I am planning on buying a can of 8mm ammo from SGAmmo and wanted the brain trusts opinion. There is a 380 round can for sale of Romanian steel case made in the 1970's-80's, I have used this plenty and never had any issues with it. There is also another can of Romanian BRASS case made in the 1950's. It is also a 380 round can and the prices are the same for each. The question is, any reason to buy one over the other? I have done some reading on the brass case stuff and I can't really get an answer if it is good to shoot through semi autos or not. This would be run through a semi 1919 and a semi Egyptian Hakim along with German K-98's.
Minnesota Belt Fed
1 - 19 of 19 Posts
Joined
·
771 Posts
I am planning on buying a can of 8mm ammo from SGAmmo and wanted the brain trusts opinion. There is a 380 round can for sale of Romanian steel case made in the 1970's-80's, I have used this plenty and never had any issues with it. There is also another can of Romanian BRASS case made in the 1950's. It is also a 380 round can and the prices are the same for each. The question is, any reason to buy one over the other? I have done some reading on the brass case stuff and I can't really get an answer if it is good to shoot through semi autos or not. This would be run through a semi 1919 and a semi Egyptian Hakim along with German K-98's.
Joined
·
347 Posts
Stick with the known quality.
Joined
·
231 Posts
I have the Romanian 70's ammo and it has been 100% reliable. I also have some late 1940's Czech brass ammo that has been very good, but has had some pierced primers. If I had to choose, I would buy the Romanian every time.
Joined
·
4,144 Posts
Romy steel is great ammo. Non corrosive and accurate. It has a reputation for hard primers, but that generally comes from guys trying to shoot it out of a semi MG42 using AR-15 fire control springs.
1950's brass is most likely corrosive. Is it sealed or a repack? I have an inherit distrust of Sportsmans Guide. Ive seen them advertise all sorts of junk, cull and reject ammo as 'genuine surplus, as used by special forces around the world'...
1950's brass is most likely corrosive. Is it sealed or a repack? I have an inherit distrust of Sportsmans Guide. Ive seen them advertise all sorts of junk, cull and reject ammo as 'genuine surplus, as used by special forces around the world'...
Joined
·
771 Posts
No it isnt
Romanian 70s steel case ammo is corrosive primed. It is still some of the best 8mm out there for function and lack of blowing things up. The later ammo made commercially and headstamped hotshot is crap but doesn't seem to be dangerous. The 50s brass cased ammo is hit or miss. Some works and some doesn't. I've run the 70s steel case ammo in every machinegun I have in 8mm and it has been excellent in all of them from the slowpoke maxim to the high speed MG81 (1850rpm) I've never seen or heard of a kaboom with it in anything. I ran it in my Hakim years ago with no issues.
The idea that steel case ammo is breaking extractors is really a myth. The problem is usually related to the gas port size and location along with the powder used in the ammo. Slow powder can give higher port pressures and higher pressure in the bore longer. That can make the cases stick to the chamber wall longer and with some gas op guns it can be a problem. It has nothing to do with case material however....
hope that helps you choose.
Frank
The idea that steel case ammo is breaking extractors is really a myth. The problem is usually related to the gas port size and location along with the powder used in the ammo. Slow powder can give higher port pressures and higher pressure in the bore longer. That can make the cases stick to the chamber wall longer and with some gas op guns it can be a problem. It has nothing to do with case material however....
hope that helps you choose.
Frank
Joined
·
1,058 Posts
All surplus 8mm ammo is corrosive.
Joined
·
616 Posts
I would buy steel cased from the 70’s and 80’s my friend.
I don’t believe the Portuguese stuff was.
Joined
·
771 Posts
I guess I should have been a litter clearer on what SGAmmo is..... it is not Sportsmans Guide, its an ammo company out of Stillwater, OK. I have ordered from them for years.
Joined
·
1,058 Posts
Key word "was". Kudos to anyone who stacked it deep when it was for sale. It hasn't been around in any bulk quantities for well over a decade.
Everything that is around these days is corrosive.
Joined
·
12,249 Posts
I love the 70's Romy stuff and also have a bunch of the Portuguese and even better yet the Israeli ammo. The Israeli stuff is so accurate I won't put it through the beltfeds as it would be a waste so I am reserving that for? I don't have a rifle in 8mnm at this point so who knows lol. Go with the 70's Romy you will not be disappointed.
Joined
·
3,262 Posts
Back around 2005, or so, when this Romy stuff became available a shooting buddy of ours, Eric, inherited $23,000,000 when his grandmother passed away. Eric liked this Romy 8mm stuff so much, he called the vendor in Florida and bought their entire inventory. He got a great deal, and they delivered it to Dallas for free via a 53-foot tractor trailer. Eric built a cement block bunker just to hold all this ammo.
Let's all meet Eric. He is featured in one of Mongo's videos from back in the day. Here is Eric at :32 firing his PKM, at 1:09 firing his Minigun, standing behind Dolf at 1:46, and finally at 2:30 with Maria.
Joined
·
12,249 Posts
Does he want to adopt a son? I come with my own toys lol
Joined
·
3,262 Posts
Eric got married a few years ago and is now a proud father of twins. Maybe he'll want another kidlet.
Joined
·
771 Posts
Oh no worries, I shouldn't have assumed everyone knew what it was.
The portuguese 8mm was indeed non corrosive and really good ammo. It has the same problem most non corrosive ammo does, the primers don't last. The portuguese out there now is starting to hit the point where dud primers are getting bad enough to make it annoying. Some is still really good and some worse but it will all be going bad over time. This is the reason a lot of countries still use corrosive priming, it lives a lot longer. I've fired stuff from the 20s and 30s that was still reliable and sure fire.
Frank
Frank
1 - 19 of 19 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
