Ammo question from newbie

[Dr. Mike]

Hello all,

was hoping someone could give me some advice. I was given a boat load of Wolf .223 ammo for free (hold that thought) so thought I would try it in my new carbine. The ammo looked a bit strange like it had oil at the base of the cartridge but was actually dry. I fired a couple of hundred rounds without incident but after firing one last magazine more rapidly, had a really bad type III malfunction with a round jammed into a spent case still in the chamber so badly, I could not drop the magazine and the end of the jammed cartridge was still stuck in the mag and I could not get out either. I finally was able to pry the round away from the spent case enough to drop the magazine but the spent case would not extract at all and had to be pushed out down the bore. I spoke with the manufacturer of the carbine who told me this particular ammo has a laquer coat on it which heats up and becomes gummy making the round stick in the chamber and advised not to use it. Can anyone recommend a good target/practice round (manufacturer/brand and grain) that won't break the bank to purchase and if you can also recommend any on line dealers that sell at a good discount? It would be greatly appreciated.

many thanks,

Dr. Mike

[Hmac]

I generally use $.36 per round as my target price. I've had good luck buying surplus ammo around that price from both Widener's and Cabelas. I stay away from the steel-cased Russian ammo, even getting a lot of it for free. I keep going back to PMC Bronze. Good price, groups well, and in over 2000 rounds I haven't had a malfunction of any kind.

[Belmont31R]

Wolf did change the coating on the cases but if your stuff is old it probably still has the old crap on it that can cause stuck cases. Its generally not an issue for range use but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to use either a stiffer extractor spring and/or an O ring around the extractor spring. This will help with the extractor slipping off the rim of the case which is what is happening when you get a stuck case.

[RogerinTPA]

Wolf did change the coating on the cases but if your stuff is old it probably still has the old crap on it that can cause stuck cases. Its generally not an issue for range use but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to use either a stiffer extractor spring and/or an O ring around the extractor spring. This will help with the extractor slipping off the rim of the case which is what is happening when you get a stuck case.

Agreed. Bad extractor...replace spring, black insert and O ring if required.

[RogerinTPA]

Hello all,

was hoping someone could give me some advice. I was given a boat load of Wolf .223 ammo for free (hold that thought) so thought I would try it in my new carbine. The ammo looked a bit strange like it had oil at the base of the cartridge but was actually dry. I fired a couple of hundred rounds without incident but after firing one last magazine more rapidly, had a really bad type III malfunction with a round jammed into a spent case still in the chamber so badly, I could not drop the magazine and the end of the jammed cartridge was still stuck in the mag and I could not get out either. I finally was able to pry the round away from the spent case enough to drop the magazine but the spent case would not extract at all and had to be pushed out down the bore. I spoke with the manufacturer of the carbine who told me this particular ammo has a laquer coat on it which heats up and becomes gummy making the round stick in the chamber and advised not to use it. Can anyone recommend a good target/practice round (manufacturer/brand and grain) that won't break the bank to purchase and if you can also recommend any on line dealers that sell at a good discount? It would be greatly appreciated.

many thanks,

Dr. Mike

The lacquer on the old Wolf ammo, is good to go. The rumors of it gumming up chambers is an internet tale. You couldn't use a blow torch to melt it off. It has more carbon build up there, because it doesn't expand like brass to form a tighter seal when fired, so it will get dirty, but your issue is an extractor one, not an ammo one. I shoot Wolf and lacquer coated Barnaul, weekly. With round counts up to 3 to 4K, on a weapon before cleaning (About every 4-5 months), with zero malfunctions due to the ammo and have done so for years. Lube generously and shoot.

Doc, you never mentioned who built your AR. Most folks who have problems shooting Wolf, have .223 chambers, instead of 5.56mm chambers.