ak-74 or ar-15 in a 5.45x39?

[tdo1]

Looking to purchase a first rifle. I saw army surplus ammo that is about half the price of 7.62x39 or .223 ammo. Kinda tempting. Anyone has experience with this type of ammo? I'm sure its probably corrosive, but good cleaning methods will do good. Not sure if I should go and buy a bulgarian ak-74 or smith & wesson's m&p15r. They are both not too far in price. Any thoughts?

 

[Red Jacket]

5.45 or any combloc , is a filthy round . Read up on early Nam experiances with the M-16's caused by using a dirty powder .

 

[Mr_Willson]

also folks, I wanna add to this.

will a standard AR15 lower work with a 5.45 upper?

are the magazine well dimensions off in any way?

 

[tmlowe]

Yes, a standard lower will work with the 5.45 upper. I don't know about using 5.56 mags for this round, but I know there is a company or two that makes 5.45 mags.

 

[tdo1]

hmm so ak-74 is the better one for this type of round. Anyone know the difference between these two:

http://www.jgsales.com/product_info.php/rifles/ak-47-and-rpk-rifles/p/bulgarian-ak-74-nds-2-rifle,-5-45x39-caliber,-by-cai-/cPath/209_214/products_id/3751

http://www.jgsales.com/product_info.php/rifles/ak-47-and-rpk-rifles/p/bulgarian-ak-74,-5-45x39-caliber,-by-tgi,-w-cordura-nylon-case/cPath/209_214/products_id/3600

 

[Baldrik78]

hmm so ak-74 is the better one for this type of round. Anyone know the difference between these two:

http://www.jgsales.com/product_info.php/rifles/ak-47-and-rpk-rifles/p/bulgarian-ak-74-nds-2-rifle,-5-45x39-caliber,-by-cai-/cPath/209_214/products_id/3751

http://www.jgsales.com/product_info.php/rifles/ak-47-and-rpk-rifles/p/bulgarian-ak-74,-5-45x39-caliber,-by-tgi,-w-cordura-nylon-case/cPath/209_214/products_id/3600

About $190

 

[Mr_Willson]

is the accuracy in any way comparable to 5.56 from the AR?

 

[CZowner07]

About $190

And the top one has a removable muzzle break and the bottom on is perminant. That must be where the almost 200 dollar differece comes in. Get the $550 one IMO.

 

[dwr461]

I have both the Bulgarian AK74 and a Colt Target HBAR AR15. The AK is not as accurate for me. But then the trigger sucks compared to the Colt. Yes the 5.45x39mm round isn't the cleanest burning load ever. However the AK74 doesn't need to be as clean to function. My AK74 was put together by Will at Red Jacket and is as tight as a AR15 in terms of the action feel etc. Much better quality that the cheaper AKM's available right now. I'm building an AR15 and will go with the 5.45x39mm upper. C-Products makes thirty round magazines for it for $12.95 a piece. My reasoning here is that the price of the russian round is much cheaper and just as effective as 5.56 in my opinion.

Dave

 

[Bam Bam]

I have both the Bulgarian AK74 and a Colt Target HBAR AR15. The AK is not as accurate for me. But then the trigger sucks compared to the Colt. Yes the 5.45x39mm round isn't the cleanest burning load ever. However the AK74 doesn't need to be as clean to function. My AK74 was put together by Will at Red Jacket and is as tight as a AR15 in terms of the action feel etc. Much better quality that the cheaper AKM's available right now. I'm building an AR15 and will go with the 5.45x39mm upper. C-Products makes thirty round magazines for it for $12.95 a piece. My reasoning here is that the price of the russian round is much cheaper and just as effective as 5.56 in my opinion.

Dave

I have thought about building an AR in 5.45X39 also as from what I have been told by a buddy who has and is a AK-74 guru, they have very similar ballistics (5.45X39 vs 5.56X45). I have not shot one personally but wouldn't mind buying a 5.45 upper if I had the chance.



Bam Bam

 

[dwr461]

Model One sales is selling them now. It'll be towards the end of the year before I purchase it. I saw another company that was selling a machined drop in piece for the magazine well of a AR15 that would let it accept and work (hopefully) with AK74 magazines. They wanted close to $300 for the magazine adaptor. I figured for that much I could buy a whole lot of 5.45x39mm magazines specific to the AR. I guess I'll let the price ammunition make the final decision for me when it's time.

Dave

 

[tmlowe]

I have thought about building an AR in 5.45X39 also as from what I have been told by a buddy who has and is a AK-74 guru, they have very similar ballistics (5.45X39 vs 5.56X45). I have not shot one personally but wouldn't mind buying a 5.45 upper if I had the chance.



Bam Bam

but check out the price of ammo and compare the two

 

[Bam Bam]

but check out the price of ammo and compare the two

Oh believe me I see the difference, but I'm really into the .223 rounds and have another rifle in .223 or I would just build a Russian AR! Very tempting indeed.




Bam Bam

 

[madmax4x4]

Model One sales is selling them now. It'll be towards the end of the year before I purchase it. I saw another company that was selling a machined drop in piece for the magazine well of a AR15 that would let it accept and work (hopefully) with AK74 magazines. They wanted close to $300 for the magazine adaptor. I figured for that much I could buy a whole lot of 5.45x39mm magazines specific to the AR. I guess I'll let the price ammunition make the final decision for me when it's time.

Dave

That would be a waste of money AK 74 mags cost more then C-Products AR mags.

Saiga's in 5.45x39 is available now if you like to convert. now

 

[Mr_Willson]

this guy's F/A AR cycles 5.45 pretty good it seems

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leH8t26jQ8w[/ame]

 

[Richard in LA]

this guy's F/A AR cycles 5.45 pretty good it seems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leH8t26jQ8w

I have not had any cycling problems with my S&W upper. Yes, it is a pretty dirty round, but it is also corrosive primed, so a good cleaning is needed after each range session, but last time I was out I shot approx 500 rounds or so through the 5.45 upper, and I gladly scrubbed it clean for saving over $150 on ammo alone. The only thing I do not like about it is that every once in a while you get some of that gas blowback that makes your eyes water from around the charging handle. I have only had 1 round that did not fire on the first try, but after re-chambering it, it fired just fine. Milsurp 5.45 has a hard primer, and the S&W uppers come with a stiffer hammer spring, but I did not change it, due to I use the same lower for 5.56, and don't want to pierce the primers.

as for the magazines, you can put a few 5.45's in a standard AR mag, but I dont recall off the top of my head how many before it starts to bind up. Some where around 12-15. you can put maybe 2 in a PMag before it locks up tight. The Cproducts mags have a larger "rib", and does not have the 2 smaller ones like a standard mag, due to the 5.45 having a fatter case.

 

[dwr461]

Not all 5.45 is corrosive, only some of it is.

Dave

 

[ryan]

does anyone know where I could get a good 545 kit? also how hard are they to put together? I built my ar with no problem at all, is the ak harder? How much would someone charge to put a kit together for me?

 

[Ben Segrest]

does anyone know where I could get a good 545 kit? also how hard are they to put together? I built my ar with no problem at all, is the ak harder? How much would someone charge to put a kit together for me?

I'm not sure who has 5.45 kits right now, but some places that have them sometimes are copes distributing, J&G gun sales and AIM surplus among others. The easiest way to turn one into a rifle is to buy a complete receiver (a firearm that must be transfered through an ffl) and assemble the kit parts onto it. This is slightly more advanced than an ar. It would require a press and some punches. The harder, but more common way would be to buy receiver flats (not a firearm), borrow or build a jig to bend them in a press, and screw, rivet or weld the pieces together.

 

[dwr461]

Model One Sales had some in theory the other day.

Dave