Wolf "Military Classic" - what is it?

[Father Knows Best]

What distinguishes the "Military Classic" line of Wolf ammo (7.62x39) from the regular line? I've got a few thousands rounds of regular 122 HP and 154 SP Wolf right now, but I have a chance to pick up some of the MC product at a decent price. Should I bother?

 

[jagdpanzer347]

The Military Classic is lacquer-coated steel cased ammo. Seems to be about the same stuff that was available before the polymer-coated stuff came out. IIRC the bullets are more prone to fragment with this ammo.

This was supposed to be a lower-priced alternative to the polymer-coated stuff, but I generally see them priced the same. Such is the 7.62x39 market these days.

-jagd

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

Military Classic is made at Ulyanovsk Machine Tool Plant. Regular Wolf is made at the Tula Cartridge Plant. Ulyanovsk has been branded as "Sapsan" in the past.

Someone who tested them said the Classic HP ammo expands reliably, whereas the Wolf HP does not.

I think Uly Wolf is supposed to be more "mil-spec" than Tula Wolf--maybe lacquer vs. polymer, as the poster above pointed out. But Tula Wolf used to be lacquer, then they changed it to polymer, so I don't really know what is going on with that.

 

[clange]

100% right ^^. Its uly ammo and the 124? gr JHP fragments and expands. I'm not sure if the FMJ does anything special.

 

[goon]

It has been my experience that the Uly stuff is more consistent and accurate than Wolf.
It used to come in sealed cans but they have gone away. I am glad it is available in some form again. If I get another AK (I might) I am planning to feed it Ulyanovsk.

 

[_N4Z_]

Interesting note on the Tula / Uly thing. I have had both classic and the regular black boxed polymer Woof.

As described classic is laquered, black box is polymer..... or is it??

I currently have in my stash 250 rounds of black box, both hp and fmj. Couple days ago at the range I noticed that the fmj's are in laquered cases! They both (fmj and hp) have the same kind of box and both have the Wolf headstamp.

It's a Woof combo madness mystery!

 

[DWARREN123]

Mostly the box.

 

[clange]

As described classic is laquered, black box is polymer..... or is it??

Now it is, but before wolf went to polymer the black box was used for laquered stuff IIRC.

 

[petej]

not your Father's Wolf 7.62X39

http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11907

 

[wilson]

Ihave some uly 124 grain hp l.c.b. it say 8m3 "effect" on it it seems to expand against a steel target. Anyone now if its good for sd or if it frags reliably.

 

[BoySetsTheFire]

The classic uses the red sealer on both the primer and bullet, while the new stuff only uses sealer on the primer.

 

[Doggieman]

bump

and here's my question:

Isn't the polymer way better than the lacquer?

Why would one want the "classic" stuff?

 

[SVT93]

All the wolf I've bought recently has been poly both black box and MC. I just buy whats cheapest.

 

[270Win]

The HP classic is by FAR the cleanest non-handloaded ammo I've ever come across. In my Yugo 59/66 SKS, I never have to run more than four or five patches through the bore before they start coming out as white as they went in; this is after 60-100 rounds minimum. And there is almost no powder residue left anywhere. Given my experience with the incredibly dirty, smelly 'regular' Wolf in 5.56 I found this to be just amazing.

 

[Doggieman]

maybe it's the result of the retooling for the 80 million round order place by the Americans for the Afghan army last year.

?

 

[heypete]

Isn't the polymer way better than the lacquer?

Not really. Both protect the steel case from corrosion. The polymer is a bit more "slippery" and may chamber and feed better in certain guns (particularly in .223, which has a much less tapered case and more surface area for the case and chamber to "grip" onto each other).

Brazillions of rounds of the lacquered stuff were fired by Russian/Soviet military forces, Russian/Soviet allies/trade partners, revolutionaries, terrorists, freedom fighters, civilians, and others over the years. If the ammo were really that bad, do you think the AK would have it's reputation for extreme reliability?

I've fired 7.62x39mm, .223 Remington, 9mm Luger, and .45 ACP poly and lacquered coated Wolf (none of the new lacquer stuff, only the older stuff) out of numerous firearms. I've fired Barnaul .30-06 lacquered cases out of an M1 Garand and a Remington 700. I can count the number of issues I've experienced while shooting the ammo on one hand (three stovepipes in my Yugo SKS, and one failure-to-eject of a copper-colored steel .380 pistol casing that didn't quite make it out of my Bersa Thunder .380).

The lacquer doesn't come off the casing during firing, and some individuals have heated the lacquered cases with blowtorches to see if the lacquer would melt. It did not.

Lacquered cases aren't a big deal in cartridges and guns that were designed for them (such as AKs and SKSs). They might have more issues than the poly-coated stuff in cartridges and guns not designed for them (such as .223 Rem and ARs), but the poly-coated ones seem to work fine in all guns.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I prefer the lacquered cases over the polymer coated cases. The poly coating provides poor corrosion protection for the cases. I've had them rust in my house. In contrast, I've never seen an unfired lacquered round rust.

There is NO reason to avoid lacquered cases in AKs and SKSes. And frankly, I think the supposed problems with them in AR-15s are greatly overhyped.

 

[Doggieman]

It seems that some of the "military classic" Wolfs have the lacquer and some have the poly. Perhaps they're phasing out the lacquer and some batches still have it while some don't?