My K98k

I have a couple of Enfields, a Swedish Mauser, and a Garand; all a joy to shoot but the Swede is a work of art. They don't make them like that anymore.

 

Tula (or is it marketed as Tul? I havent looked very closely at the boxes) is up here too. Seems fine but it is dirty as you say. Barnaul on the other hand is hit and miss. I've heard a lot about very poor QC and over pressure issues. I have a few boxes of .30-06 with a strange groove at the bottom of the case near the rim. The purpose is IMO so that the case expands to prevent the head from being ripped off during a harsh extraction but is it complete unnecessary for this cartridge. There's neat stuff coming out of Russia -- maybe Ivan had too much vodka that day.

S&B is great quality ammunition. PPU / PRVI Partisan is also a great European brand (in this case from Serbia) and has the advantages of being cheap, relatively clean and they also make a lot of the oddball military calibres that a lot of others won't touch. 8x50 Lebel? Check. 6.5 Carcano with the correct .268" bullets? Check.

 

I also have a 44 dou 98K. The barreled action and bolt are numbers-matching but the stock has been sporterized . I have a stock on order from Classic Arms, I'll post pics in a separate thread when I get it together.

 

Speaking of Chicom ammo, I've shot a lot of it through my SKS. Some lots were very accurate, some not so much. With good ammo it would group inside an area of a man's head at 200yds. I will agree that it is awfully dirty. One of the reasons I don't shoot very often is I don't like cleaning it! I still have at least 1,000rds left of the 1,550rds I bought just after I got the rifle!