Wolf vs Barnaul fmj bullet size

[A5BLASTER]

So finally got done doing some measuring.

I took 100 fmj's from the wolf ammo and 100 fmj's from the Barnaul ammo.

I keep all of them separate to make sure I knew what bullets came from what case, so I could reseat them.

I did not find one bullet in the 100 fmj's from the Barnaul ammo that measured over .262.5 with my calipers.

Of the 100 fmj's from the wolf ammo I measured I found not one bullet that measured over .262.5

Smallest I found in either bullet was .262 cal size.

So looks like Barnaul feed everyone a bunch of bull about the new ammo having a fmj that is closer to .264 cal.

[grayfox]

Lol. Probably both bought them from the same place, wouldn't that be a hoot.

[Fess]

There has just got to be a way to fix this problem with duct tape and JB weld!

[lazyengineer]

Thanks for the post. This is the result I was expecting, and now confirmed.

[A5BLASTER]

Thanks for the post. This is the result I was expecting, and now confirmed.

No problem sir. I like to test stuff. May take a long time for me to finish testing sometimes. I been meaning to do this for a month or more now.

From what I'm seeing with my samples and testing. The change in the name and color scheme and graphics on the box ain't worth the small price increase over the wolf ammo.

I will revisit this in 6 months or a year from now. Just incase I got some with the old sized fmj bullet.

[Mad Charlie]

Awww, just learn to paper patch. Fix it right up.

[A5BLASTER]

Awww, just learn to paper patch. Fix it right up.

Lmao. Negative ghost rider the pattern is full lmao.

[JASmith]

[A5BLASTER]

I just checked my copy of the SAAMI spec for bullet diameter.

The spec indicates ‘.2643-.0030 inches’

Doing the math tells us the acceptable range of diameters is 0.2613 to .2643 inches.

Did anyone find bullets smaller in diameter than 0.2613 inches?

Smallest I found was .262 cal. I measured them with my Frankford calipers. Not the best but just what I had on hand at the time of testing.

[lazyengineer]

I will say, when I checked Nosler Bullets - they were running closer to 0.262, on the lot I have.

[hill37]

Has anyone tried the Russian ammo in both cut rifled and button rifled barrels? It may be the type of rifling makes a difference.

[VASCAR2]

I have shot the Wolf 100 grain FMJ in my 16” CMV 1:9 twist, 20” Shilen SS 1:9, Faxon GB 1:8 twist 16”, 18” and PSA 1:8 twist 12” 6.5 Grendel. The best groups I got were out of the Shilen but I have only shot 25 or less Wolf. My 16” J&T CMV barrel is decent but fliers always spoil most groups. The furthest I’ve shot Wolf is 200 yards.

My Faxon GB barrels produce less accuracy with Wolf and the PSA 12” was about 3 + MOA. All rifles exhibit fliers and I think it is bullet construction as much or more than the bullet diameter. The PPU bullets tend to run less than .264 but have shot a lot better than the bimetal Barnaul/Wolf labeled ammo. I think the traditional bullet jacket, cup and core bullets engrave to the rifling better than the steel copper washed jacketed bullets. It would be interesting to test the steel jacket copper clad bullets to see if longer 24” barrel does a better job stabilizing this type of jacketed bullet.

Every barrel is unique and I think it is hard to make assumptions with Wolf steel cased FMJ. The 100 grain FMJ bullets are cheap. Replace the 100 grain FMJ with a quality 100 grain bullet and improved accuracy has been observed with no more than a bullet swap.

[Fess]

For what it's worth: I have a Russian Saiga 7.62x39. When I slugged the barrel, I noticed that the rifling lands were relatively thin and deep when compared to other barrels that I have. Also the Saiga's groove-to-land ratio looks closer to 70:30 than the 50:50 on a couple of other barrels.

I recall that Bill Alexander had commented that the Russian bullets work best with a particular rifling type.

Has anybody recovered one of the Russian bullets and looked closely at the rifling impressions? I wonder if there is something about the way that the bullet "takes the rifling" that would give us some insight. I recall a presentation a number of years ago that discussed the complexity of the engraving process and noted that the bullet construction and rifling details could have a significant effect on accuracy. I remember saying to myself "Damn, that's much more complicated than I thought."

[lazyengineer]

On a somewhat tangential note, I've run lots of Wolf Steel from several different Grendels over my chrony. Curiously, the velocity standard deviation is remarkably good, usually single digit. I find that remarkable. It also suggests that there probably isn't a lot of gas-leak going on around the bullet; implying that the .262 diameter is kind of a non-item.

I don't thinks that's really the problem. I think it has more to do with the bullet construction in general - a hollow cavity under the jacket in the front means uneven lead distribution, which is going to throw a bullet off. It can be done, and if Lapua did it with a fine copper jacketed bullet, I'm sure it would shoot great - at $0.45/projectile alone. But for military level mass-produced bullets at $0.27/delivered complete round - that's asking a lot.

I actually think for what it is, Wolf Steel is pretty impressive. Someone said Bill Alexander was heavily involved in the spec and development, and if so - as a fellow engineer, I actually think he did a good job (I'd love to meet that guy some day in fact). It's a good bullet design overall, with compromises made for economy, accuracy, in-flight ballistics, and terminal performance - that I actually consider pretty good, for $0.27/shot. I found it's flight path trajectory to be surprisingly flat. To date, I still haven't had a single jam with Wolf Steel, and am seriously considering doing open field 3-gun tomorrow out to 500 yards using my Grendel, and just feeding it Wolf Steel. In my experience, with open-field speed engagements; knowing your ballistics means far more than gun performance. And a guy with a rifle who knows where he should be holding on a 312 yard, 422 yard, and then 479 yard shot; with a 3 MOA system; will do about as well as someone with a 1/2 MOA gun, when you're shooting at >4 MOA gongs (or hogs). That's been my in-field observation at least.

[Keef]

Here are some I got out of a pine tree.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?16187-Tree-bullets

.262 doesn't bother me, it shoots above it's price point out of my guns.