From Maxim Defense . . .
Maxim Defense, the self-described “premier manufacturer in PDW technologies”, has a large amount of Yugoslavian 7.62 x 39 FMJ and 7.62 x 39 TUI in stock and ready to ship.
This won’t help us in the long run with the ban. That’ll take litigation and legislation to handle that. However, it will allow you to keep your long gun (or short gun, for that matter) fed in the interim.
As of this announcement, the Yugoslav ammunition is retailing for $695 per case of 1120 rounds or roughly 62 cents ($0.62) per round. Cartridges are 124gr annealed brass case 7.62 x 39mm FMJ with a Berdan primer. They ship mounted on SKS stripper clips.
Buyers keep the case. And the brass, too, Maxim Defense would humbly suggest. If you don’t reload, someone you know almost certainly does.
If that particular type 7.62×39 doesn’t suit, Maxim Defense also offers its own ammunition: the “TUI” (Tumble On Impact) line. TUI ammunition is a solid copper spun line design designed specifically for short barrels in mind. They’ll handle light recoil with no sacrifice in velocity, and because of the solid copper construction, they can be used wherever lead projectiles are prohibited for sport shooting.
The Maxim Defense TUI SBR ammunition is 117gr SCS and ships 20/box.
| Bullet Type | M67 FMJ |
| Caliber | 7.62X39MM |
| Casing | ANNEALED BRASS CASE BERDAN PRIMED |
| Grain Weight | 124 GRAIN |
| Muzzle Velocity (FPS) | 2402 |
| Rounds Per Box | 1120 |
| Rounds | 1120 ROUNDS |
| Grain Weight Ranges | 120 – 139 |
On top of the multiple versions of 7.62×39 they carry plenty of types of ammunition. Including 5.56 and .300 Blackout. if you’re in the market for more take a look at the ammunition section of their website.
Find reviews of Maxim Defense ammunition on the REFT blog or Small Arms Defense Journal.
About Maxim Defense
Maxim Defense is a development company aiming to provide the Military and First Responders the next generation of tools and equipment to succeed in today’s most extreme environments. The company primarily engages in small arms manufacturing focusing R&D on producing better, lighter, and more reliable weapons and accessories. As an industrial-design-centered organization, Maxim seeks to improve and enhance existing weapons platforms alongside developing cutting-edge technologies for redefining the future. Maxim Defense is headquartered in St. Cloud, MN. To learn more, please visit http://www.maximdefense.com and follow them on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @maximdefense.
I’m pretty sure no one I know wants to go to the trouble of reloading Berdan-primed brass.
I was going to say that. Not to mention the only source of Berdan primers I’m aware of for sale in the US has been well Tula.
Yeah, brass-cased berdan is kind of goofed up.
The old 6.5 Swede blanks that you can buy ~5,000 rounds for $200 are berdan primed, but at that price, I can deal with pulling bullets and reloading single-use cartridges.
The stripper clips would be a nice bonus. Aftermarket stripper clips for the SKS seem to be hit and miss, quality wise.
If you buy copper wire, sheet, bar and pipe by the hundreds or thousands of feet as I did you cringe when you see it wasted in bullets. The Army chose copper bullets for purely environmental reasons. I see no purpose for wasting expensive copper in single use projectiles in civilian rounds. I also think the WOKE Morons of DOD forgot that the prime objective is killing the enemy and not keeping enemy lands pristine for their warrior children.
Lead $2,459.50 USD per Ton
Copper $9,423.60 USD per Ton
Glad you brought this up. I’m a retired geologist and although I mostly worked in sedimentary rocks I have toured more than my share of hardrock mines and these have been mostly massive sulfide “copper” mines, although they generally produce some other metals including silver and gold. I don’t have a feel for global copper resources and reserves but there are several big open pits that I have been told are visible from low earth orbit (ie Bingham Canyon mine a bit west of Salt Lake City). These big holes, along with high prices you mention, make me seriously wonder how much economically mineable copper is left.
“These big holes, along with high prices you mention, make me seriously wonder how much economically mineable copper is left.”
Remember those Argentinian (?) miners trapped thousands of feet underground a few years back?
Copper mine.
As for geology – I’m smack in the center of ‘Bone Valley’ in Florida, phosphate strata near the surface. All kinds of fossil shark teeth in that matrix, including bones and fossilized dino-crap… 🙂
I’m fond of silver bullets…they cover all the eventualities…zombies, vampires, werewolves, rustlers, etc.
At today’s price I pay roughly $700,000 per ton. I stretch my supply by electroplating the silver onto a base metal core. Accurate and purty too when loaded into a nickeled case.
PS: in general, military small arms ammunition is primarily designed to wound rather than to kill. If you kill an enemy you only take one combatant out of the fight…if you wound (incapacitate) one, that takes a couple of team mates and a medic out of the immediate fight. If we were serious about killing the enemy then his field medics, all REMF’s and hospitals would be on the menu.
Of course this assumes a “civilized” war and not the terrorist crap we are dealing with.
The standard 5.56 round is over 3000 FPS. With gas checks, powder coat, careful alloying etc. you’re unlikely to make a bullet that will survive well at that velocity especially when shot rapidly. Gas checks also consume copper and are susceptible to coming off in weapons with gas ports.
A lot of this stuff is made for the lowest common denominator shooting it and a variety of less than optimal conditions. Lets take a few rounds in comparison that I punched into Hornady’s ballistic calculator. Both at a 100 yard zero.
The first is a 5.56 at 3150fps, a BC of .243 and a 62gr bullet. From 0-325 yard you have about 15″ of drop. In general this is considered desirable for military rounds because it means if you point the gun at shoulder level center you’ll hit a person with no sort of height adjustment. If you look at it from the next 15 inches the delta is 75 yards, and the next 15 inches is about another 75 yards away. This means if you’re off on your distance estimation it’s pretty flexible.
Now then, according to Chuck Hawks the traditional 45-70 load was 1330 FPS with a 405gr .214BC bullet. That’s a hell of a lot of lead. We exceed 15″ of drop at just 175 yards though, and the next 15″ delta is less than 50 yards away, and the third 15″ delta is less than 100 yards away. This means your distance has to be gauged 50% closer than with a 5.56 even at much shorter distances. If you go out to 325 yards like a 5.56, that makes it where you’re getting 20 inches of drop less than every 25 yards. It means a lot more calculation.
Lets take a third option and bump this to 2200FPS. That’s roughly where you start seeing lead being discounted. I still have my doubts in a rapid fire application but lets play devil’s advocate here. You wind up between 225-250 yards for your first 15″, and for the second and third deltas you wind up at 300 and between 325 and 350 yards respectively. Significantly better than a trap door round but still a big disadvantage.
This also ignores another factor; weight. A round of 5.56 Federal XM193 is said to weigh .41 oz. That’s about 180 grains. The whole round weighs less than half as much as just a 45-70 bullet! It’s likely you’re carrying 3 rounds of 5.56 for 1 of 45-70.
Although there are points that the 45-70 has the advantage if given a choice based on the round (not the gun its self even) I know which I’d choose in a heart beat and it has nothing to do with “the environment.”
Obumer did closed the last US lead smelter.
Recycled vehicle battery lead is sent to a recycle ‘smelter’ operation.
BHM closed the last mining smelter, but they can be re-opened in fairly short order.
Also slowing down the environmental whackos trying to kill mining is the fact the US is now scaling up mining for the ‘rare earths’ elements (not really rare, just messy and a PITA to concentrate)…
ill go with the tula at 50 cents a round thanks
never had a problem with it
Yes, but for how much longer?
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/amid-a-historic-shortage-joe-biden-hypocritically-blocks-the-importation-of-all-russian-ammunition/
Why did my comment about berdan primers get removed?
It was offensive to a computer algorithm.
You provided helpful information, but I’m not sure where you found it.
The most relevant basics could be displayed on the ammunition homepage, but they aren’t.
They could be on the “Details” [for each individual type of ammo], but they aren’t.
They could be on the “Spec Sheet” you can download from each type’s “Details” page, but they aren’t. Because they think OAL and COAL (both within specs) and a big picture of the ammo box are somehow relevant to my purchasing decision, but not minor irrelevant details like velocity.
Well that’s good news, wonder what the reason will be for banning imports from Yugoslavia?
A tyrant needs no reason. And likely joe doesn’t remember banning Russian amo.
Belom has ammo up on Gunbroker and Luckygunner. Serbian Ammo. It’s damned good too.
My LGS Manager had a lot of Wolf and Tula. Once Beijing is banned the Russian Ammo (No one was taken by surprise) manny reps at Wolf/Tul-Ammo already knew it was coming at some point, and have been spending time since November getting sources ready from places in the Yugoslav Region, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria to bring in Ammo.
Wolf does make ammo domestically, so I suspect they’ll look to increase production here too, and I imagine that the Italian and Spanish Ammo makers will seek to fill the void as well.
The Russian ammo boycott is doomed to failure. Where there’s a market, people will find a way. There are plenty of formerly Eastern Bloc countries that have the ammo manufacturing equipment. New ones might even pop up. Instead of Russian Wolf/Bear/whatever, it’ll be Yugo, Czech, Polish, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more components was of Russian origin, if not documented as such.
I think you have to re-think your point of view here. Russian ammo was banned not because the Dems wanted to hurt Russia. Ammo sales are a minor part of their economy. Russian ammo was banned because the Dems wanted to raise a middle finger to AMERICAN GUN OWNERS. Don’t think there’s any other reason but that.
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