View Full Version : Wolf loaded ammunition vs primers
Does anyone know why the sanctions that I've been told eliminated the supply of Wolf primers hasn't done the same to their loaded ammo? I just checked an online vendor and they still, in this market, have steel-cased 5.56 in stock. The fact that it's listed at $800/case not withstanding, they either had a warehouse the size of an Amazon distribution center full of it, or for some reason the sanctions ignore a much larger segment. Just curious really, knowing that the odds of anything good happening in the firearms industry for the near future are rather slim.
I can’t answer your question but this is an interesting read from Powder Valley and does reference Russian and other foreign primers.
https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/why-is-there-a-primer-supply-shortage/
Wolf primers were made in Russia. But the Wolf branded ammo can be made in various countries/plants as I understand it from posts here on M4.
I feel like I need to put my primers in the gun safe and leave the guns out. (guns are easier to replace):cool:
SeriousStudent
11-26-20, 08:26
Mark, if I remember right, you always had really consistent results with low SD from Wolf primers.
Or have I cracked open the eggnog too early?
I’ve heard nothing about the Russian sanctions impacting the availability of Russian ammunition. Where did you hear this?
Remember when they imported the Bulgarian or was it Romania 75 round AK drums that just happened to be identical to the banned from import Chinese drums? I don't think sanctions mean that much when there is a buck to be made.
Remember when they imported the Bulgarian or was it Romania 75 round AK drums that just happened to be identical to the banned from import Chinese drums? I don't think sanctions mean that much when there is a buck to be made.
Same exact thing is happening currently with plywood and the tariffs on the Chinese stuff.
I forget the exact percentage in this case but for a country to claim that a product is 'made' in their country - The reality is that only a particular 'percentage' has to be made there for them to be able to legally make that claim.
China still makes the plywood for the most part but to get around the tariffs they ship it to Vietnam to be 'finished' before it is sent here. Vietnam is only doing 15% of the manufacturing / finishing on that plywood product that they got from China but that tiny percentage of 'work' they did to it satisfies the legal requirement for them to be able to stamp 'made in Vietnam' on the side of it thus avoiding the tariffs that would otherwise be imposed on Chinese goods.
At the end of the day it is STILL a piece of Chinese plywood. Only difference is that the cost is a tiny bit higher because it passed through Vietnam on it way here vs the cost being a good deal higher if coming straight here directly from China and getting hit with the tariff on 'Chinese' goods.
Mark, if I remember right, you always had really consistent results with low SD from Wolf primers.
Or have I cracked open the eggnog too early?
Have heard the same on other larger reloading forums from guys that measure that sort of stuff.
Those guys seem to like them...
Have heard the same on other larger reloading forums from guys that measure that sort of stuff.
Those guys seem to like them...
Yeah I can remember years ago when they were first imported competition shooter David Tubb tested them and immediately turned around and bought a pallet of them.
If it is anything like the surplus arms, the Russian made goods have to be held in one of the satellite countries for like 5 or more years before they can be imported into the US. Unless it has been restricted by name like the Dragonovs and now Saigas.
Mark, if I remember right, you always had really consistent results with low SD from Wolf primers.
Or have I cracked open the eggnog too early?
Absolutely right. I remember buying them originally due to the cheap price, and trying to load them for 9mm ammo. I had no idea they were amazing rifle primers until a year or two later.
Absolutely right. I remember buying them originally due to the cheap price, and trying to load them for 9mm ammo. I had no idea they were amazing rifle primers until a year or two later.
And we tried to substitute CCI for our 77grain load and it opened up our groups by .5MOA. We discovered after loading a few hundred rounds and we thought, we should check these. Im not busting on CCI, just for our load, not as good.
PB
m1a_scoutguy
11-27-20, 18:38
Absolutely right. I remember buying them originally due to the cheap price, and trying to load them for 9mm ammo. I had no idea they were amazing rifle primers until a year or two later.
Yea no kidding ! markm did you get in on the $14.95 per 1K for primers,I know I bought like 20K mostly SPP and some SRP,,like everything else,,wish I had bought more,LOL !! I still have 1 or 2 K of SRP,I actually loaded up about 3K 5.56 last month and used the Wolf primers on them. Ah,,those were the days !! :dance3::dance3:
I think we have a modest 30K in wolf primers. So we bought as much as we could stomach not knowing it would ever end. But they were cheap. I think $10 to $15 per 1,000 primers. But they are gone gone gone now. To never return I'm afraid to say. We now hoard them like misers.
PB
m1a_scoutguy
11-27-20, 19:23
I think we have a modest 30K in wolf primers. So we bought as much as we could stomach not knowing it would ever end. But they were cheap. I think $10 to $15 per 1,000 primers. But they are gone gone gone now. To never return I'm afraid to say. We now hoard them like misers.
PB
If I remember correctly https://www.wideners.com/ was the only place that I bought them from, maybe others had them but I can't recall ! I just remember seeing them for $14.95 & I immediately called my buddy and said we need to put a order together NOW !!! Because I was the guy initiating it I had control of the order,LOL so I did get 20K mixed of the Wolf,,we ended up getting 50K of just primers on 1 Hazmat !!! We always went back and forth, if one of my buds decided to put a order together then they always had 1st pick and got as much as they wanted 1st and others got what room there was left,LOL I know I still have a full sleeve (5K of Tula) but have to check on what they are,,I think LPP. I have used Tula LRP in some of my precision loads and they work good also.
I don't know this LRP VS LPP VS we just bought Wolf Small Magnum Rifle primers. What is this other mean re wolf.
PB
m1a_scoutguy
11-27-20, 21:22
I don't know this LRP VS LPP VS we just bought Wolf Small Magnum Rifle primers. What is this other mean re wolf.
PB
I really didn't know about how good the Wolf Mag SRP were till it was to late, actually after I joined M4 in 2010 I think these were before that but can't remember.:confused: I basically bought what I shot mostly and that was pistol. We did do 3 Gun and some long range but really didn't have a good place till just a few years ago and then we only have 600yrds ! What's interesting now is out of all my choices for primers & this is for large rifle I find that Winchester Reg primers work the best for me out of my one rifle. I have Tula, CCI BR, Fed NM and reg CCI,,the Winnys always win out.
Hey papabear,I'm not sure what you mean,LOL,sorry man. (What is this other mean re wolf)
SeriousStudent
11-27-20, 22:51
Thanks Mark and PB. I thought that was the case, I wanted to confirm.
I think a buddy has some stashed. In this new barter economy, we'll likely do some trading. I have some other components he can use.
If I remember correctly https://www.wideners.com/ was the only place that I bought them from
That is where we got them. Best component purchase I ever made.
SeriousStudent
11-28-20, 13:26
That is where we got them. Best component purchase I ever made.
Yeah, Wideners used to be a great place before they got bought out. I scored some great deals on pulled projectiles and milsurp powders there for cheap range chow.
A buddy would load them for me, and I'd trade him steak and booze for the work.
Ah, the good old days....
I still have about 3k Tula SR and 4.5k Wolf SRM. Markm's advise on these was right on, and I only use them for precision loads. I got lucky, though. After trying some, I went to stock up, and they were forever OOS.
Wolf primers were made in Russia. But the Wolf branded ammo can be made in various countries/plants as I understand it from posts here on M4.
I feel like I need to put my primers in the gun safe and leave the guns out. (guns are easier to replace):cool:Wolf brand is a US, California, based company owned by SSI. Sports Something International. The ammo is made by several Russian factories.
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Wolf isn't even all Russian made. I have some 7.62x39 that was made in Ukraine and have seen 223Rem that was made in Tiawan.
The box of SRPs I just checked did say 'Made in Russia". I'm not certain where I'd heard the lack of availability was due to sanctions, I think it was AccurateShooter. I asked what was going on when they started to disappear a few years ago, someone posted the sanctions as the reason. Correct or not, I don't know. It was on AS a few years prior to that, that they had an article by German Salazar reviewing primers. I believe his research showed the Tula primers at or near top of the list for consistency.
The box of SRPs I just checked did say 'Made in Russia".
What's the date on the box/individual packets? The article posted here somewhere echoed the idea that these haven't been imported since around 2008-2010.
None of mine fall out of the 2009 production date range.
There are two sets of numbers:
30-13 and 14-142
I have some LRPs with 18-13 and 34-305. They were all bought at the same time (2015ish), not sure if that indicates a 2013 manufacturing date, or just how to interpret those numbers?
Interesting. My 09s are clearly dated on the individual and the 5k sleeves. I never did get to play with LRPs.
I think I'm down to three sleeves or I'd send you some primed brass to play with. The LRPs were great in my .308, I have a load for Juggernauts with AR-Comp that would give SDs between 2 and 4. I hope they come back one day...
We did try a batch of Palma 308. The WOLF SRMs didn't have enough umph for the loads. I think I moved to WIN small rifle with good results in SD, but the velocity was like 60 fps slower for the exact same charge.
Wolf isn't even all Russian made. I have some 7.62x39 that was made in Ukraine and have seen 223Rem that was made in Tiawan.
The way I understand Wolf is that it's essentially a holding company. When they want ammo, they go source it from whoever produces the round they are looking for at the price point etc...they are willing to pay. That could be Barnaul, Vympel, Tula, some plant in Hungary or Taiwan etc....Doesn't matter to them, they slap their "branding" on the package and ship it out to distributors as "Wolf". Kinda like the people who talk about what a great rifle or shotgun etc... Browning makes- Browning doesn't make SHIT! Browning has a filing cabinet with patents in it. Miroku MAKES rifles, FN- MAKES pistols etc...to Browning patent specs....
I don't know how many of you are active on Snipershide, but there has been an interesting development regarding this topic in the reloading sub-forum there in the last few days.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/potential-primer-group-buy-inquiry.7048737/
I don't know how many of you are active on Snipershide, but there has been an interesting development regarding this topic in the reloading sub-forum there in the last few days.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/potential-primer-group-buy-inquiry.7048737/
Your link is toast.
Your link is toast.
Yes it is, my apologies. Just checked and the thread was deleted.
To summarize, a guy over there that is a manufacturer was gauging interest in bringing over a few containers of primers (16.8 million per) made by the parent company of Wolf/Tula. Thread got out of hand and he nuked it, but I think he is still moving forward. Keep an eye open in the Reloading Depot there for primer related threads by THEIS.
chamber143
01-27-21, 06:06
Yes it is, my apologies. Just checked and the thread was deleted.
To summarize, a guy over there that is a manufacturer was gauging interest in bringing over a few containers of primers (16.8 million per) made by the parent company of Wolf/Tula. Thread got out of hand and he nuked it, but I think he is still moving forward. Keep an eye open in the Reloading Depot there for primer related threads by THEIS.
I wonder how true this is. I mean gauging interest? Where would anyone get an idiotic idea like that? In all seriousness, I have not seen a single box of primers come through my local area and i have never had issues getting primers in the past. This shit is getting ridiculous. I still will not pay panic prices though. Not in my DNA.
The 'gauging interest' was because there was going to be a fairly large buy-in with half due up front. Irrelevant now, I believe his quoted cost went up and coupled with the retards you might expect something like that to attract, he shut it down.
chamber143
01-27-21, 17:40
The 'gauging interest' was because there was going to be a fairly large buy-in with half due up front. Irrelevant now, I believe his quoted cost went up and coupled with the retards you might expect something like that to attract, he shut it down.
Dont think I was being an ass. I was only being somewhat cheeky. Sucks cause I would have bought 10k. Oh well
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No offense taken. I'm just bummed that the momentary glimmer of light from the possibility of getting hands on some Wolf primers again has been extinguished :(
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