Steel Case Challenge: Wolf vs. Barnaul

[biodsl]

Kind of requested by Vascar2. In another thread he wondered about a head to head match up of Wolf Steel case to the newer offering from Barnaul. I decided to wade in.

It was a wet, 41 degree April morning. Only 20 rounds of each offering were shot. All were shot from a bench at 100 yard using a Alexander Arms 16" Lite and a Black Hole Weaponry 22" chambered in 264LBC. Off a tripod and rear bag. The AA carbine was shot at 6X and the BHW at 10X

CHRONO RESULTS
In my Moscow Match experiments I discovered that newer Wolf has a slightly heavier power charge than the original offering. It shows in velocity. Original Wolf steel case chrono-ed at 2481 in 40 degree temperatures out of my AA 16”. Today at 41 degrees the average was 2521fps.

AA 16" Lite
Brand Avg Hi Lo SD ES
Wolf 2521 2541 2499 17 42 2499, 2506, 2526, 2541, 2533
Barnaul 2523 2541 2512 10 29 2512, 2524, 2518, 2541, 2520

BHW 22" .264LBC
Brand Avg Hi Lo SD ES
Wolf 2647 2683 2609 29 74 2631, 2683, 2643, 2669, 2609
Barnaul 2658 2669 2650 8 19 2654, 2666, 2669, 2650, 2654

GROUPS
I shot four, 5-shot groups with each load; two through the AA and two through the BHW. One shot group had the Magnetospeed hanging on the end. The chrono didn’t seem to make much difference.

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The groups look the same to me. The SD and ES of the Barnaul are impressive, but it didn’t translate in my shooting. I’ll leave it for the Horde to decide. But based on the SD and ES numbers, my next Moscow Match work will likely be done with Barnaul.

[Lemonaid]

Great job, I really like these kind of tests!

[lazyengineer]

Thanks for the data. FWIW, I get the same results with Wolf, and find that 1 box will have sub 10 SD, and the next box a still pretty good SD <20, much like your tests. I'm pretty sure it's the same ammo from the same plant.

[FRB6.5]

Did you measure diameter of the projectiles? Are Barnaul undersized like Wolf were?

[VASCAR2]

Thanks for testing these biodsl! I bought a RCBS bullet puller to try some Moscow Match with my Wolf ammo. Family obligations has put my shooting on hold for a few more months but it is on my list of things to do.

[biodsl]

Did you measure diameter of the projectiles? Are Barnaul undersized like Wolf were?

Yes. .262".

I pulled some rounds and got some data. Coming soon. The jist is I'd agree with Lazyengineer; it looks like the same assembly line.

[FRB6.5]

Thanks for checking that.

[biodsl]

More on this. Head stamps are identical. Lot numbers are recorded in the same format. As you can see this ammo was manufactured a year apart. Packaging has the same trademark. Here's data from eight sample rounds of each.

Powder Charge Avg Hi Lo SD ES
Wolf 30.45 30.6 30.3 0.12 0.3
Barnaul 30.625 30.8 30.2 0.23 0.6

Case Weight Avg Hi Lo SD ES
Wolf 100.1 101.2 98.9 0.838 1.3
Barnaul 99.8 100.6 98.3 0.732 1.3

Bullet weight Avg Hi Lo SD ES
Wolf 100.1 100.5 99.7 0.223 0.8
Barnaul 100.3 100.6 100 0.478 0.6

Length to Ogive Avg Hi Lo SD ES
Wolf 1.624 1.630 1.618 0.004 0.012
Barnaul 1.626 1.635 1.616 0.008 0.019

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[Armadillo66]

My 18" heavy straight flute 5R 1:8 twist shoots tighter groups with the Wolf than your guns did. I have only shot 5 rounds of the Barnaul at a coyote running about 1/4 mile from me and failed to drop him but made him bite a hit the 3rd shot

[VASCAR2]

Thanks for the info biodsl. Wolf is an importer of ammunition from several different companies and it was reported that Barnaul in Russia was the manufacturer of the Wolf Military Classic 6.5 Grendel. SG Ammo was the first vendor I saw who was selling the Barnaul ammunition under their own name. Wolf Gold 6.5 Grendel ammunition is/was manufactured in Serbia by Prvi Partizan with PPU head stamp. I haven’t seen any Wolf Gold 6.5 Grendel ammunition with the small rifle rifle primer like the new PPU 6.5 Grendel ammunition.