Can you identify this 7.62x39 ammo?

[2A-Hoosier23]

Found an ammo can with at least 11 different types of 7.62x39mm ammo. I need some help identifying the 5 certain types listed below; the headstamps on these either have cyrillic characters or just numbers, so not quite enough for me to go off of.

Each type has a short description of case color, sealant color (if any), projectile type, plus a close photo of the headstamp.

Any input would be appreciated!

1. Copper colored case, green neck sealant, FMJ projectile
Headstamp "31 93" :

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2. Gray case, no visible sealant, FMJ projectile, can't type headstamp but took pictures:
I think this might be Wolf ^ because I have some Wolf hollow points with an identical headstamp. But i'm not certain.
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3. Copper colored case, red neck sealant, FMJ projectile.
Headstamp "31 65":

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4. Green colored case, purple neck and primer sealant, FMJ projectile. Headstamp kind of looks like "ß"... posted a close-up image as well:


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5. Last but not least:
Green case, no visible sealant, hollow point projectile.
Headstamp: "T π 3":

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Thanks for viewing!

 

[IUKalash429]

1) Chinese copper wash, steel case (you'd have to cut a bullet to see if it's actually steel core). Norinco. Factory 31.
2) Russian Barnaul factory (lots of brands over the years - Wolf, Bear, Monarch, etc.). Looks polymer-coated/"polyformance."
3) More Chinese Factory 31 ammo. Older. Good chance it is steel core but again, you'd want to pull/cut a bullet to be sure.
4) Russian Vympel factory (often branded "Golden Tiger"). Lacquer coated and purple neck/primer sealed.
5) Russian Tula Cartridge Works. Older stuff. Lacquer coated.

 

[T.Lex]

And INGO delivers another miracle!

 

[55fairlane]

Some of the chi-comm stuff is corrosive primed!

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

1) Chinese copper wash, steel case (you'd have to cut a bullet to see if it's actually steel core). Norinco. Factory 31.
2) Russian Barnaul factory (lots of brands over the years - Wolf, Bear, Monarch, etc.). Looks polymer-coated/"polyformance."
3) More Chinese Factory 31 ammo. Older. Good chance it is steel core but again, you'd want to pull/cut a bullet to be sure.
4) Russian Vympel factory (often branded "Golden Tiger"). Lacquer coated and purple neck/primer sealed.
5) Russian Tula Cartridge Works. Older stuff. Lacquer coated.

INGO coming in clutch yet again!! Thank you very much! If we still had a reputatiom system I'd rep you, I hope the heart-eyes reaction thing got the message across lol. Thanks to you I can clear this desk off and work on other things.


Before that I have a question:

Did you identify the manufacturers solely from the headstamps?
To clarify:
For the #2 listing which you identified as Barnaul, is it that 3-character Cyrillic (or whatever language) headstamp which means it's Barnaul?
And for the #4 listing, is it the "ß" headstamp which tells you it's Vympel?
And for the #5 which is Tula... you get where I'm going. I'm truly curious and, as you've shown, the knowledge could come in handy one day.

And, if you don't mind, one more ID for you (or anyone that can help):
green case, no visible sealant, hollow point projectile, headstamped "99" and what looks like a rose flower? Picture included:

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

And INGO delivers another miracle!

Truly! Got a weird multi-part question answered in under an hour. Couldn't ask for better.

Some of the chi-comm stuff is corrosive primed!

Yessir. Thank you for the notice. Flushing out the bore and major parts with water after shooting corrosive stuff has taken care of my rifles. With an AK I do it even after shooting non-corrosive ammo just in case

 

[T.Lex]

Real quick on the characters, although I don't know if these are the clues he used to figure it out:

The "B" character in Cyrillic sounds like "v" in English. So, it would make sense for that to be Vympel.

But, the "b" sound in Russian (for Bernaul) is written differently, kinda (but not really, to my eye) like the "6" character. So maybe that's the answer for that one. But, the "6" is the lower case "b", so I'm not sure that makes sense.

For the Tula one, the "T" in Russian type is the same as English (but the hand-written version is different). So that would make sense.

 

[IUKalash429]

INGO coming in clutch yet again!! Thank you very much! If we still had a reputatiom system I'd rep you, I hope the heart-eyes reaction thing got the message across lol. Thanks to you I can clear this desk off and work on other things.


Before that I have a question:

Did you identify the manufacturers solely from the headstamps?
To clarify:
For the #2 listing which you identified as Barnaul, is it that 3-character Cyrillic (or whatever language) headstamp which means it's Barnaul?
And for the #4 listing, is it the "ß" headstamp which tells you it's Vympel?
And for the #5 which is Tula... you get where I'm going. I'm truly curious and, as you've shown, the knowledge could come in handy one day.

And, if you don't mind, one more ID for you (or anyone that can help):
green case, no visible sealant, hollow point projectile, headstamped "99" and what looks like a rose flower? Picture included:

Hey man, just happy to help! Yes, the headstamps give the info away. By "read" I don't actually read Russian very well, but I have enough experience with AKs and eastern bloc gear to recognize most markings.

For numbers 2, 4, and 5, you are correct. #2 is the Barnaul logo:

#4 is the Vympel logo:

#5 is Tula's military ammo designation: ТПЗ:

For their commercial ammo, they switched from Cyrillic to a English/Latin "TCW" headstamp.

Your latest photo is Russian Klimovsk Stamping Plant:

This stuff will go bang, but in my experience it's among the dirtiest and least consistent of the Russian produced stuff.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

Hey man, just happy to help! Yes, the headstamps give the info away. By "read" I don't actually read Russian very well, but I have enough experience with AKs and eastern bloc gear to recognize most markings.

For numbers 2, 4, and 5, you are correct. #2 is the Barnaul logo:

#4 is the Vympel logo:

#5 is Tula's military ammo designation: ТПЗ:

For their commercial ammo, they switched from Cyrillic to a English/Latin "TCW" headstamp.

Your latest photo is Russian Klimovsk Stamping Plant:

This stuff will go bang, but in my experience it's among the dirtiest and least consistent of the Russian produced stuff.

Thank you again!!

 

[johntheplinker]

Nailed them! With kalash as part of your user name, you'd better know your x39 headstamps!

 

[M1CARBINE]

Magnet check for steel core

 

[IUKalash429]

Magnet check for steel core

Not necessarily. Besides the fact that the case is steel, the bullet jacket has steel in its makeup as well. I have Chinese lead core that still attracts a magnet.

Only guaranteed way to prove it is steel core is to cut or melt the bullet itself.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

Not necessarily. Besides the fact that the case is steel, the bullet jacket has steel in its makeup as well. I have Chinese lead core that still attracts a magnet.

Only guaranteed way to prove it is steel core is to cut or melt the bullet itself.

Interesting. So the magnet check that some ranges do when checking for "steel core" ammo will probably net some false positives

 

[IUKalash429]

Interesting. So the magnet check that some ranges do when checking for "steel core" ammo will probably net some false positives

Man, don't even get me started on this. If I had a dollar for every clueless range fudd who wouldn't take "no, this test is absolutely, 100% flawed and worthless. Ever heard of the word 'bimetal?'" for an answer, I'd be able to buy a lot of ammo even in today's crazy prices. I literally even took a cut bullet to one place to show them the lead core attracted a magnet because of the bimetal jacket, and they still refused to let me shoot my ammo there. Whatever - their range, their (absurd) rules.

It's a BS test and the majority of positives are false. Wolf does make so-called range-safe 7.62x39 ammo that doesn't attract a magnet, but it's a bit more expensive. The only reason the chicoms added a steel core to some of their ammo was because it was cheaper and more available than lead. It's not great at piercing much of anything, but that's a different conversation.

 

[johntheplinker]

Man, don't even get me started on this. If I had a dollar for every clueless range fudd who wouldn't take "no, this test is absolutely, 100% flawed and worthless. Ever heard of the word 'bimetal?'" for an answer, I'd be able to buy a lot of ammo even in today's crazy prices. I literally even took a cut bullet to one place to show them the lead core attracted a magnet because of the bimetal jacket, and they still refused to let me shoot my ammo there. Whatever - their range, their (absurd) rules.

It's a BS test and the majority of positives are false. Wolf does make so-called range-safe 7.62x39 ammo that doesn't attract a magnet, but it's a bit more expensive. The only reason the chicoms added a steel core to some of their ammo was because it was cheaper and more available than lead. It's not great at piercing much of anything, but that's a different conversation.

Yep, not only are the cores a very soft steel but also usually blunt ended. Granted it was with 7.62x54r but somebody did some testing several years using 1/8" mild steel plates. IIRC the steel core penetrated less than 1 more plate than lead core for average.