Problems with early 80's IMI 7.62NATO?

[LarryLove]

Hi all, I've got a good lead on 1000rds of IMI surplus dated 8/80, M80 match bullet, 147 grain. Store is asking $149 for 1000 rds. Sounds too good. The store has a rep for being less than virtuous and really overcharges for everything, so when I see a great deal from them I wonder...

I did some research and some have said that several lots of early 80's Israeli surplus got left in the desert for several years and that this ammo may be full of problems.

Does anyone know if these rumors are true? And has anyone used any quantity of early 80's IMI? What was your experience with this ammo?

[MIKE14]

I bought a hundred marked TZ-80 some time ago and it shot well in my M1A most of it shot better than Hirtenberger. Ive heard the same about some of it being bad but I think i'd like to have some more of it. I think for $149.00 per thousand might not be too bad of a deal. The question is will it work as well as the stuff I had before

[Rokchukrslave]

I just bought some TZ-80 marked IMI from a recent gun show. Havent had a chance to fire any yet though. I payed like $37.50 for 200rnds.

[Rob01]

There's no problem with it at all. I got some about a year ago for $75 per 500 rounds. It shoots great through my M1A and my bolt guns. Definately woth the cost. I've seen it going for over $100 per 500 now a days.

[Cheapo]

Sorry, M80 is not a "match" bullet. But I used to get 2 MOA out of it all the time.

Is that stuff copper-plated steel jacket? For that price, I might get some. BTW, if it was left in the hot desert, the most likely problem is lower pressure and velocity from minor powder degradation.

[laissezfirearm]

Is it in factory boxes or loose packed?

If the latter it was probably de-linked
and mixed from different case
lots -- and not a good deal (with this
caliber currently going for the cheapest
prices in recent memory, there's plenty
of other choices).

If the former, look at the boxes. Most of
the IMI stuff I've bought from that era had
white paper labels glued onto boxes held
together with heavy-duty staples.

Rusted staples, labels peeling way off,
and browned labels are a bad sign. But
if they look pristine, the boxes were
probably stored correctly. And check for
matching case lot numbers from samples
at the top and bottom of the stack. If
the ammo comes in a steel can, the numbers
on the labels should match the one on the
can. If there are a bunch of different
numbers, you're probably getting pallet
spill.

Can you buy a few boxes to try out first
before committing to a whole case?

[MIKE14]

This is what my chrony told me about the TZ-80 IMI 7.62 NATO stuff I had.
Five shot average 2754 FPS
Extreme spread 41.3 FPS
Standard deviation 18.9 FPS
Average deviation 16.2 FPS