Update –– I got an email from the head of Tulammo about the Tula 124 gr. HPs:
"I wanted to respond to your email, but I was waiting to receive a definitive response from Ulyanovsk before I replied. The Tulammo HP bullet you refer to below is the only bullet currently being imported into the U.S. from the Ulyanovsk factory in Russia. The “T” in Tulammo stands for The Tula Cartridge Company. The “UL” stands for The Ulyanovsk Cartridge Company. Until you asked the question, I was under the assumption that all of the 124 GR. HP bullets had the necessary cuts inside the bullet to provide a similar effect as the 8M3. I was informed today, that under their manufacturing guidelines, roughly 10% of the production could have bullets that might not have as detailed cuts as the 8M3. For your information, this is the exact same guideline that has been in place since the first Ulyanovsk production was imported into the U.S. Nothing has changed at the Ulyanovsk factory concerning this over the past twenty years of Russian imports into the U.S. I have only been involved with the two Russian factories since November of 2009. Prior to that, I owned Sellier & Bellot, USA. If I had known of the discrepancy, I would have informed Ulyanovsk that 100% of the bullets (no manufacturing process for bullets will always guarantee 100%) need to meet the criteria. Even though Ulyanovsk cannot specifically tell us the exact production requirements of the military 8M3 bullet, I was assured today that they will take the necessary steps to implement the production of any future Tulammo 124 GR. HP bullets as closely as possible to the 8M3.
Best regards,
Ed Grasso
President"
Apparently, I got some of the 10% of non-8M3 type bullets in my batch –– every box I've opened of my order was non 8M3. So, hopefully, Uly will up their QC and make sure we get all 8M3 type bullets in the future.
ETA: I'm not sure why Uly would not be open about the production requirements of the 8M3 bullet (didn't know the military used HPs under the Geneva Convention, etc.), or what the difference is between an 8M3 and an "8M3-type" bullet. It seem to me that if the 8M3 is as good as people say, Uly would be marketing the hell out of it as a superior stopper.
