I stopped by my LGS at a bad time. They had just taken in an AK-47 on a trade and I just happened to be there. Anyway, now I am looking around at bulk ammo for the first time and have no clue as to the makers of this stuff. Silver Bear? Tula? What should a person avoid? I have read some bad things about Tula 9mm. I have dies coming but in the meantime wanna have some fun.

You don't need to avoid any of them. All about the same. The bad things you read about steel cased ammo firearms other then Aks are hit and miss. I know guys who have put 10k rounds plus of wolf through their ARs and never had a hiccup. I know 2 guys who shoot 3 gun matches with me who shoot nothing but wolf/tula 9mm in their guns. One guy shoots a S&W M&P the other guy shoots a glock. Both guys are master class shooters. Walmart sells Tula at just about the best price around 4.79 per 20. Ammoman .com has good prices on wolf. And his prices are shipped. You can pick up 1000 rounds right now for around 199.00 shipped. The AK will digest anything you put in it. Point of proof, I have built a few AKs from flats. I heat treated and hardened the metal myself(not an expert)I have one gun that I have never finished the metal with anything and I have never lubed it once. I wanted to torture test it to see just how reliable it is. Well to date after 6 years of no oil or metal finish the gun has 11.5k rounds through it and it has never, not once, not even a little, had one failure. Sold me at the first 5k rounds through it.

I buy the brown bear ammo from sportsmans guide or cheaper than dirt.

I went with AK's over AR's for two reasons, first they are more reliable in a true combat environment and second was cost. I can buy an AK and completely trick it out for less than most bare AR's cost and they have a harder hitting round.

I didn't even bother with dies since I can buy bulk steel cased ammo for less than I can reload.

I have found this out. Kind of like 9mm. I may try to work up a respectable hunting load just for kicks, but at $200/1000 it will make it tough to compete with the press.

Yep, I buy a lot of 500rds every so often for 110.00-115.00 so I've got a few thousand now but since I think there may be a run on ammo I may buy some more.

S4, let me tell you of a test that has been conducted over the past several years. Non scientific of course. I know a guy who gets predation permits to thin deer out. His gun of choice, is a century arms(junk) built bolt action rifle that is chambered in 7.62x39. he has tagged more then 200 deer with this rifle. From 10 feet to 400 yards away. He has never missed, and no deer has ever run more then 20 yards. His bullet of choice is wolf 123gr FMJ. That sir is an honest to god fact. The Ak round is deadly. Last year I got to spend a day with some extrordinary folks. They are all combat medics. Their job was to save the lives of pigs that had been shot with various different weapons and rounds. The Ak was one of the hardest rounds that they had to deal with. Just an interesting side note.

I use the Wolf Military Classic FMJs and HPs along with the Herters variety that Cabelas sells in both of my AKs with no issues. Also tried Federal American Eagle but only as a potential hunting load where I wanted American precision and reliability along with a brass case. I've used several thousand of both of the cheaper brands above with no FFTFs and rarely ever clean my guns... Wolf seems dirtier than Herters, but my guns run regardless. Both can be corrosive in the right environment so you will need to clean once in awhile, but nothing like with an AR.

you might also try ammotogo.com. i buy the brown bear stuff and have never had a problem plus great price.

Thanks for all the leads guys. What is the practical difference between Lacquer and Polymer in the Brown Bear, and is there anything special about Silver Bear or Wolf that lends to their higher prices?

I don't know what the real difference in the coatings is and I don't think it matters as long as the steel is coated with something. The silver bear is a little hotter load if you look at the ballistics but other than that I don't see a big difference. I haven't used any polymer coated or the silver bear because I couldn't see any reason too when the brown bear cycles perfectly and has more than enough punch.

I have shot it all and have shot plenty of it all. If I can find the info I will post it about the difference between the coatings. Bottom line, if I remember correctly, the Rusians witched to polymer because it wasn't as heat sensitive and didn't break down like the laquer. But other then that the laquer is still used because its cheap. Wolf being a little more expensive is due to demad mostly, and I believe a lttle more quality control goes into their product then others. You will find that most of this ammo is made in the same plants. David Fortier from Shotgun news wrote an article a few years ago about all the different ammo from Russia. What ever works for you go for it. Like I posted above I have shot over 11,000 rounds through an AK that has never seen one drop of oil or has had the receiver metal finished. But whats cool is the heat has created a natural bluing to the receiver over the past 6 years.