Wolf .45 Acp Over The Chrono

[Tokarev]

I shot nine rounds of WOLF hardball over a CED chronograph this morning. The gun was a 5" Springfield Loaded with factory barrel and I fired the rounds from about ten feet from the front screen.

I didn't write the results down but the average velocity was about 840 and the standard deviation was something like 24 fps.

Just FYI...

[Merlin Orr]

230 I assume? 193PF ougt to leave plenty of room for temp changes and varying chrono differences.....

[Tokarev]

Yes, it's 230 grain hardball. WOLF never did say this was reduced power ammo.

Now there's an idea! WOLF ammo loaded right to USPSA major!

[Merlin Orr]

Yes, it's 230 grain hardball.  WOLF never did say this was reduced power ammo.

Now there's an idea!  WOLF ammo loaded right to USPSA major!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wolf has great bang for the buck. I'll bet if it just made IDPA and USPSA MPF it would be a much bigger draw for our little part of the shooting world...

I had none of my handloads and shot an IDPA classifier with full power stuff - and cried for days...

[Tokarev]

I went to a local IDPA match a couple weeks ago and there was a young guy there with a shooting buddy. Somebody asked the young guy if he was going to shoot but he said that his buddy hadn't brought enough ammo for both of them so he was just going to watch. I piped up and said I had some WOLF ammo he could have so he could shoot the match. He and his buddy looked at each other. I could tell by the look on their faces that they were going to turn me down. The buddy looked at me and said, "No, I don't want him to shoot WOLF in my gun."

Okay, whatever. That left more for me!

[Urbanti]

["No, I don't want him to shoot WOLF in my gun."

Re: Wolf - we have had (understatement mode ON) extensive but not particularly intellectual (understatment mode OFF) discussions on this topic on some of the black rifle forums. It's weird in that there is no data to substantiate the claims that steel cases are somehow injurious to modern firearms, but there is a significant group that relies on "I heard it down at the gun shop" or "my brother in law is a LEO and he says..." kind of unscientific information.

I don't shoot it in .45 ACP b/c it's not reloadable (to my knowledge). Love it in my ARs b/c I don't reload rifle ammo.

Best

Tim

[Carlos]

Talk about an OLD one still going around! - I have a reloading manual from the early '70s and it dispells the MYTH about steel .45 ACP cases breaking 1911 extractors. There is NO proof. - but wait a minute, Russia was our enemy in 1970 and there was no such thing as Wolf in the USA so - what steel cases?

US MILITARY steel .45 cases. I have a few & the Manual states they can be reloaded (i've done it w/ Wolf but not really recommended).

Where does the extractor myth come from? The era before 1970.

Urbanti - it is technically reloadable & I have done it many times; what I found was:

1) cases started to split after only 3 reloadings w/ Clays & a major 200 TMJ load

2) I tried to salvage a Wolf case that had been slightly stepped on & was out of round; the sharp corner on that case caught on my Lee sizing die & cracked a big chip out of it, ruining the die (I was out almost $10!!!!). If you reload Wolf, make sure the cases are round to begin with.

[Paradox]

I don't shoot it in .45 ACP b/c it's not reloadable (to my knowledge).  Love it in my ARs b/c I don't reload rifle ammo.

I don't mind shooting it in my AR's if I need Improved Cylinder sized groups @ 100m

But... it is inexpensive and fun for plinking

[Steve J]

Re: Wolf - we have had (understatement mode ON) extensive but not particularly intellectual (understatment mode OFF) discussions on this topic on some of the black rifle forums.  It's weird in that there is no data to substantiate the claims that steel cases are somehow injurious to modern firearms, but there is a significant group that relies on "I heard it down at the gun shop" or "my brother in law is a LEO and he says..." kind of unscientific information.

Here's another one from the "I heard down at the gun shop" lore. I heard that a local indoor range had a ban on CCI/Blazer. I thought it was because they didn't want to have to sort the aluminum cases out of their brass... No. The ban on Blazer was for use in their rental guns. They're convinced that aluminum acts like sand paper on forged steel and would eventually make their guns "blow up". Really?

Steve

[Tokarev]

Re: Wolf - we have had (understatement mode ON) extensive but not particularly intellectual (understatment mode OFF) discussions on this topic on some of the black rifle forums.  It's weird in that there is no data to substantiate the claims that steel cases are somehow injurious to modern firearms, but there is a significant group that relies on "I heard it down at the gun shop" or "my brother in law is a LEO and he says..." kind of unscientific information.

Here's another one from the "I heard down at the gun shop" lore. I heard that a local indoor range had a ban on CCI/Blazer. I thought it was because they didn't want to have to sort the aluminum cases out of their brass... No. The ban on Blazer was for use in their rental guns. They're convinced that aluminum acts like sand paper on forged steel and would eventually make their guns "blow up". Really?

Steve

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ideas like this probably come from the knowledge that an aluminum cleaning rod can get impregnated with dirt and bits and scratch a barrel.

Blazer and WOLF ammo have been on the market for years and we're still lacking any real evidence of damaged firearms.

[Carmoney]

That full-power Wolf ammo you tested over the chrono must've been the older greenish-colored stuff.

The new gray "polymer" coated Wolf stuff chronoed a perfect 167 p.f. at the 2005 Single Stack Classic in Barry, out of my Loaded Springfield with stock factory barrel, which is just exactly what I had been getting here over my chrono at home.

I never cared for the old green Wolf too much, but I highly recommend the new gray stuff.

Mike

[Harmon]

its all good. green, gray...i dont descriminate.

[Tokarev]

That full-power Wolf ammo you tested over the chrono must've been the older greenish-colored stuff. 

The new gray "polymer" coated Wolf stuff chronoed a perfect 167 p.f. at the 2005 Single Stack Classic in Barry, out of my Loaded Springfield with stock factory barrel, which is just exactly what I had been getting here over my chrono at home. 

I never cared for the old green Wolf too much, but I highly recommend the new gray stuff. 

Mike

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The stuff I ran over the chrono was current polymer 2005 production ammo straight from the WOLF warehouse in California. Could either be a new hotter load or a variation from lot to lot. I'll ask Bill about it the next time I talk to him.

[Harmon]

FWIW im getting avg 846 fps out of my springfield barrel and wolf ammo.

white box is about the same...

CCI Blazer(they aint kiddin!!) is kinda hot. 865 fps for 198.9 power factor.

that blazer ammo bounces the plates on our plate rack back up!

[Duane Thomas]

There was one time a USPSA match rolled around and I didn't any of my exactly 170 pf match ammo loaded. What to do? I grabbed several boxes of Wolf .45 and headed to the range. Not only did the gun work perfectly, but I won Limited-10.

I used to reload Wolf .45 cases. I just wanted something I could fire at a match and leave on the ground without having to worry about scarfing brass afterwards. They always worked fine. The downstroke on the handle when you resized the casing required considerably more muscle (case lube was NOT optional here), and the upstroke as well because the steel casings could be a bit "sticky" coming out of the resizing die (I actually broke the bolt holding the shellplate in place a couple of times) but other than that it's pretty much like reloading brass casings.

I have never understood the problem that so many people seem to have with the idea of introducing steel casings into their semi-auto mechanism....but they'll stick nickeled casings into the gun without a second thought. They don't seem to realize that nickel is one helluva lot harder than the mild steel used in Wolf casings - or so I've been told. Anyone with any actual Rockwell numbers, I'd be fascinated to hear from you.

Anyone out there with extensive experience putting tens of thousands of rounds of Wolf through a 1911? Anything good or bad to say about the experience? In the near future it looks like I may be doing that myself in 9mm.

[ben b.]

The case of Wolf .45 ran fine for me in my 5" 1911.

I had a case of Wolf gum up the chamber in a .40 pistol, extraction problems popped up about 2/3 thru thru the case, and it was a booger to figure out what the problem was. Had some really bad case jams in the chamber. The .223 "Wolf Match HP" gave an easy 4 MOA group at 100 from a match AR: really terrible.

[redintex]

Never had any problems with any Wolf ammo - .45, .223, 9mm, etc. It has been 100% reliable. I prefer other brands for the same reason that some of the others do - brass to reload!!!

YMMV, just my .02, :unsure:

redintex

[-JQ-]

IIRC the biggest issue...at least for me is the "laquered" shells gumming up the works.

Also I don't care for the Aluminum casings in my "precious" guns...due to the abrasiveness of AL...this one may be more lore maybe not

YMMV