How well do AR's shoot WOLF?
 

In the future I will likely purchase a rifle and of course I'm looking at the two of the most popular platforms, the AK and the AR.

I am aware there are many things to consider when making a decision between the two platforms such as ergonomics, recoil, etc

However, one of the things I want to get some information on is whether or not AR's can shoot WOLF ammo reliably. I figure the more inexpensive ammo is, the more I will train and shoot. I know most AK's have no problem with the cheap WOLF ammo.

I think I remember hearing Bushmasters do well with WOLF but if anyone has any firsthand information in terms of what ammo works well in their AR that would be helpful.

Also, I am not particularly looking for super accuracy for match shooting or anything, I just want to know if the AR's can function reliably with WOLF given their steel casings and polymer coating.

Did somebody say Airwolf?!

/sorry

Some guy on Arf.com posted pictures of his AR after 15,000 rds of wolf. No reliability stats were posted with it.

That said, here's what I hear and saw about wolf. At the last 3 day course, the two people who ran wolf consistently had problems. 1 guy with wolf kept on having all sorts of malfunctions, and the other experienced a ton of stuck casings after ~600 rds.

You're paying about $0.10 more per round, which figures to about $100 when you buy ammo by the thousand. I'd rather shoot brass and avoid known ammo problems.

Plan9 shoots ton of steel cased/brass coated Golden Bear and never has a problem, so, YMMV.

Save the wolf for your eastern-bloc weapons.

I don't shoot WOLF in my AR just because I'm kind of an ammo snob and I don't clean it as often as I should. AK, though? I'll put the dirtiest ammo I can find into it.. :thumbsup:

In my experience, it depends on the gun. Some ARs like Wolf ok, others can't stand it. The majority of the problems stem from the lacquer Wolf used to use on their casings: it heats up, liquifies, and then tends to glue up the gun. It can also ignite once your chamber gets hot: not dangerous, but very smoky and smelly. Newer Wolf ammo uses a different compound, and this seems to have largely fixed the problem. Barnaul (Brown Bear, Silver BEar, Golden Bear) works great.

As with all good advice, let me preface this with my level of knowledge and experience: I'm an idiot and don't know much.

I'd recommend going for an AR if you're going to venture into the "tactical" shooting arena. An AK will only take you so far for various reasons, but I've had friends that have had a lot of fun with a 5.56mm AKs and with the right training and parts, it can run pretty fast and accurate and, as a minor plus, has the ability to feed ammo covered in Bigfoot's ballsweat. I don't own one (yet), but rumor has it that Arsenal's 5.56mm AKs are decent blasters.

Just a thought.

Yeah, the web (ARF.com, M4C.net) are full of conflicting subject matter experts and general tacticool gunsnobbery. Me? I wouldn't buy another Bushmaster (I run a RRA and have had zero issues) and I have had no problems with Wolf steel case. The mild steel cases haven't threatened to destroy my bolt/carrier/receiver and aside from the fact that I -think- Wolf is more dirty than other ammo (I'm not a genius and see dirty as dirty, thus my perception is based on what others have said), it hasn't performed any less spectacularly for classes than fancy pants brass ball.

I pull the trigger, it goes bang.

I've had no issues with either of my ARs and Wolf steel case. I've attended a few classes and blasted a few cases of rounds and have yet to have an ammo-related issue. YMMV. Most stoppages on the AR are issues due to the state of the magazine (improperly seated, worn out) or running a dry gun (best to run the gun wet, especially if dirty). I'm not a huge fan of the AR, but the gun will work 97% of the time if you seat the mag and keep it wet.

Rumor has it that properly cleaning the weapon once in a while helps.

Yeah, I gave Barnaul's Gold Bear a shot and I really like it for no reason than it -seems- smoother than Wolf steel case. And it's almost as cheap.

...

Honestly, I don't have ammo-related stoppage issues (just operator-error malfs :D) so I couldn't tell you that X brand is crap or that Y brand is better. I do know that I just recently saw some cool-guy dudes with $1800 ARs shooting $700/case ammo and had constant weapon-down issues.

...

Airwolf! Great show. I bought the box set while I was on my second desert vacation.

Too bad my dumbass didn't realize it was Region II until I got back to the house.

For some reason, they just wont run in my M4. I think it has something to do with the (zinc?) cases. They don't slide smoothly off of the round beneath them when being chambered and tend to hang up and fail to feed every three rounds or so.

I've never had a problem with them in an AK, though.

It really depends on how it's built or how you build it (my preference) and how well you maintain it. Mine will shoot anything out of it reliably, it just matters how well you maintain your gun to keep all the gunk out of it.

I once received a wise, succinct piece of advice from someone who has been shooting guns for longer than I have been alive and built several AR platform rifles in that time.

If your AR can't shoot Wolf, it's broken.

I like your discussion.Thank you very much.

i use wolf to sight in my ruger :\

i'm cheap.

There was a good writeup at the Box o' Truth. The Box O' Truth - Educational Zone #18 - Shooting Wolf steel-cased Ammo in an AR15

I have never had any issue running wolf in my AR. I tend to buy the cheapest ammo I can find and I have never encountered any issue with any of the ammo I find. Mind that I religiously clean my gun.