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Posted On: 6/14/2020
By: Blake
A: Hello Blake! Very good question. Strictly speaking this is range ammunition. Not only is its FMJ bullet incapable of expanding to (A) ensure greater energy transfer within soft tissue and (B) create a wider wound channel with a higher chance of overlapping with a vital organ, but it is also rather less reliable than a premium, specialized self-defense load. Steel casings are simply more likely to jam, no two ways about it. In short, you want to spare no expense when it comes to selecting a cartridge for your carry weapon. There's too much at stake.
Now, that said, affordably priced ammo like this can certainly factor into a well planned self-defense strategy. If things were ever to go totally sour in the world, and your personal safety essentially became solely your responsibility, you just couldn't have too much ammo at your disposal. A round like this is certainly capable of ... how shall I put this ... "deterring" a determined threat, and indeed every national army employs FMJ ammo when they're engaging their enemies. (The Hague Convention bans expanding bullets for warfare.)
In summary, should this ammo be your go-to for your carry weapon? Not in 100 years. But could you take some confidence from having a whole case of it tucked away in anticipation of an emergency? Well, I personally have a case of Wolf's AK-47 ammo under my own bed.
Posted On: 6/13/2020
By: Dave W.
A: Hi Dave! A few years ago Wolf used a lacquer treatment to help their steel shell casings cycle more efficiently through a semi-automatic. THAT stuff had a reputation for burning off and making a mess of a chamber. More recently Wolf upgraded to "PolyFormance," which is made out of heat resistant polymer. It reduces metal-on-metal friction to facilitate feeding and extraction, but it doesn't burn off in the heat of ignition. Now, to be sure, this is budget friendly stuff and it has its shortcomings. Steel does permit significantly more carbon fouling in the action thanks to its inability to expand, and you may get more feeding issues/misfires. But that criticism of Wolf – that their casings' coatings burn off to leave behind sticky residue – has been corrected by the manufacturer with their new polymer application.
Posted On: 6/5/2020
By: Stephen Brunet
A: Absolutely. Unless otherwise indicated on the packaging, steel cased ammo manufacturers like Wolf, Barnul, Red Army Standard and Tula are always going going to put steel in their bullets. If you want non-magnetic 9mm training ammo I'd recommend Remington's: luckygunner.com/9mm-124-grain-fmj-remington-range-50-rounds.
