Barnaul 7.62 zinc plated... Great Stuff!

A source for zinc-plated 7.62x39mm "Silver Bear" a

The zinc-plated-steel-case Russian Barnaul ammunition is marketed in the USA under the "Silver Bear" trade name. Barnaul also makes the "Golden Bear" (brass-plated steel case) or "Brown Bear" (lacquer-coated brown steel case) rifle ammunition. A few calibers are made by Ulyanovsk and Novosibirsk LVE. It is pretty good stuff. You can see the "Bear" cartridges offered by clicking here:

http://www.gzanders.com/bearammo/

Note you can get the Silver Bear 7.62x39mm loaded with the superior Ulyanovsk 8M3 "Effect" jacketed hollowpoint (catalog no. A762EN):

http://www.gzanders.com/bearammo/sbrifle.html

I've fired it, and it gets the job done. It's cleaner-burning than the Wolf polymer-coated steel case JHP, with slightly higher velocities and (slightly) better accuracy, all for a (slightly) lower price.

I always had good luck with the Silver Bear 5.45 ammo. I read lots of complaints about people with oxidized cases, but I just tried to keep it sealed up as good as I could, and no problems.

ETA: the velocity reported at the above posted link for the 5.45 is not
accurate, in my opinion. I never measured with a chrono though. :neutral: