7.62x39 Surplus. Chinese vs. Russian vs. ???

adamthaggan

adamthaggan

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Hello all, I approach the CGN hoard seeking knowledge!

I’m in the market for a stash of 76.2x39 surplus for my Russian SKS. A friend of mine is convinced that the Chinese surplus is inferior to anything else. His uh... expertise, is questionable at times. I figure a round is a round as far as surplus goes. We’re both probably as educated as a potato on the subject. So I pose this to you gentlefolk of CGN;

Is there much of a difference between the origins of surplus ammo? Is it significant? Are there any types that are preferred, or more importantly that shooters have had bad experiences with? On a side note I searched through this forum looking for the answer and haven’t found anything.

Thanks for your time regardless and let the here say fly!
 
The most accurate surplus 7.62x39 ammo I shot was chinese surplus 3"@100. Never had a failure to fire either.

The one you should avoid is albanian stuff if my memory is good
 
Czech surplus ammo is my top pick, then Chinese, Romanian etc... Haven't ever shot Soviet surplus, but if it's close to Barnaul, then it should be good stuff.
 
Always thought the same, but the latest stuff from trade ex is pretty great compared to the russian stuff I picked up a couple years back.

Czech is king, just harder to find
 
Bigrounds8mil said:
Always thought the same, but the latest stuff from trade ex is pretty great compared to the russian stuff I picked up a couple years back.

Czech is king, just harder to find
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I loaded up back in 2010 and still have a couple of cases still loaded on stripper clips (Baby blue cardboard). Never had an issue with that stuff and every time I shoot it I feel like I'm wasting my stash of good stuff.

I wish someone can find another warehouse of it, that would be great.
 
Have only shot Chinese and Czech on stripper clips, both corrosive. Fewer FTF with Chinese than Czech but it was nice getting the stripper clips on the Czech when it was still reasonably priced a few years ago. Hard to find the Czech now but Chinese still kicking around from various sources. Bought mine when 18 cents a round on average and it has only gone up since then so find a good source and load up it won't get cheaper!
 
With the Czech so far one failure to eject over 3/4 of a crate due to the extractor ripping just a bit of the edge off.

Left about 1 cm of the round sticking out but it was the last round so no big deal to spot it there and pull it out.

It was a flaw with the metal and I have not run into any other problems since.
 

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Can also depend on the rifle. I only have one in 7.62x39 but had both a Mosin and SVT-40 at one time. The Russian Mosin shot Chinese 7.62x54R much better and the SVT-40 was noticeably more accurate with Romanian. Just quirks of the specific rifles.
 
Yeah, quirks in rifles and ammo. In corrosive surplus I find the Romanian good, as well as Czech and Chinese. Bulgarian was good too. I did have one crate of Czech that had low seated primers and was getting several duds/light strikes in ANY rifle I used them in. On second firing they all went bang though. Only one crate was like that in all the many Czech ammo crates I have used. Overall, to date I myself haven't come across any bad x39 that I would avoid (in 20yrs of shooting this stuff). Non-corrosively speaking, the Dominion Arms Ukrainian stuff and non-corrosive Norinco was good too in my XCR-L.
I have not tried Polish, Barnaul, or Russian, or the new Canada Ammo.
Overall I only expect Soviet standards carbine like accuracy from x39 from surplus ammo.
 
I've played with surplus in my CZ bolt, and I i find romanian to be best, in my sks's they all kinda suck.. But that because sks is a camping gun not a range gun for me, usually shooting free hand standing up at empty beer cans from the night before
 
I used to use only Czech until it all dried up. Good surplus with no issues in SKS and VZ. I'm just finishing up my last can but bunch of people I know already switched to Chinese. It's ok to shoot but I've seen bad batches where every 3rd-4th round would be a dud, same with 54R ammo, click - 1-2 seconds than bang, plus it stinks and rifles need a lot more cleaning after it. Unfortunately Czech ammo is a thing of the past...
 
I was SHOCKED to find that my Russian Sniper 7.62x54R shot the Chinese Surplus from the 880rd boxes within an inch/Sub inch @100m. This same rifle shot Barnaul 2 inch groups and MFS SP about 1.5inches. Haven't opened any Russian to compare yet.

The Chinese and Russian 7.62x39 haven't had a chance to compare those two yet. The rate that stuff appreciates from a few years ago its not worth opening it. Better to just use up or buy non-corrosive, in a few years I can use the corrosive or buy a car, lol (kinda). I think the Chinese may shoot better but on the sale market a box of Russian will likely sell for more down the road, I could be wrong but that's my gamble.
 
Less than 4 years ago I was buying crates of x39 and x54r for 200.00 plus tax, at the time I bought what I thought was a good amount but seeing as prices have almost doubled is making me wish I had stacked some more.
 
When it comes to surplus I would say there are two main factors:

On stripper clips already > not on stripper clips
Less Expensive > More expensive

and as a PS, I like hinged crates with a latch like the Czech stuff that I can reuse instead of a flimsy wood box I rip apart and trash.

The rest is just details. Some will be dirtier, nicer looking, slightly more accurate, but in an SKS it doesn't really matter that much.
 
dand883 said:
When it comes to surplus I would say there are two main factors:

On stripper clips already > not on stripper clips
Less Expensive > More expensive

and as a PS, I like hinged crates with a latch like the Czech stuff that I can reuse instead of a flimsy wood box I rip apart and trash.

The rest is just details. Some will be dirtier, nicer looking, slightly more accurate, but in an SKS it doesn't really matter that much.
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I agree. A SKS is not accurate enough to distinguish between match ammo and mediocre milsurp.

That is why I built a rifle specifically for testing. I shot it this week, and if I pulled the milsurp bullet and substituted the Sierra 125 gr soft point, it grouped 0.55 to 0.95" whereas the milsrp ammo (Yugo) grouped around 2.00"

For a SKS, just buy on price.
 
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