Yugo Military Surplus 8mm 196gr FMJBT 15-Round Box
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BishopofBling
Senior Member
I've never had problems with them just make sure to clean your rifle as it's corrosive
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
I had two case head failures in the 50s surplus. In a k98k thankfully. It was exciting but I didn’t get hurt
It killed some g43s a while back.
My take is that ammo is cheap compared to rifles and I don’t bother with dodgy surplus any more.
I could post more about powder degradation and age etc but really it just boils down to saving a few pennies on something you’re feeding into a rifle worth hundreds of dollars is a false economy.
It killed some g43s a while back.
My take is that ammo is cheap compared to rifles and I don’t bother with dodgy surplus any more.
I could post more about powder degradation and age etc but really it just boils down to saving a few pennies on something you’re feeding into a rifle worth hundreds of dollars is a false economy.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
That case was bright and shiny before it was fired.
It’s also been sitting in my desk drawer for years now post-firing as a reminder to not shoot old surplus in good rifles, so there’s that too.
But when I fired it? Looked pristine.
luftpirate
Well-known member
Been shooting Yugo surplus for 20± years and never had a single issue. Not to say that there can't be.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
Yeah, the first one was a brown shorts moment but I just chalked it up to one of those things.
With the second (same case of ammo, different K98k, maybe a year later) I swore off old ammo in general. I ended up doing a bunch of research into how powder ages and just got scared off in general. My personal rule of thumb now is that I'll only shoot ammo less than 50 years old, and only from militaries/countries that I'm reasonably confident of their storage conditions being up to snuff. So Swiss GP11 from the 70s? Sure, I'll shoot that. The Greek HXP that the CMP used to sell? Sure, plus that stuff was shot extensively enough that I'm pretty sure bad failures would have been widely reported on the CMP forums. That said, the little bit I have left only gets fed to the 1903 and I'm not buying more when it's gone. I've also got some 90s era 7N1 that I'd be willing to shoot, but I'm probably going to just sell it instead because it's corrosively primed and not that much more accurate than my hand loads.
But Yugo ammo from the 50s? Nope. That Ethiopian 8mm that was out a while ago? Nope. That bandoleer of Turkish 8mm I've still got kicking around at the back of a box somewhere? One of these days I'll get around to pulling the bullets, but the cases and powder are scrap metal and fertilizer as far as I'm concerned.
edit: I'm pretty sure when I really started digging one of the threads I found about the G/K43s getting killed by 50s Yugo was right here on these forums.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
I might have found it, google to the rescue:
Yugoslavian Surplus Ammo
Not sure whether this is the correct location for this post. I recently ordered up 900 rounds of the ammo linked below, and will be purchasing more. This is impressive stuff. It's packed in the original boxes and is very clean, cleaner than the photo would suggest. It also shoots clean, with...
www.k98kforum.com
There were other threads about it around that time as well, think I remember a gunboards one? Maybe one on the old G/K43 forum? On a side note, props to this place for sticking around and having its own image attachment system, because at least this record of it was retained.
Regardless, re-posting one of the photos of a dead G/K43:
edit: Something I'll note here is that the failure was at the case head, same as on mine. There were other photos floating around at the time (which I can't find now unfortunately) that more clearly showed the damage to the brass. It wasn't just that one rifle, I remember at least two, maybe three in a 1-2 year window around 2010.
BishopofBling
Senior Member
That's what encouraged me to hand load. I shot that 70s Romanian 8mm Mauser that everyone loves to say is amazing and I fired 35 rounds of the stuff and about half had gas blowing back in my face. Luckily Mauser's design worked as intended and I had shooting glasses on but, it dicey shooting surplus.
You get better quality ammo that is nowadays cost at least as much as surplus (if not less). It used to be surplus was a great deal but now, not so much.
It's too sweeping a statement to say, 'Don't shoot surplus in rifles!' Quality of manufacture and storage conditions go a very, very long way in determining how it performs later.
I'd not shoot surplus in semi-autos, but wouldn't hesitate in a bolt gun. The 50s Yugoslav cartridges have had known, documented issues for several years. The 1980s-1990s stuff is excellent, though.
I'd not shoot surplus in semi-autos, but wouldn't hesitate in a bolt gun. The 50s Yugoslav cartridges have had known, documented issues for several years. The 1980s-1990s stuff is excellent, though.
I’ve shot a large amount of Yugo 50s, over 1000 rds of it, only in K98ks. Had several case splits. Most common issue was hard primers that required a Wolff 22-24 lb replacement striker spring, which heavied up the trigger pull but made the ammo 100% reliable. I would not shoot that stuff in any semi-auto, particularly a G/K series.
I sold all the army surpluses of Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic from the 50s at least 10 years ago. As the failures and bursting of cartridges began to gradually appear, it was time to say goodbye to it. I only shoot cartridges that I reload myself from new components. I don't even use modern factory production. It seems to me unnecessarily too strong for old collection rifles. Anyone who shoots an expensive collector's item costing thousands of dollars should realize that it's not worth breaking it up with some cheap shite ammo just to save half a dollar.
johnstanley
Member
I had a couple of case head failures in the 50's Yugo ammo, one in my g43, the other in a 98k. When I examined unfired rounds from the same 900 round case I found several with flaws in the brass above the case head. I would be very wary of and not use the 50's Yugo. On the other hand my Yugo ammo from the 70's has been excellent.
I have two shooter K98ks, both bolt mm rifles. That’s what I shoot. I know those rifles from a shooting standpoint, they are accurate, function perfectly, and there is no reason to shoot other matching rifles for the K98k shooting experience.
As for case head separations, that’s why every military issued a separated case head extraction tool which I keep with my kit or butt trap for every rifle I shoot, from AR to M1A to AK and K98k.
tsmgguy
Senior Member
I've also experienced a very few hard primers with '50s surplus Yugo ammo. I just wait the 30 seconds after a firing attempt and dispose of the round.
Recommend making sure that there is no grease used on your 98Ks firing pin or the spring. Grease will slow down the pin. Use gun oil here instead.
I purchased a new condition Yugo M48A. The interior of the bolt was so loaded up with grease that the firing pin would hardly fall at all. I understand that these guns were inspected and preserved every 10 years while in Yugo storage. They sure used a lot of grease! The gun required an ordnance strip-down and lots of solvent to remove it all.
Recommend making sure that there is no grease used on your 98Ks firing pin or the spring. Grease will slow down the pin. Use gun oil here instead.
I purchased a new condition Yugo M48A. The interior of the bolt was so loaded up with grease that the firing pin would hardly fall at all. I understand that these guns were inspected and preserved every 10 years while in Yugo storage. They sure used a lot of grease! The gun required an ordnance strip-down and lots of solvent to remove it all.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
edit: oops, missed that you were talking about salvaging the powder.
I don't trust powder that I don't know exactly what it is and know how old it is. The powder is fertilizer as far as I'm concerned. How has age and decomposition affected the burn rate? What should a load be for it, beyond just averaging the observed throw in the existing cases? Too many unknowns to risk, at least in my opinion. Powder is also relatively cheap, all things considered.
As far as the projectiles? Not bad. Not as consistent in weight, generally speaking, as even cheap commercial bullets but they were priced right. The same as the ammo, the bullet quality is going to vary. Something like Swiss GP11 is going to be more consistent and better constructed than Egyptian 8mm.
Basically if you've been happily shooting surplus (much of it with both inconsistent bullet weight and inconsistent powder throws, at least compared to hand loading) the projectiles will be fine for what you were doing before.