I tried some Tula ammo today to function check a newly installed A5 and found there were a few times that bolt didn’t lock back to the rear. Not to mention the sluggish feeling of the bolt carrier chugging back and forth telling me the bolt carrier was on the verge of short stroking. I know Wolf/Tula is underpowered crap but a combination of OCD and the very unlikely scenario of having to scrounge up this kind of ammo in some kind of SHTF situation has been bugging me. Should I be worried?
Personally I would not be comfortable with Wolf reliability issues, however, it’s very common to hear this ammo is a bad choice for the reasons you have observed. Under-powered and dirty.
I have learned, however, that the corrosive nature of that ammo actually has some good attributes such as a better ability to go “bang” even in adverse conditions as well as after long-term storage.
That all said, I’d be testing other ammo such as off-the-shelf 55 grain .223
Why would you ever feel comfortable with anything that’s unreliable? Especially when your life could depend on it? No offense, but silly question.
Let me elaborate. My stock consists of mostly high quality .223 or 5.56 pressured ammo of which my ARs will eat without issue. I just decided to try the cheapo Tula 55gr .223 stuff at Walmart because I knew it was underpowered and that I was running a heavy buffer for my gas system so I figured if it will run Tula it will run anything. I would never run this stuff for defensive purposes unless it was literally the only stuff lying around. Hell I’d probably burn up my russian surplus 5.45 before I used Wolf/Tula in .223. I don’t even use Tula for practice since I can shoot 5.45 for cheaper.
It’s a very good question.
Vicious-
With your elaboration, it makes perfect sense why you’d try it to see if your rifle can use it reliably. I get that. I’ve done it.
Casull-
I said it’s a silly question because once you KNOW it’s not reliable, it would stand to reason you wouldn’t feel comfortable with it in a SHTF situation as asked in the OP. Would I refuse it if nothing else was available? Of course not. But would I feel “comfortable?”. Of course not. At least that’s how I see it.
True that. If it’s for the trashiest of times, it’s gotta run trash too.
I am comfortable with a gun that is picky with ammo. Quality ammo is not that hard to find or that much more expensive. I am not a fan of over gassed guns.
Tula/Wolf is not corrosive
I don’t own a SD/HD rifle that wont run on Tula. Its cheap and a little underpowered but I like knowing that my AR will run on everything from the worst ammo to the best ammo. You never know when a case of Tula or any other crappy ammo may be all that you can get your hands on. Same way with my cars…I don’t own any cars that “have” to run on Premium gasoline to be reliable. Some will be listed as such yet run perfectly fine on 87 octane, however some will completely choke and those are the type I wouldn’t own.
On another note, I have found that the ability for an AR to run on cheaper ammo like Tula is a cede by case thing and is not brand specific. I tell people you will have to shoot it to find out if your AR will digest it reliably regardless of barrel/chamber type or manufacturer.
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You left out the, “Wouldn’t know - wouldn’t shoot that crap through my rifle on a DARE” option, to vote on.
Running steel-cased, Combloc, cheapass & dirty ammo through a high end AR, is like custom ordering a Ferrari 458 Spider, with an I-4 diesel engine… ‘for the fuel mileage.’ :rolleyes:
IF the flag goes up, AND all the brass-cased ammo is gone, AND the golden horde is still coming, AND there’s a choice between craptacular ammo, OR, using my rifle as a club… what the heck - it’ll probably end up as a club in the end, anyways! :o
Hell yes I’m comfortable with it. If a gun won’t run ammo that can’t possibly perform like real ammo, I don’t care.
I’m a little suspicious of a gun that will run that dog shit reliably. :eek:
With what I have seen those guns which run wolf/tula/herters/etc seem to run “better” ammo extremely well.
I shot about 700+ rounds one day in a class of wolf and never had an issue, my buddy shot it through his duty colt and had zero problems, another guy had issue shooting lake city out of his frankengun and tried wolf to rule out ammo the gun wouldn’t even cycle it.
Several Colts in the safe run it just fine. I don’t think I have ever shot an AR that wouldn’t run it.
I have never had a wolf round not fire for me and i get pretty good groups out of them. i do not know why everyone says they are shit. they are dirty, but not shit. maybe years ago when they were laquer coated, but its hard to find those anymore. that being said, with the wars winding down there have been some really good specials on 5.56 62gr federal stuff.
Shot some old laquer stuff, too. I like it better than the polymer. It doesn’t rust.
If you can reliable shoot M855, M193 and the various clones (IMI, PMC, Winchester, PPU) then I wouldn’t be concerned at all. That’s just me.
I find this interesting and a little assinine.
To answer the OP I would not feel comfortable with a gun that won’t run on commonly found ammo. IMO an adjustable gas block would be a worthwhile improvement to the platform to compensate for ammo pressure differences, suppressor use and gas port erosion.
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Ditto.
Plus, I wouldn’t envision stockpiles of Wolf lying around in SHTF scenarios. Federal 223 and the like would be much more realistic, and most guns, even if they’re picky, will run that. As for me, I’ve always got thousands of rounds of good M193 and M855 on hand.
Can you expand on this statement? Because of chamber tolerances or what?
If this is your “HD/SD” gun then you probably want it a little over gassed and able to run crap ammo. If this is your HBAR bench plinker with 20" barrel then who the hell cares if it can’t shoot Tula?
So my comfort with it would be directly related to the importance of the rifle to save my life. As a nasty civilian, I found a carbine to be a highly unlikely resource for defense. I’m much more concerned about having a reliable pistol and training.
I’ve put about 3k rounds of the new-er Wolf WPA through my 11.5" BCM and have never had any failure with it, even won an accuracy competition at Pat McNamara’s class with that crap ammo!