7.62x54r Ammo

[smog7]

Thinking about picking up some ammo for my Mosin. Any particular countries or years that I should stay away from? Should I stay away from older ammo?

[Mr.Sandman]

Buy from SGAMMO (no I dont work for them but I am a very loyal customer)

http://www.sgammo.com/catalog/rifle-ammunition/762x54r

[kouye]

I've had a couple of spilt cases with '70's Bulgarian and I've had some corroded ammo in the older 40's-50's Russian ammo on the solder sealed cans.

My 91/30's don't like heavy ball (yellow tip) ammo, but my M39 likes it a lot.

However, other than the split cases, all have shot well. More recently it seems my 91/30's like the Bulgarian better than the Russian, but I haven't done extensive testing of this.

I also recommend SGAMMO.com. I buy a LOT of ammo from them and have never been disappointed with what they sent me.

[smog7]

Thanks for the link. Of those being sold by sg, which country/year is considered the best, most dependable, etc. Will I get more duds with older ammo?

*posted before I saw your response kouye, thanks for the info.

[kouye]

Maybe others have had a different experience, but I have never had a dud. I've have shot 40's, 50's, and 70's Russian and Bulgarian, and about 2000 rounds.

I like the spam cans as opposed to the solder sealed cans because the ammo is always clean and look almost brand new. The solder sealed cans (pre-70's) can have leaks, although even then the ammo still fired, just needed a little cleaning on a handful of them. I usually pick the newest stuff as it's not much more expensive.

I also bought the ones pre-loaded into stripper clips. Turned out to be a waste as I don't even use the stripper clips now, too much of a pain to deal with.

As I said, my particular guns like the Bulgarian better than the Russian but I've had a couple of split cases at the neck that I don't like with the Bulgarian.

[watt79]

I had good luck with the factory 188 ammo date stamped 1977. I also got some of the Bulgarian factory 10 ammo marked 1971. It seems to shoot about the same, but I ended up with 2 split necks out of about 60 rounds last time I was at the range. Had no case splits with the 188 ammo.

[Eljay]

I find the SGAMMO descriptions to be pretty honest. If they charge a little more and say it's from a preferred year/factory it's not BS. (A lot of people like that mid 70s Factory 188 ammo).

If I were buying today and didn't have any ammo I'd get one crate on the stripper clips, because real ones can be hard to find and expensive, and repro ones don't work. And you might as well get some - they seem to be easier to use in some years of Mosin than others, and there's a bit of technique, but it's nice to have the option. http://www.sgammo.com/product/surplu...stripper-clips

They seem to be out of the factory 188, so probably I'd also get a wood crate of recent Bulgarian http://www.sgammo.com/product/surplu...g-1971-wood-cr

That should hold you for a while, anyway, and not break the bank.

[Eljay]

(double tap)

[VegasND]

This is good advice. The Russian clips work much better than the reproductions and they aren't always available. I bought a case, opened one can to shoot and save the clips for reuse. I'm reloading the clips with '70s Bulgarian which shoots more accurately than the late '40s Russian that came in the clips.

I find the SGAMMO descriptions to be pretty honest. If they charge a little more and say it's from a preferred year/factory it's not BS. (A lot of people like that mid 70s Factory 188 ammo).

If I were buying today and didn't have any ammo I'd get one crate on the stripper clips, because real ones can be hard to find and expensive, and repro ones don't work. And you might as well get some - they seem to be easier to use in some years of Mosin than others, and there's a bit of technique, but it's nice to have the option. http://www.sgammo.com/product/surplu...stripper-clips

They seem to be out of the factory 188, so probably I'd also get a wood crate of recent Bulgarian http://www.sgammo.com/product/surplu...g-1971-wood-cr

That should hold you for a while, anyway, and not break the bank.

[BruinGuy]

Like others have said, get a can of the Russian 40s ammo on stripper clips, mostly for the 60 clips and just consider the ammo a bonus (and who knows, maybe your rifle will like the heavy ball ammo)... then stock up on the Bulgarian light ball.

I've gone through about 500 rounds of the Bulgy (sorry, don't know which factory or year) and haven't encountered any split necks; I had exactly one dud round where a solid strike on the primer resulted in it not firing. No hangfires, no other issues. Only problem is most ranges won't let you shoot it in SoCal.

SGAmmo is great; I can also recommend J&G Sales. Both are reliable, California friendly, and reasonable in their shipping charges.

[yatzee982]

SGAmmo for all my ammo needs ...

[paul0660]

Thinking about picking up some ammo for my Mosin. Any particular countries or years that I should stay away from? Should I stay away from older ammo?

Just in case you are really new at this, there are prohibitions on corrosive ammo at many ranges. There is not a lot of non corrosive ammo out there other than factory new.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

...there are prohibitions on corrosive ammo at many ranges...

[opos]

Think the prohibitions at various places is not so much the primers being corrosive as it is the magnetic projectile...I know it really can screw with their back stops, corrupts their lead collections and is dangerous outdoors as it's said that the steel/magnetic projectile can cause sparking if it hits rocks and possibly start a fire...I'm just passing on some of the stuff I've heard. I know that project 2K in the San Diego area will allow the use of steel case (used to shoot Silver Bear there all the time in a Makarov pistol) but was told they do not allow magnetic projectiles....None of the other "intown" shooting centers (Santee, Discount, American Shooting center, the police range on Market) will allow any steel case or steel projectile ammo...I heard that the South Bay Rod and Gun club way out East on 94 allows it but can't verify that for sure.

I bought some loaded PRVI to shoot and it's fully reloadable so that's the direction I'm going...pricy at first but resolves all the hassles.

[johnny1290]

I saw some guys shooting a mosin at angeles at night...it sparked like fireworoks going off, no joke, it was pretty neat looking actually