5.45x39 ammunition question

[Sam Spade]

Okay, so the majority of 5.45 coming into the country is surplus 7N6, 53gr round with an airspace in the nose. Got it.

Also popping up is Wolf Military Classic, with a 70gr bullet. What is this? Does it correspond to any Eastern military loading, or is it a completely commercial thing?

[Army of Juan]

The surplus has a mild steel core with an airspace in front of it. The 70 grain commercial loading has an all lead core with no airspace. Also look out for Golden Tiger 5.45 which just recently became available again, it is a 59 grain loading. This has a lead core with an airspace in front.

IMHO the 70 grain stuff sucks, stay far away from it. The surplus and 59 grain ammo is the way to go.

[Sam Spade]

IMHO the 70 grain stuff sucks, stay far away from it. The surplus and 59 grain ammo is the way to go.
Thanks.

Sucks why? The major draw for me was the "non-corrosive" tag on it. (I also thought it might be an enhanced penetrator, like M885 is to M193, but I guess not.)

[Army of Juan]

Because it is much slower than the 59 grain commercial and 52 grain surplus and also lacks the airpocket so it does not behave as the round was designed when it hits targets. It is also so heavy that there have been reports of poor accuracy because the bullets are not being fully stabilized. Plus the point of impact is way different than the other 2 rounds.

[MrGlock21]

There is a lot of corrosive ammo available.

What's the best method to take care of that? Run soap water through the barrel? Or special solvents?

I might get a Polish Tantal, btw.

[Army of Juan]

Hot soapy water will work fine, just use a lot of it. Make sure you really clean the gas tube, gas block, and remove the compensator to clean that as well. Then liberally wipe these parts with CLP or some sort of oil. Once I failed to clean my SLR105's compensator well enough, and sometime later I tried to remove it and it was rusted to the gun :wow:. I was able to eventually get it off, though, but I'm sure you don't want that to happen.

Ballistol, a cleaning product available from Brownell's, is also very effective at neutralizing/dissolving corrosive salts.