Best ammo to use
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The CZ-82 was designed to shoot the Russian Mil-Spec Makarov ammo, which was steel cased with a 95g bullet. The most commonly available equivalent today is probably the Wolf Military Classic, which is also most consistently the cheapest (last time I looked around the internet for it). At the moment there are also some pretty good bargains on Silver Bear hollow point ammo out there - also steel cased ammo.
People moan about the "quality" of Wolf ammo, and there's a lot of "I'll never let a round of Wolf get into my gun." But out of the last 1000 rounds of Wolf that I put through my Makarovs and CZ-82s, every one of 'em went bang (only one required a second hammer strike) and they hit the 50 yard steel plates that I usually shoot just as reliably as (1) the more expensive S&B that I intermixed, (2) the very few rounds of VERY much more expensive Hornady XTP that I tested, and (3) the lead bullet reloads that I shoot the most of. Cleanup is just as easy as with any other brand. The only downside is that the powder residue smells different than "normal" ammo leaves, but that too goes away with cleaning.
If you insist on brass cases, the best deal I've seen recently is S&B from KY Imports, $200 for 1000 rounds plus shipping. S&B is made in the Czech Republic, which provides a certain poetic symmetry for the CZ. (S&B also makes the Winchester white box 9x18 ammo, but you'll pay a LOT more for the Winchester brand, if you can find it at all.)
If you reload (or plan to) the S&B may actually be the better buy - you can view it as getting ammunition for 16 cents/shot (the best price of Wolf I've seen recently) plus 4 cents for a reloadable case. New brass cases from Starline are 14 cents each at Midway (plus shipping) so you're getting some pretty cheap brass buying S&B ammo and shooting it up.
People moan about the "quality" of Wolf ammo, and there's a lot of "I'll never let a round of Wolf get into my gun." But out of the last 1000 rounds of Wolf that I put through my Makarovs and CZ-82s, every one of 'em went bang (only one required a second hammer strike) and they hit the 50 yard steel plates that I usually shoot just as reliably as (1) the more expensive S&B that I intermixed, (2) the very few rounds of VERY much more expensive Hornady XTP that I tested, and (3) the lead bullet reloads that I shoot the most of. Cleanup is just as easy as with any other brand. The only downside is that the powder residue smells different than "normal" ammo leaves, but that too goes away with cleaning.
If you insist on brass cases, the best deal I've seen recently is S&B from KY Imports, $200 for 1000 rounds plus shipping. S&B is made in the Czech Republic, which provides a certain poetic symmetry for the CZ. (S&B also makes the Winchester white box 9x18 ammo, but you'll pay a LOT more for the Winchester brand, if you can find it at all.)
If you reload (or plan to) the S&B may actually be the better buy - you can view it as getting ammunition for 16 cents/shot (the best price of Wolf I've seen recently) plus 4 cents for a reloadable case. New brass cases from Starline are 14 cents each at Midway (plus shipping) so you're getting some pretty cheap brass buying S&B ammo and shooting it up.
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My son and I ran 100 rounds of Russian silver bear 94gr hollowpoint through my newly acquired CZ-82, ran fine no malfunctions. Surprisingly my East German Makarov hung up on one round.
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Ye Gads; the Brass!
I've had my new CZ-82 out a couple of times; on the gravel firing line I usually can find about 8 out of 10 of my ejected casings. It helps if there is not a lot of other brass lying around, particularly 9 X 19mm which is almost impossible to tell apart without reading the teenie little head stamps.
When I went forward to the berm to do some point shooting though, the grass simply ATE ALL of my brass.
I might have been able to retrieve a couple of 'em I guess, if i was willing to spend hours crawling around on my hands & knees combing through the grass and weeds looking for it.
The idea of trimming down 9mm Para brass is becoming more appealing all the time.
I've had my new CZ-82 out a couple of times; on the gravel firing line I usually can find about 8 out of 10 of my ejected casings. It helps if there is not a lot of other brass lying around, particularly 9 X 19mm which is almost impossible to tell apart without reading the teenie little head stamps.
When I went forward to the berm to do some point shooting though, the grass simply ATE ALL of my brass.
I might have been able to retrieve a couple of 'em I guess, if i was willing to spend hours crawling around on my hands & knees combing through the grass and weeds looking for it.
The idea of trimming down 9mm Para brass is becoming more appealing all the time.
Based on some numbers I worked up a couple of weeks ago, I can reload 100 9x18 rounds with lead bullets for $10.35 if I have the brass cases. That's a little over 4 cents/round cheaper than the Silver Bear HP. Matching your recent 500 round session, I would have saved over $20 with my reloads.
I do enjoy the reloading process, so don't begrudge the time it takes to load up a few hundred rounds of an evening. I have a progressive press with a toolhead filled with Makarov dies and powder measure set for my "standard" plinking loads, so it's a pretty smooth and quick operation when I decide to do it. Reloading also allows the making of some pretty soft shooting plinking loads, which in turn makes it easier (on my hand and wrist) to shoot more rounds at a session.
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Ammo Comparison Test
I ordered some WOLF "Military Classic" and "Silver Bear" ammo to compare with the S&B 95 gr. that I've been using.
At 15 yards off the bench I wasn't awfully impressed, although my 3 ft. focal length "computer glasses" helped to define the sights a little better.
All 3 of these brands of ammo seemed to pattern in about the same place, stringing more horizontally than vertically.
I would get about 3 holes in a fairly tight group, and the other 2 would fly off to the right for some reason.
.........
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A couple of observations;
The WOLF produced a lot of smoke; it would be pouring out of the receiver and back of the slide after every shot. I initially suspected blown primers, but the ones i examined did not show any signs of rupture or excessive pressure.
The BEAR is a lot easier to load into the magazine than the other 2.
S&B is #2 and WOLF is the worst; the rims really want to hang up on the case mouth below, and the lacquered steel case seems to provide greater friction.
The plated BEAR cases are really slick and they popped right into the magazine. I noticed a big difference.
After shooting the target I set up some tin cans and a couple of steel discs at around 25 yds. - and was doing much better offhand on those than I was on the target - regularly nailing them.
I angled the steel off to one side to minimize bounceback - and more than once the little 9mm MAK succeeded in knocking the fairly heavy 9" dia. by about 1/2" thick steel discs right off of the tops of the steel barrels they were perched on.
I was impressed!
The CZ-82 seems to like the same offhand grip pattern as the 1911; light pressure on the pinkie, thumb lifted off entirely - trigger slightly south of the distal knuckle and squeeze straight back towards the shoulder joint.
With mine, I have to hold right up into the middle of what I'm shooting at.
I ordered some WOLF "Military Classic" and "Silver Bear" ammo to compare with the S&B 95 gr. that I've been using.
At 15 yards off the bench I wasn't awfully impressed, although my 3 ft. focal length "computer glasses" helped to define the sights a little better.
All 3 of these brands of ammo seemed to pattern in about the same place, stringing more horizontally than vertically.
I would get about 3 holes in a fairly tight group, and the other 2 would fly off to the right for some reason.
.........
A couple of observations;
The WOLF produced a lot of smoke; it would be pouring out of the receiver and back of the slide after every shot. I initially suspected blown primers, but the ones i examined did not show any signs of rupture or excessive pressure.
The BEAR is a lot easier to load into the magazine than the other 2.
S&B is #2 and WOLF is the worst; the rims really want to hang up on the case mouth below, and the lacquered steel case seems to provide greater friction.
The plated BEAR cases are really slick and they popped right into the magazine. I noticed a big difference.
After shooting the target I set up some tin cans and a couple of steel discs at around 25 yds. - and was doing much better offhand on those than I was on the target - regularly nailing them.
I angled the steel off to one side to minimize bounceback - and more than once the little 9mm MAK succeeded in knocking the fairly heavy 9" dia. by about 1/2" thick steel discs right off of the tops of the steel barrels they were perched on.
I was impressed!
The CZ-82 seems to like the same offhand grip pattern as the 1911; light pressure on the pinkie, thumb lifted off entirely - trigger slightly south of the distal knuckle and squeeze straight back towards the shoulder joint.
With mine, I have to hold right up into the middle of what I'm shooting at.
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A solution to this that my son and I use to retrieve pistol brass:
At the local Ace hardware, they had butterfly nets on sale for $1 ea. So we had an idea - and it worked better than anything else we've tried before (including a $20 brass catcher accessory we had bought that velcro wraps onto your shooting hand - that only catches about 1/3 at best).
With the butterfly net the one who is not shooting stands aft of the one who is and positions the net where the brass flys. With the larger size of the net versus the 'accessory' catcher's size, we get close to 100% of the brass caught in the net. The one holding the net can intelligently adjust the position of the net to account for various brass throwing angles of individual pistols.
It sure beats crawling around in grass or mud trying to find and separate your brass from other old brass on the ground!
Uncle Jaque, smoke coming out around the slide/frame joint is from a failure of the cartridge case to be expanded tightly against the chamber wall throughout the powder combustion process. My very light plinking loads produce GOBS of smoke because of this - I end up with a black line on the side of my trigger finger and thumb, and the inside of the gun needs a good wiping after a plinking session.
I shot some of the Wolf Mil Classic this past week too, and also noticed a bit of a black line on my trigger finger afterward. I'd guess that the steel in the Wolf cases is a bit stiffer than the Bear, which keeps it from sealing as fully as we might like. (I read somewhere that solid sealing of the chamber is one of the principal reasons to manufacture ammo cases from brass rather than steel or other metals.)
The only downside, to me, of the Wolf putting some smoke into the gun is that Russian powder is REALLY stinky and smells up the gun unless you do a really thorough cleaning.
I shot some of the Wolf Mil Classic this past week too, and also noticed a bit of a black line on my trigger finger afterward. I'd guess that the steel in the Wolf cases is a bit stiffer than the Bear, which keeps it from sealing as fully as we might like. (I read somewhere that solid sealing of the chamber is one of the principal reasons to manufacture ammo cases from brass rather than steel or other metals.)
The only downside, to me, of the Wolf putting some smoke into the gun is that Russian powder is REALLY stinky and smells up the gun unless you do a really thorough cleaning.
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That would Explain It...
It's hard to tell if those Wolf cases are passing gas, as they are so dirty looking to begin with. That's probably why we're getting the smoke signals though.
I know that in my SKSs any of that Russian "Animal Ammo" will soot the bore and gas system all up - almost like black powder.
They're probably grinding up some old WW-II leftover artillery powder that they dredged up out of those salt mines to load this animal ammo up with and sell back to us.
At least it seems to clean up all right.
I use Ballistol or good old Hoppe's #9.
Not much fouling seems to stick to that poly rifled bore though, and what does comes right out with about one pass of a patch.
I'm really getting used to the idea!
I opine that the Silver Bear is probably worth the extra buck or two a box over the Wolf; the cases seem to seal better, the rounds load into the magazine easier, and the hollow points, although at these velocities they probably don't amount to a hill of beans in terms of terminal ballistics, do look wicked formidable!
The lacquered casings on the Wolf might have a way of gumming up the works if you're doing a lot of rapid fire and getting the barrel hot.
That seems to be an issue with other types of ammo using the lacquer coating. The Bear seems to use some sort of nickel plating which looks a lot better and won't melt down and stick to the chamber walls.
It's hard to tell if those Wolf cases are passing gas, as they are so dirty looking to begin with. That's probably why we're getting the smoke signals though.
I know that in my SKSs any of that Russian "Animal Ammo" will soot the bore and gas system all up - almost like black powder.
They're probably grinding up some old WW-II leftover artillery powder that they dredged up out of those salt mines to load this animal ammo up with and sell back to us.
At least it seems to clean up all right.
I use Ballistol or good old Hoppe's #9.
Not much fouling seems to stick to that poly rifled bore though, and what does comes right out with about one pass of a patch.
I'm really getting used to the idea!
I opine that the Silver Bear is probably worth the extra buck or two a box over the Wolf; the cases seem to seal better, the rounds load into the magazine easier, and the hollow points, although at these velocities they probably don't amount to a hill of beans in terms of terminal ballistics, do look wicked formidable!
The lacquered casings on the Wolf might have a way of gumming up the works if you're doing a lot of rapid fire and getting the barrel hot.
That seems to be an issue with other types of ammo using the lacquer coating. The Bear seems to use some sort of nickel plating which looks a lot better and won't melt down and stick to the chamber walls.
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