7.62X39 Ammo

[enfield303t]

Just a heads up for users of 7.62X39 ammo.

Went to the local gun store (British Columbia) today to purchase a case of surplus (corrosive) and much to my surprise they were sold out. They had non corrosive so bought a case of 1500 of that. So the cheap stuff might be gone, unfortunate as it sure made for fun shooting at a bargain price.

With all the crap going on in various parts of the world are the days of countries dumping their "39" over?

This is the first time in many years I haven't been able to purchase surplus from my LGS as usually he has countless cases in stock.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[WarPig1976]

I suspect the same with 54r.
The surplus stuff down here is always more expensive then Wolf or Brown bear by a lot! Right now it's Yugo and I just checked, it is available at a few online retailers. Do you guys have access to the steel cased stuff?

[enfield303t]

I suspect the same with 54r.
The surplus stuff down here is always more expensive then Wolf or Brown bear by a lot! Right now it's Yugo and I just checked, it is available at a few online retailers. Do you guys have access to the steel cased stuff?

Think we still have 54R steel case but don't remember seeing much of it. IIRC our 54R has always been cheaper than what you paid in the US which is rather odd.

My LGS has a lot of cases of 39 non corrosive but it costs more and that is the down side.

Here in Canada a couple years ago we were awash in 39 corrosive however all good things come to a end and maybe we have seen the last of the abundant supply.

[Sentryduty]

It is hard to speculate just how much surplus ammunition is out there to be bought and sold, I would suspect a lot but all things will come to an end.

When I bought my first SKS rifles in '07 or '08 I remember paying $150 for a 1200 round crate (12 cents/round) of CZ made x39 and only a bit more for a 880 round box of CZ x54R.

I still have some of that ammunition, but I have noticed the prices incrementally creeping up over the past years to the point that much of the CZ surplus is gone and other countries have begun showing up, Ukraine, Polish, Romanian and the rate per round is about 25 cents/round. The Chinese "new" surplus is it's own interesting oddball, and it looks like they will keep producing and exporting so long as there is a market.

It all comes in waves, and supply and demand will dictate.

Locally there are lots of options in my area, I think you are seeing a temporary supply hiccup, but it will become less common at some point, and the days of guys running an SKS to the point of smoking the furniture will become a thing of the past.

[enfield303t]

IIRC we were seeing 39 surplus from the Ukraine and that is not going to happen again. They need every round they have remaining just in case.

My local LGS said they aren't going after the surplus anymore, when you consider the rising cost the non corrosive copper wash is probably going to be close to the same price.

One good thing with the copper wash non corrosive is I can shoot it in my AIA M10 as the surplus with the lacquer finish sticks in the chamber after a few shots.

[Sentryduty]

I tend to agree, the Ukraine situation has almost certainly seen an end to exports in the near future, but there a number of former Warsaw pact countries with old stockpile that could fill the void.

I would imagine that sourcing new production Chinese copper wash is probably much more reliable than the batches of surplus that rolls in, ammo shortages are both good and bad for business, from a retailer standpoint. That and the copper wash ammo is almost certainly a less fussy thing to deal with from the lacquer finished stuff.

On the world stage, ammo comes from some unusual places at times. In Afghanistan during 2006, the few headstamps I looked at as we cleared post firefight areas area varied from rust spotted late 1970's Soviet Invasion leftovers to '04 S&B "commercial" ball. Military hardware does take some strange pathways throughout it's lifespan.

[Wineman]

Some may be due to the USA restrictions on Surplus ammo from Russia. Around here 7.62x54r was deemed "Armor Piercing" and has disappeared. It can be found, but it is costing more.

Dave

[cipherk98]

It seems pretty hard to find here too, though stores never stocked it so it was always a gun show thing. Last few shows I've been through surplus x54R cans are typically gone on the second walk through of the show's first day, and it's been as expensive as the new Tula I buy for my Type 53, so I just stick with that as I've had zero issues with it in that gun plus it's non corrosive so if the gun doesn't get cleaned immediately when I get home no big deal.

As for the x39mm I've not seen it at all at shows while I typically only see a can or two of 5.45 and that is it. All that I see online has been Yugo stuff, but I stay away from surplus x39 as despite my SKS being a Yugo, it has a gas cut off valve for the grenade launcher that is infamous for issues when exposed to corrosive ammo. While you can get it mostly clean it's the little slot the gas uses to get into the valve that worries me, so all I shoot in that is new Golden Tiger which is top notch but also in short supply again due to what I presume are military obligations on Vympel and maybe restrictions on quantities they can export out of Russia or into the US.

I suspect though in the future there will be waves of it again but who knows where it will come from and in what quantities, whereas I suspect once this lot of Yugo M75 and Romanian 8mm ammo is gone, it's gone for good and there is nothing commercial I've found that is as good. But x39mm is not leaving battlefields any time soon so it stands to reason that as long as countries buy rifles for it they will continue to stock pile ammo which may wind up sold as surplus, same goes but to a lesser extent for x54R which still sees use in sniper rifles and some MGs. Of course the other big if there is how long it will take for us to see it, which could be a very long time.

[Bruce McAskill]

The Golden age of surplus ammo has come and gone. If you need ammo for your favorite rifle or handgun, then buy it now as it will soon be gone for good.

[enfield303t]

The Golden age of surplus ammo has come and gone. If you need ammo for your favorite rifle or handgun, then buy it now as it will soon be gone for good.

I agree, soon we will talk about 39 ammo as "remember the good old days when you could get 39 by the case..cheap".