TulAmmo

[Botswana]

Doing some more crowdsourcing this morning.

I was told to stay away from Tula but used it anyway (because I'm a mule-headed jerk). Had no problems with their 230gr .45 ACP round at all.

I have heard that it's pretty dirty and people have reported odd smells. Is it bias against cheap, Russian-made ammo? Or is it really bad?

Thinking of getting another box for some further testing. My experience, so far, has been positive.

[janieoakley]

We use it all the time in our AK47's with no problems. It's cheap so we tried it out. We always clean our guns after each use anyway. No complaints here.

[Sarge]

I shoot quite a bit of the 45/230/FMJ Tula. It's fine for 25 yard shooting and it's accurate enough for action shooting. My only complaint with it is that it prints low from my guns at 50 yards. Complaints of it being dirty must come from people who've never shot lead-bullet reloads.

Overall I like it pretty well.

[9mm]

I used it for 380 and had 2-3 FTF in one box I had.

[JonathanZ]

I bought 1,500 rounds for my 9mm's and have used most of it up. I don't plan on buying anymore. It's not bad as far as accuracy, but sparks fly down the range every time I shoot it and it smells horrible. I don't think it will hurt my guns as long as I clean them and if it does it will take so many 1,000's of rounds that I will have saved enough money to buy another gun. I'd still rather use something else from now on.

[Al Den]

I was looking at Tulammo for a rifle caliber and decided it was no better than, if not actually, Wolff ammo which I avoid for the reasons mentioned above.

[Hook686]

I have shot a few boxes of .30 Carbine Tula ammo and had a couple of misfires. It is cheap, but I gave it up.

[arch308]

I have tried it with no real complaints. It's cheap ammo and you get what you pay for.

[jasmith85]

I don't have a lot of experience with it but the 200 or so rounds of it I have put through my 1911 went through without an issue. I didn't notice an odd smell or anything like that from it but I normally only shoot a few magazines at a time.

[testuser]

I bought 500 rounds in 9mm a while back. I wasn't sure if I wanted to reload for the cartridge or not and Russian ammo was the only ammo that rivaled the cost of reloading. (Reloads = $7.50 per box, Tula = about $9.00 per box)

I found it a little underpowered and had a few duds. Overall, it didn't meet my quality standards in 9mm. I decided that I'd rather shoot my reloads instead (cheaper/higher quality), using US components.

[tekarra]

And just the other day I was trying to convince my shooting buddy that we should buy a bunch of 9mm Tulammo!

[dave9969]

about the only reason I can think of to NOT buy it would be
berdan primers, so you need special tools if you are reloading
and steal case instead of brass, again reload issues.

other than that
it will cut paper
I wouldn't use it for my daily carry but for range its fine

[Mike38]

I shot 200 rounds of Tulammo Sunday. This is the first time I’ve tried it. Not one failure at all, not one. Feeds, fires and extracted as well as ammo 3+ times the price. Accuracy, well, it will hold minute of dirt bag, so for practice I’m happy. Is it dirty? Yep, a bit more then the expensive stuff. Does it smell funny? Yep, but didn’t make me quit shooting.

[dbluefish]

Up to 400 rds through my AK47 WASR10, not FTF, no FTE, no bad smells and i was very careful cleaning it when i got home. Chrome barrel helps but still give a good cleaning. I generally hit the stand up target board at 50 - 75 yds because i just bang them out but i will be working on accurizing it or accurizing me. I have a tin of Tula coming in 7.62 x 54R and will let you know how that goes. I figure a little more cleaning is worth if cor cheap cost.

paul

[Webleymkv]

I've shot the .45 ACP in my S&W 1911 without issue. I did not notice it being appreciably dirtier or funny smelling though in the interest of full disclosure I only shot 50 rounds at a time between cleanings and shoot at an outdoor range. Functioning was 100% and I didn't notice an appreciable difference in accuracy though I was doing more combat-type shooting rather than shooting for groups.

My Saiga gobbles up the .223 like a pudgy kid eats M&M's though accuracy and report is slightly less than the U.S. made ammo I've shot (mainly Federal 100-round value packs from Wal-Mart).

I've also got a box of the 9mm that will be used in my CZ-75, but I've not had the chance to shoot any of it yet (I don't expect any problems based on past experience).

[jreXD9]

9mm TULA would frequently not fire in my S'field XDm9 Compact 3.8. When that happened I'd wait about 30 seconds and eject it and run it thru again. It always fired the next time. I also had a S'field XDm45 Compact 3.8 and it fired with no problem. Just yesterday when I was buying ammo I almost bought a couple boxes of it, but decided to spend a couple more bucks per box on Federal. The chance of it NOT going off is not worth it if I'm ever down to TULA as my defense ammo. Lord, I hope it never comes to that.

[Sport45]

I've tried Tula in .30 Carbine (USGI M1) and .223Rem (White Oak Uppers in RR lowers). Had no troubles with any of it. Not the most accurate stuff, but it functioned fine.

I didn't try brass cased ammo after it, so I can't comment on that aspect. I take the Tula or Wolf ammo when I'm shooting where I can't or don't want to bother picking up brass. A magnet on a stick makes short work of collecting the trash.

[Botswana]

Well, decided I was going to give it another go at my range trip for this weekend. As luck would have it, I can't find .45 anywhere. I guess at the going price people are willing to chance it.

I didn't have any problems with it. It's the cheapest thing in my area and might make for some good range ammo but I wanted to fire through another box before committing to any mass purchases.

I agree with the general sentiment that I would not want to trust my life to it.

[bluetopper]

I buy Wolf or Tula primers by the thousands without hesitation. My powder and bullets can't seem to tell a difference.

[stantheman1976]

I've used a decent bit of it in 9mm and haven't had any problems. My Ruger SR9c and LC9 seem to like it just fine. I've also shot a couple boxes through my old man's Beretta 92 and it worked well.

I honestly can't comment on whether it's dirtier than any other ammo because I clean my pistols after every range trip.

[gggplaya]

Rule of thumb is if it work in THAT gun, it's good practice ammo. Just don't buy in bulk until you know for sure that your gun can take it. People can say what they want, but some guns just don't like steel cased or lower powered ammo. Picky guns needs better ammo.

[shaunpain]

I've used it and all the other cheap Russian steel stuff and I've never had anything but a good time. No FTFs whatsoever. I have tried it in various pistol and rifle calibers, no complaints!

[cetanner]

I have used the tulammo in my Ruger Sr9C and never had a problem. Didn't notice it to be particularly dirty and I didn't notice any odor. Unfortunately my local indoor range has recently banned the use of steel case ammo. I think they sell the shell casings for reloading.

[carguychris]

Unfortunately my local indoor range has recently banned the use of steel case ammo. I think they sell the shell casings for reloading.

Actually, the main issues are damage to range equipment and the danger of ricochets. At outdoor ranges, there's also a significant fire risk.

From a recent post of mine...

FWIW the main issue with Tula is the use of so-called "bi-metal" bullets, i.e. the bullets have steel cores and/or mild steel jackets.* This makes them more prone to ricocheting and making sparks when they strike the steel backstop at an indoor range or a hard object embedded in the soil backstop at an outdoor range. They also chew up the steel target hangers at indoor ranges much more quickly than lead. For these reasons, an increasing number of shooting ranges ban Tula, sometimes specifically by name! Check your local range policies before purchasing!

*Footnote: In late 2011, a Tula manager stated in an online gun press interview that the company would start marketing a more range-friendly product line with conventional lead-core copper-jacketed bullets in "early 2012"; however, AFAIK none of this ammo seems to have hit U.S. store shelves. YMMV.

[serf 'rett]

No problems in my 9mm Springfield XDm, but I do like recovering brass for reloading; that is to say, I perfer you shoot the higher price stuff and leave the brass. Me? I haven't purchased store bought in the last few years since I said hello to my little friend RockChucker.