A while back I bought a case of 150 grain silver tip ammo. I believe it is Bulgarian if I remember correctly. Anyone use this stuff? What can I expect out of it. I have only ever shot 180 before so I am not sure what it is going to be like. I have a 91/30 and a svt40. I will be running it in both.
150 grain silver tip 7.62x 54r
- Thread starter welder01
- Start date
Phat Eagle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Fraser Valley, BC
I use the same out of my MN. Works quite well!
It's a bit "hot" compared to the 180gr heavy ball surplus ammo, in terms of velocity.
At 100 yards I was finding it hit about 4-6" higher, on average, than the heavy ball in my SVT-40, 91/30, and M44.
This means it also shoots flatter. On the graduated sights on my SVT, once I adjusted the front post for the Bulgarian at 100 yards, I would leave the rear tangent sight at 100 and the point of impact was within an inch or so at 200 yards. At 300 yards, I would set the rear sight to 200 yards and be pretty close, at 400 yards I would set the rear sight to 300, and it would be hitting a bit high. Haven't done much any shooting past 400 yards with my Reds, so can't comment past that distance.
As far as I could tell, the arc of the projectile was apexing at somewhere between the 100 and 200 yard mark, which is why zero held mostly true for both ranges.
Compared to the 180gr heavy ball, you'll find group sizes roughly the same at 100 yards and even 200 yards, but will open up a bit at 300 and 400, compared to the heavy ball. But, with my SVT, I could hit an IPSC torso target with 9 out of 10 shots at 300 yards with it, so that's still pretty good (especially with my old eyes and iron sights).
Side Note:
It has some interesting terminal effects on impact with objects made of 90% water. The Bulgarian silver tip has a bi-metal jacket, and a two part core. Most of the core (by weight and volume) is the standard soft steel cylinder. But the top roughly 1/3 (lengthwise) of the core is soft lead. This causes the tip to deform on impact - but not like a hollow-point. Instead of mushrooming, it "skews" to one side or another, causing the projectile to spall and corkscrew through the target as it dumps energy.
This wasn't the intent of having lead at the front of the core. Because lead is heavier than mild steel, having the projectile be somewhat front heavy was meant to stabilize it and improve accuracy (think of a badminton shuttlecock, heavy cork/rubber at the front, light feathers at the back). In practice, it made no noticeable difference on accuracy.
At 100 yards I was finding it hit about 4-6" higher, on average, than the heavy ball in my SVT-40, 91/30, and M44.
This means it also shoots flatter. On the graduated sights on my SVT, once I adjusted the front post for the Bulgarian at 100 yards, I would leave the rear tangent sight at 100 and the point of impact was within an inch or so at 200 yards. At 300 yards, I would set the rear sight to 200 yards and be pretty close, at 400 yards I would set the rear sight to 300, and it would be hitting a bit high. Haven't done much any shooting past 400 yards with my Reds, so can't comment past that distance.
As far as I could tell, the arc of the projectile was apexing at somewhere between the 100 and 200 yard mark, which is why zero held mostly true for both ranges.
Compared to the 180gr heavy ball, you'll find group sizes roughly the same at 100 yards and even 200 yards, but will open up a bit at 300 and 400, compared to the heavy ball. But, with my SVT, I could hit an IPSC torso target with 9 out of 10 shots at 300 yards with it, so that's still pretty good (especially with my old eyes and iron sights).
Side Note:
It has some interesting terminal effects on impact with objects made of 90% water. The Bulgarian silver tip has a bi-metal jacket, and a two part core. Most of the core (by weight and volume) is the standard soft steel cylinder. But the top roughly 1/3 (lengthwise) of the core is soft lead. This causes the tip to deform on impact - but not like a hollow-point. Instead of mushrooming, it "skews" to one side or another, causing the projectile to spall and corkscrew through the target as it dumps energy.
This wasn't the intent of having lead at the front of the core. Because lead is heavier than mild steel, having the projectile be somewhat front heavy was meant to stabilize it and improve accuracy (think of a badminton shuttlecock, heavy cork/rubber at the front, light feathers at the back). In practice, it made no noticeable difference on accuracy.
I have a friend that claims that they are light AP rounds, while this may or may not be true we found that compared to regular heavy ball steel core they have much greater penatration on hardened steel. our romainian ball would just dent and splash at 100 yards where the silver tip drilled straight through . I have no idea what type of steel plate but it was thicker than half inch and was a old qiuck change tractor bucket mount .
These pit my AR500 steel at 100yards, where other ammo doesn't leave a mark.
To answer OP you can expect pretty much the most consistent surplus x54r I've been able to find. You will see some split cases but seems to be normal. Accuracy is decent, they work well in SVTs and feed better in my mosin than the new production norico x54r Can ammo sells.
To answer OP you can expect pretty much the most consistent surplus x54r I've been able to find. You will see some split cases but seems to be normal. Accuracy is decent, they work well in SVTs and feed better in my mosin than the new production norico x54r Can ammo sells.
I was surprised to find a couple of the Bimetal jackets and shrapnel laying in the snow when I went to check a ground level target one day. The core had carried on, and the front 1/3 of the jacket was fragmented, the other 2/3 was twisted to hell, but stayed together fairly well.
Not that I've been able to find. Epps had some crates for $269+HST last summer, haven't seen any since. Too bad WSS is out of stock online.
yes that is where I got mine
