Silver Bear ammo
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Had one fail to chamber all the way in my E.G Makarov all it took was a light bump to the slide to fix that one. With my CZ82 I also had one failure to feed, the round jammed up in the mag as the hollowpoint hung up instead of stripping from the mag. These failures were roughly one of 50 fired from each gun. But it is nice looking ammo and all rounds went bang. I'll probably stick to FMJ ammo from now on, my Mak has never jammed prior to the hollowpoints. It was my first outing with the CZ82.
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Missed the forums for awhile, did I miss something new?
I’m aware of the old Silver Bear 115 gr JHP from LVE, and the
Silver Bear 94 gr bmHP from Barnaul, but I’m not aware of
New Silver Bear 95 gr JHP??
Who is it made by, and who is selling it? Couldn’t find any info in ‘Search’. TIA, Tm
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This is the stuff I was shooting: http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/9X18_Makarov.html
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I shot over 200 rounds of the SB JHP three weeks ago using an inexperienced Arsenal with an unpolished feed ramp. I had quite a few hangups which were quickly fixed with a slight tug of the slide. I'm sure the rate of FTF would decrease substantially if I fed the same Mak with a steady diet of the HP. Until then, I'd be more inclined to use FMJ as carry just to have that confident feeling.
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I've used several 100 rds in an EG Mak and a supposedly new IJ-70 w/ no problems whatsoever. I have bought 2k more.
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219 Posts
Thanks MB and Rewster, but that’s the Silver Bear 94gr bimetal HP made by Barnaul (in Russia). I bought some of that a year ago, nothing new about it.
Mkamer asked about “new commercial Silver Bear ammo? It's 95gr JHP”.
His description is a little different from the ‘real stuff’ that I’m aware of. Thought maybe he’d found something new?
If there is actually a “NEW” SB 95 gr out there, there is a chance they may have changed the bullet shape, or maker etc., may not act the same as existing Barnaul (Silver Bear).
BTW, have not tried my SB 94 gr bimetal HP yet, but I don’t expect any problems from it. My beater MAK isn’t finicky. If that’s the ammo he is really talking about, most reports I’ve seen on it have been very positive.
Silver Bear and Brown Bear packages have been produced by at least two different factories that I’m aware of, in the past. Their specs were not identical.
Mkamer asked about “new commercial Silver Bear ammo? It's 95gr JHP”.
His description is a little different from the ‘real stuff’ that I’m aware of. Thought maybe he’d found something new?
If there is actually a “NEW” SB 95 gr out there, there is a chance they may have changed the bullet shape, or maker etc., may not act the same as existing Barnaul (Silver Bear).
BTW, have not tried my SB 94 gr bimetal HP yet, but I don’t expect any problems from it. My beater MAK isn’t finicky. If that’s the ammo he is really talking about, most reports I’ve seen on it have been very positive.
Silver Bear and Brown Bear packages have been produced by at least two different factories that I’m aware of, in the past. Their specs were not identical.
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Silver & Brown Bear 9x18 Mak ammo have had more reported feeding problems than any other 9x18 Mak I can recall. The problem is the OAL, and will probably present itself when loading the magazine.
I'm biased due to having read of so many problems over time, but if you use this ammo for self-defense, please load and unload your mags a time or two to ensure the cartridges are not too long. Most of the problems were with 115 and 120 grain Bear ammo, but I'd check it all, no matter the load, if using Silver or Brown Bear for self defense.
SlimTim
I'm biased due to having read of so many problems over time, but if you use this ammo for self-defense, please load and unload your mags a time or two to ensure the cartridges are not too long. Most of the problems were with 115 and 120 grain Bear ammo, but I'd check it all, no matter the load, if using Silver or Brown Bear for self defense.
SlimTim
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219 Posts
Excellent point! I think it’s wise to ‘test’ any HP 9x18 ammo in your own gun, especially before you buy large quantities, or use it as a SD round.
I found with the 94 grain rounds, it was casing diameters where the bullet is pressed in, that was inconsistent. Some of them were even pressed crooked. I have shot over 800 rounds of the stuff and have another 1000 of the FMJ (well, only about 600 left), it has the same issues, and I only use it for plinking. I did a post on the old forum about it with measurments. The lengths of the rounds were to spec on all the ones I measured.
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