some time now. I guess the Tula plant just pulled a "me too".

https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server2...86.513.jpg?c=2

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Originally Posted by vicious_cb

Nothing new. Wolf's been having the occasional run of copper jacketed ammo for some time now. I guess the Tula plant just pulled a "me too".

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Interesting. I've seen that packaging before but never really bothered to look into them.

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Originally Posted by vicious_cb

Nothing new. Wolf's been having the occasional run of copper jacketed ammo for some time now. I guess the Tula plant just pulled a "me too".

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Interesting. I've pretty much stayed away from the Wolf steel case .223 because of the bi-metal, so I haven't kept up with all their line (I do shoot their Gold line). You would think that the copper jacket stuff would be the only thing they would send to Ca because you really can't shoot bi-metal anywhere except the desert.

It's not new, been around for a while.

I always thought it was the powder they use that was harsher on the barrels than the projectile, but I might be wrong on that.


With that said, I've shot 25,000+ rounds of a combination of Wolf, Tula, Brown bear, and Golden Tiger as well as some other steel case stuff in 9mm 7.62x39 and 223... I've never had a problem with it, always goes bang.. It's just really dirty and not consistent/accurate.
Steel case ammo is all I shoot out of my glocks anymore, you can buy 1000 rounds for 150 bucks at sgammo.. It's stupid cheap, and it has never given me any problems in the calibers I mentioned.

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Originally Posted by Kain

Does it comes with more powder in the case and in more consistent quantities than their normal 55gr craptastic ammo?

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Is this true? I've not examined TULA ammo. But the Herters stuff I disected had an impressively consistent powder charge. No sure if Herters is even remotely related to Tula (production plant wise), but the only thing that made the ammo bad was the bullet. Everything else about the steel case was good.

Now that I think about it, about 10-15 years ago, I bought several cases of polymer coated Wolf steel case 223 that had copper (no steel) bullets. They were in regular Wolf packaging and I was surprised about the non-magnetic bullets.

Joe Mamma

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Originally Posted by markm

Is this true? I've not examined TULA ammo. But the Herters stuff I disected had an impressively consistent powder charge. No sure if Herters is even remotely related to Tula (production plant wise), but the only thing that made the ammo bad was the bullet. Everything else about the steel case was good.

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Have not shot herters, had a bad go with hangfires with some of their other ammo. But, from the Tula I've shot, and honestly might break some down to see if i get bored, I'd shoot and I could 2-5 rounds a bix that lacked enough ass to cycle either of my BCMs or even my Bushy. The rest would cycle, but damn even Wolf I have less issue with than the Tula I've shot. The only Tula I've managed to run multiple boxes without a fail to feed or in sone cases fail to eject with a spent casing in my chamber was the 75gr stuff. I will caveat that the last Tula 55gr FMJ I shot was 3 years old as far as when I got it. Newer might be more consistent. But the issues I've had I still consider it junk.

Herters is usually rebranded Tula IIRC

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Originally Posted by 5.56 Bonded SP

Herters is usually rebranded Tula IIRC

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That's what I was guessing/assuming...

We did a big test on Herters. That ammo was really good in every way except the bullet. If you sub 69 gr SMKs and keep all else equal (even the powder charge), you have some decent ammo.

I tried running their 62 gr bullet in brass cases with all efforts made to make accurate ammo, and that bullet simply was 4 MOA at best.

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Originally Posted by markm

That's what I was guessing/assuming...

We did a big test on Herters. That ammo was really good in every way except the bullet. If you sub 69 gr SMKs and keep all else equal (even the powder charge), you have some decent ammo.

I tried running their 62 gr bullet in brass cases with all efforts made to make accurate ammo, and that bullet simply was 4 MOA at best.

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Interesting, I always thought it was their powder charges being inconsistent since when shooting for groups, I would always get a flyer that was low.. Making me think maybe varying powder charge.

But ya, I'm not surprised. The russian steel stuff is anything but accurate. Although, I have always had good luck with it being reliable. It always went bang for me, and makes great training ammo. My Glocks still have a steady diet of Tula for .15 cents a round.

My test was a sample of one lot of herters. I was indeed surprised at the powder consistency.

I finally scored 3 boxes of this Tula for a bit of testing. I haven't had time to shoot it yet, but I did pull down 5 rounds. The powder is a fine grain extruded type. Bullet non-magnetic.

bullet powder

1. 57.14 22.98

2. 56.64 NA (mishandled)

3. 56.38 21.76

4. 56.54 21.42

5. 56.38 21.48

The bullet is a BT, with a recessed base of about 1/16" (no lead), and no sealant.

If I had to guess...out of this small sample of 5, #1 would be the flyer that opened the group up.

I'll save the rest for accuracy and maybe some chrono. With such a small charge of powder I'm not expecting smokin' velocities.

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Originally Posted by 5.56 Bonded SP

I always thought it was the powder they use that was harsher on the barrels than the projectile, but I might be wrong on that.
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I have seen rust on non coated steel parts and insde fired cases from Tula and several years back from Wolf. I assume the powder is what has the affinity for water, but could be primers also.

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Originally Posted by vicious_cb

Nothing new. Wolf's been having the occasional run of copper jacketed ammo for some time now. I guess the Tula plant just pulled a "me too".
https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server2...86.513.jpg?c=2

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I ran 60rds of the Wolf Polyformance 223Rem copper jacket through my Yugo M95 yesterday. It ran 100%, but I wasn't checking for accuracy. Interestingly, it has large primers. I got it from SGAmmo. It was about $34 less per 1k than brass cased Wolf. I reload, so I think that the $34 savings is not worth not getting the brass to reload. 7.62x39 is another story. A case of the Wolf Polyformance 7.62x39 copper jacket is $276 delivered from SGAmmo. The cheapest brass cased non-corrosive 7.62x39 right now is Prvi 123gr FMJ from Target Sports USA for $449.50 delivered. That's a difference of $173.50. That makes getting the Wolf 7.62x39 a no-brainer for me.