Picked up a case of wolf. Here are my thoughts:

[Gary_B]

I picked up a case of wolf this week, figuring that it may never get much cheaper. My modest stash of Hornady Black and PPU 120 will not be used at the range until they become more available.

Shooting through a PSA 20 inch stainless barreled upper, fitted to a rifle spec lower. The gun is a pretty smooth shooter. It is equipped with a Larue 2 stage trigger.

The wolf was not very accurate, 4-5 inch groups at 100 yards. Pretty sure it is the ammo, not the shooter. I shot two three round groups of PPU as a sanity check. This held two 1 1/4" groups. This rifle likes the PPU better than the Hornady black. I suspect it is more accurate than I am. I've never shot it from a sled, just supported from a bench.

I don't know if the wolf has a bunch of flash suppressant in it, but it is a very smokey round.

I shot ten rounds of wolf at the end of the session as fast as I could get reasonable sight picture. All landed in a 7-8 inch group centered around the bull. This group was only marginally worse than the groups I was taking my time...

[1075 tech]

I almost hate to ask what you paid for the Wolf. I don't think we'll ever see it for .23 per shipped again.

Most of the accuracy issues are the ammo. I think some of yours is also the build. PSA is not known for accuracy. But there are many factors involved.

The Wolf bimetal bullet is slightly undersized at .262 or so. There are several threads on here over the years about this. Many have used the case and powder for push/pull reloading with a more accurate bullet.

I can generally hold 1.5" to 2" groups out of my AA 16" fluted barrel. That barrel will consistently hold 3/4" with Hornady SSTs. 5 shot groups from a sandbag rest.

I haven't used the Wolf in my Howa 20" HB, but I have been able to get one ragged hole with 5 shots of Hornady Black. About 1" with the SST.

Of course, I'm making an assumption that you are referring to the Wolf 100gr FMJ steel cased ammo.

[Gary_B]

75 cents a round for range fun!

Seems reliable however.


I need a set of sand bags.

[Smtimelevi]

[LR1955]

I picked up a case of wolf this week, figuring that it may never get much cheaper. My modest stash of Hornady Black and PPU 120 will not be used at the range until they become more available.

Shooting through a PSA 20 inch stainless barreled upper, fitted to a rifle spec lower. The gun is a pretty smooth shooter. It is equipped with a Larue 2 stage trigger.

The wolf was not very accurate, 4-5 inch groups at 100 yards. Pretty sure it is the ammo, not the shooter. I shot two three round groups of PPU as a sanity check. This held two 1 1/4" groups. This rifle likes the PPU better than the Hornady black. I suspect it is more accurate than I am. I've never shot it from a sled, just supported from a bench.

I don't know if the wolf has a bunch of flash suppressant in it, but it is a very smokey round.

I shot ten rounds of wolf at the end of the session as fast as I could get reasonable sight picture. All landed in a 7-8 inch group centered around the bull. This group was only marginally worse than the groups I was taking my time...

GB:

This is a rare situation where I will comment that it is way more the ammo than you. Undersized bullet and the powder is filthy. If someone gave me some, I would pull the bullet and seat a 100 grain cup and lead core bullet on them and blast away. Bet it would shoot pretty well. If the powder fowled my rifle too much, I would dump it and reload the primed brass with any load I want.

LR-55

[lazyengineer]

About right. This is Wolf Steel blasting ammo. For banging 3 gun targets at 50 yards, it's great. For gong pinging on sunny day, it's some cheap trigger pulling. The BC actually is pretty good, and if you have a barrel that likes it, I've run this ammo 3-gun out to 500, with decent hit Rate. But even on a barrel it super loves, 2.50 MOA, and don't expect every group to be that good. On many otherwise excellent barrels, it can easily shoot as you saw.

It is what it is meant to be, a very inexpensive disposable ammo that is remarkably reliable for a steel cased round in the AR platform, that can throw that bullet quite a long way. It's very similar in shape and BC to the excellent Sierra 107 HPBT SMK. So that bullet has longer legs than you might think. Just not super accurate.

I personally love the stuff, and my guns shoot it fine. For $0.27/shot and a 26 round blast-away mag. For hunting and accuracy- meh. For $0.75/ shot delivered? Not so much.

[LRRPF52]

[howl]

Is the Wolf Grendel steel case staying high because it isn't allowed for import?

[lazyengineer]

Is the Wolf Grendel steel case staying high because it isn't allowed for import?

I think more supply and demand, as most of those import permits aren't going to expire for another year or so - or so it looked. I imagine everyone with one of those permits is burning up their phones asking Russian sources to fire up the night shift right now, and if possible, is going to try to look like a December 1919 liquor cabinet in that 1 year people had a headsup.

It's a bit of a specialty round, so every retailer knows they can extra-overcharge for a specialty round. I'm not saying I know the ins and outs of import/export - but I don't really have reason to believe cost-of-goods to the retailer from a Russian (non-COVID insanity) sourced supplier really went up 3X like that. But then, I do accept that shipping costs portion may well have.

I expect it to dip some more as time goes on, but the days of 27 cent wolf Steel are probably behind us. If I see a case for 35 cents a shot, I'll start buying it by the thousand again without question. I very well never be faced with that opportunity. I am expecting it to make it down to 50 cents eventually, though as a reloader, and one with Wolf Steel inventory already, I cant' say if I'll act when it gets to 50 cents. Though for those who can shoot Wolf Steel well enough to meet their needs and are currently a little light, sure, i'd advise grabbing it at 50 cents.

At 75 cents? Not really. You'd need to be pretty desperate for ammo at that point, and are going to get some ammo that's not that good for bench shooting, and not that good for hunting. It's plinking ammo. For that kind of premium, just pay the premium for Brass.

Just my own personal math and assessment on it.

[Gary_B]

I think more supply and demand, as most of those import permits aren't going to expire for another year or so - or so it looked. I imagine everyone with one of those permits is burning up their phones asking Russian sources to fire up the night shift right now, and if possible, is going to try to look like a December 1919 liquor cabinet in that 1 year people had a headsup.

It's a bit of a specialty round, so every retailer knows they can extra-overcharge for a specialty round. I'm not saying I know the ins and outs of import/export - but I don't really have reason to believe cost-of-goods to the retailer from a Russian (non-COVID insanity) sourced supplier really went up 3X like that. But then, I do accept that shipping costs portion may well have.

I expect it to dip some more as time goes on, but the days of 27 cent wolf Steel are probably behind us. If I see a case for 35 cents a shot, I'll start buying it by the thousand again without question. I very well never be faced with that opportunity. I am expecting it to make it down to 50 cents eventually, though as a reloader, and one with Wolf Steel inventory already, I cant' say if I'll act when it gets to 50 cents. Though for those who can shoot Wolf Steel well enough to meet their needs and are currently a little light, sure, i'd advise grabbing it at 50 cents.

At 75 cents? Not really. You'd need to be pretty desperate for ammo at that point, and are going to get some ammo that's not that good for bench shooting, and not that good for hunting. It's plinking ammo. For that kind of premium, just pay the premium for Brass.

Just my own personal math and assessment on it.

My personal math and assessment: cheapest brass ammo on ammoseek is 1.80/round plus shipping and tax.

75 cents is pretty cheap right now. I dont think it's coming down much.