[adguy]

I was at Academy Sports and saw Monarch brand .223 for $2.50 for a box of 20. It is made in Russia.

Is this safe to shoot? Is it corrosive? Has anyone heard of this.

$2.50 for 20 rounds is so cheap. That's 9mm prices.

Has anyone used this before?

Thanks

 

[lelandray]

If it's that lacquered steel case stuff, there's no way I'd shoot it in my AR15 or in anything else, for that matter. In my gun, the lacquer melts in the chamber and locks up the gun in very short order. I stick to US manufactured, brass cased cartridges. But that's just me.

I have no firsthand experience with that particular brand, but if it's anything like the other Russian ammo I've used, I'll take a pass on it.

 

[adguy]

the case looked brass to me. Still, I cannot be sure. I think you may be right about Russian ammo. Thanks.

 

[oldgranpa]

adguy,
if you have a small magnet, even a refrigerator magnet will do....touch the magnet to the cartridge case. If the magnet grabs the case then it is steel, which is what most of the Russian ammo uses. Several Russian companies make good steel cased ammo, like the Brown Bear brand which uses a copper coating on it's steel case. But the olive drab colored Russian ammo is probably laquer coated.
Another thing you can do is use your pocket knife and see if you can scrape any of the coating off. If it sort of peels off like paint, then it's laquer.
Like Leland said, the laquer will gum up your pistol or rifle and be a mess to clean.
Regardless, I would not recommend steel cased ammo in "modern" handguns. That stuff works fine in the old Russian Makarov and some surplus Russian rifles that were designed to use it.
Unless it's a Makarov pistol or Russian rifle I would stick to good American made ammo, like Federal, Remington, Winchester, CorBon, etc.
But it's your call.
Cheers,
og..........(been there, done that!!)

 

[adguy]

Great tips. Thanks. I'll go back and check. It's a hard price to beat, but often you can find .223 for under $5 around here.
Thanks again.

 

[adguy]

Update- I went to Academy with a magnet. The Monarch in the light blue boxes are steel, they sell for around $3.00.
The Monarch in the black box is not steel. I shot a box of 30-30 today and it did fine, paid around $8 for it. I did not try any of the .223.

 

[werewolf]

Well if its steel cased like Wolf, i'd feel fine about using it in my Ak or Mak (if it came in a pistol variety). Com-Bloc guns get Com-Bloc ammo and I've never had a problem with steel cased ammo in either.

Maybe its just me, but I'd feel squemish feeding it to my 1911 or G19.