Tula .223 55gr Ammo Report

As an avid shooter who likes to spend as much time training as possible I am always trying to get the most for my money. It’s a delicate balance between quality and value. For the last several couple years I have been running SPEER Lawman or BVAC 5.56 ammo through my gun. I came across the Tula .223, 55 gr. ammunition at my local Cabela’s so I started doing some research on them.

Tula ammunition is manufactured at the Tula Cartridge Company in Russia. They are a large supplier around the world and sell a lot to militaries as well as the private sector. They make several different calibers and bullet weights (grains). The one that grabbed my interest was the .223 55gr as it was only $3.79 per 20 round box. When I do the math that’s only $190 per 1k rounds. Normally I have been spending nearly double that for quality brass ammunition.

Tula ammunition boasts a 55 grain FMJ bullet in a steel case with a non-corrosive boxed primer and the bullet themselves are a full metal jacket. Basically perfect for training ammo where you may expend several hundred or more during one training day. I have heard that some variants from Wolf mfg have had a very rotten egg smell as well.

I wound up picking up 500 rounds of the Tula to give it a try in my gun. Presently I am running an LMT 14.5 with a PWS FSC-556 compensator. The gun had about 3,000 rounds prior to this and I use SLiP 2000 Gun Lube. My first impressions were that the coatings on the steel casings were nothing like I heard from the old Wolf lacquer horror stories which caused chamber seizure. The Tula ammo has a very thin coating of polymer (so I have been told) which caused no issues for me. I also like to inspect my ammo before I buy and out of all the boxes I looked through (around 100 or so) I found no bad primers or miss-seated bullets.

Testing:

I loaded 4 Magpul P-Mags with 28 rounds per for a total of 112 rounds and put it through my LMT gun in under 5 minutes leaving 1 round chambered at the end. My intent in leaving one round chambered was to see if I could induce chamber lock due to the coating on the casing. After letting the gun cool down for nearly 20 minutes I slowly pulled on the charging handle to see if it was locked in. The round easily ejected with no signs of chamber lock. I fired the rest of the 500 rounds over the course of the day and broke the rifle down once I got home to inspect it.

What I found upon inspection is the ammo was a dirtier then SPEER or other US ammo. However it never got to the point where it affected the performance of the gun itself. Also, I had no failures while running the Tula ammo and every time I pulled the trigger the gun worked just as it should. I keep my gun well lubed at all times and do very minimal cleaning. After such a positive test result I went back and purchased 2,000 rounds for future practice and a carbine course I had scheduled through LMS Defense.

Over the course of the next few months I put nearly 4,000 rounds through my LMT carbine with no issues to speak of. I had 3 failure to fires within all that time but they were all during a carbine course and it was just a rack and re-fire and I never stopped to dwell on it. I am now over 5,000 rounds through the gun with no issues that would raise an eyebrow.

So here is a brief synopsis:

PRO:

-Very affordable to shoot at an average of $190 per 1k rounds. That’s about $200 less then most US brass ammunition.

-Boxed primer and non-corrosive means the ammo is not going to hurt your gun if you neglect it.

- .223 caliber in 55 grain means it is a pretty light round and easily manageable for long days on the range and has decent accuracy in a carbine.

CON:

-Not made in US which can result in poor quality control issues.

-Steel cases are not reloadable

-Tends to be a dirtier ammunition overall.

Bottom line:

If you are on a tight budget, the Tula may be good ammunition for you to shoot. It is reasonably priced and readily available through Cabela’s who will ship to most states. You can really add to your training time spent pulling the trigger compared to working more just to afford more ammo.

However, if you are looking for a clean running, super accurate, reloadable brass case then the Tula ammunition is not for you. It runs dirtier than most, the steel casing are not reloadable and from my experience it’s not a tack driving round.

-Op4