Silver Bear in Noveske N4 Upper

[og556]

I have a Noveske N4 Light Basic Upper on an LMT Lower w/ H Buffer which has about 1,400 rounds of PMC and AE XM 193 ammo through it.

Unfortunately I can't afford to keep shooting this stuff because it is $119/200rnds here locally when I can find it.

I want to know if any one who owns this upper has successfully run Silver Bear 55gr or Wolff ammo through it ? I love shooting this thing but need to find cheaper ammo to feed it with. I understand the cheaper ammo is usually dirty but I run this thing wet with WS CLP and clean it religiously.

My fear is that after reading that Noveske and other makers use smaller gas ports in their rifles these weapons may not cycle the cheaper low powered stuff as reliably.

thank you,
broke 23 year old college student

[markm]

I shoot less rather than shoot junk ammo.

There's something basically wrong with getting a Noveske and running shitty import poop through it.

[Thomas M-4]

Never mind I reread your post.

[UVvis]

I've been shooting some brown bear and silver bear recently thought a few of my different guns. No issues to report.

The brown bear and silver bear loadings shot pretty good. I've had a few people tell me that the velocities they get are fairly hot. I have no way to confirm at this time.

[CavReconScout]

For what it's worth, Silver Bear out of my Stag 16" 1/9 @ 70 degrees:

Hi-2873
Low-2801
Avg-2850
ES-72
SD-25

Checked with a ProChrono Digital. Privi M855 checked the same day:

Hi-2989
Low-2943
Avg-2967
ES-46
SD-15

[og556]

Forgive my ignorance but what can shitty ammo do to this rifle besides get it dirtier ?

I understand the cheaper stuff generally is not as accurate as higher quality ammo and leaves a lot more carbon build up.

What turns me off the most to this ammo is the thought of a kaboom or stuck cases.

I read up on silver bear and understand they use some kind of a zinc coating on the case for some reason and the brown bear uses a coating. Which is better ?

[Gutshot John]

Silver Bear runs fine in my N4.

It's a bit more accurate though no cleaner than Wolf. Yes it runs hot in comparison.

[greene]

I have the n4 middy and pretty much all I run through it is 62 grain brown bear. In my case I paid the extra money so I can run "poop" import ammo through it and have it work relliably. Going on 4k of it through mine with no problems, thats with each range trip shooting a 500 round case. Only problem I can see is the reciever gets dinged up a bit more till were the finish is chipped on the shell deflector. Now is it as accurate as 75 grain tap ,not at 100 yards prone, but with an aimpoint at the 50 yard line and in standing up and shooting I doubt you'll notice a difference. I'd stay in the habit of cleaning after every range trip with any type of ammo, the brown bear has a habit of leaving a red paint type crud throughout the insides of you recievers. To me it's worth it to buy an extra ration of cleaning supplies than to spend twice as much on ammo, unless your shooting for groups beyond 100 yards, and still I don't find it as unuseably innaccurate as some do. Hope I could help...

[veeref]

Considering the whole 'Bear' line, has anyone tried the Golden Bear 62gr HP? Its a brass plated steel case, and is supposedly the cleanest of the Bear ammo. I've seen it online for ~280/1000k rounds.

[sewvacman]

Considering the whole 'Bear' line, has anyone tried the Golden Bear 62gr HP? Its a brass plated steel case, and is supposedly the cleanest of the Bear ammo. I've seen it online for ~280/1000k rounds.

That's the only one of the "bear" line I've tried and I thought it was cleaner than the wolf by far. Shot fine out of my LMT as well as my LMT/Colt build. No failures to report and I shot off about 1000 rds in 2 days.

[Cincinnatus]

Steel cases can chew up your feed ramps and the throat of your barrel. Avoid them if at all possible. If you want to shoot cheap, get a .22 upper.

[greene]

Steel cases can chew up your feed ramps and the throat of your barrel. Avoid them if at all possible. If you want to shoot cheap, get a .22 upper.

I'm no expert ,but doubt that the steel used to make wolf and brown bear cases is harder than the steel feed ramps and chamber. Hornady also uses steel cases in their tap line and I have yet to hear a complaint about that.

[Cincinnatus]

I'm no expert ,but doubt that the steel used to make wolf and brown bear cases is harder than the steel feed ramps and chamber. Hornady also uses steel cases in their tap line and I have yet to hear a complaint about that.

The Tap Hornady stuff is usually nickel plated brass, not steel.

[Jack-O]

IME people who are too proud to shoot cheap ammo thru their expensive guns, just dont shoot enough.

So where does that leave them?

[Thomas M-4]

IME people who are too proud to shoot cheap ammo thru their expensive guns, just dont shoot enough.

So where does that leave them?

Not pounding out stuck cases:p Well you asked. :D:cool:

Seriously I have been wanting to try silver bear or wolf but the first time I have mortar my rifle to get a stuck case out that will be the end of it for me.

[8200rpm]

I ran maybe about 15 rounds of 55gr. Wolf through my N4 Carbine. No extraction issues or double feeds, but I did have about three failures to feed (bolt goes fully into battery without stripping a new round from the magazine) and the bolt didn't lock back on an empty magazine.

Using the same magazines, I've shot around 1000 rounds of Federal XM193, Winchester Q3131, Prvi M193 and Prvi Match 75 gr with zero issues.

Buy a couple boxes and test it in your rifle before committing to an entire case.

[TOMTOM]

i like the golden bear better than the silver bear....and its price is almost the same. its not nearly as dirty as wolf, and shoots fine for range/plinking

[zchen]

Here's an earlier thread on silver bear ammo

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=34161&highlight=cheap+bear

[UVvis]

The Tap Hornady stuff is usually nickel plated brass, not steel.

No.

Hornady uses steel cases for some of their Tap Practice ammunition.



I've had stuck cases that required a cleaning rod to remove with both brass and steel casings. I don't really understand why some people treat steel cased ammo like it's toxic. Steel cases probably aren't as good as brass. But in my experience they do not cause a stuck casing every other round either. Most of it shoots on par with other ball loadings as well.

From a lot of 5,000 rounds of Wolf ammo, I had one hard primer that didn't fire, and maybe 2-3 stuck cases, all were easy to clear with a couple taps from a cleaning rod. I'm about 3.5K into a bunch of Hornady Tap Practice 55gr FMJ ammo I picked up. Thus far, zero issues.

[Heavy Metal]

Steel cases can chew up your feed ramps and the throat of your barrel. Avoid them if at all possible. If you want to shoot cheap, get a .22 upper.

Absolute 100% nonsense.

[Jack-O]

Not pounding out stuck cases:p Well you asked. :D:cool:

Seriously I have been wanting to try silver bear or wolf but the first time I have mortar my rifle to get a stuck case out that will be the end of it for me.

LOL, fair nuff. :p

I have shot lots of silver bear and never had any issues. I have had wolf and some laquer cased barnual stick on me, but I'm 93% sure it was a gas issue and not an ammo issue. Either way, the wolf stuck first and that may have been the reason for the barnaul sticking.

I have not noticed that the barnaul line is particularly dirty, tho I admit that majority of it I have shot has been thru piston guns and not AR's

[andy t]

I shoot Wolf/Brown Bear almost exclusively through my AR's. Havent had any ammo related malfunction yet.
The bottom line is, this ammo is perfectly good if you have an in-spec rifle.
Meaning a true 5.56 chamber, well lubricated bolt and carrier, and black insert with stiff extractor spring.
When I first got my 6920 upper, I was getting some failures to extract with Wolf. When I took the extractor out, it had a blue insert and a weakened spring. After replacing the insert/spring with BCM upgrade kit, the upper runs 100%.
Just buy some Brown Bear and go at it. You are not likely to see any issues.

[MisterWilson]

I shoot less rather than shoot junk ammo.

There's something basically wrong with getting a Noveske and running shitty import poop through it.

I disagree, I think that there's something wrong with people who have a Chrome Lined barrel and are too snooty to shoot cheap ammo through it.

Unless of course you just bought it to look pretty...


http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/ferris_bueller_maitre-d-chez-jonathan-schmock.JPG


ETA: My N4 eats Silver Bear & Wolf like it's cool, no issues here.