5.45 x 39 arrived

[buck00]

Well, no turning back now. 1,080 rounds of Bulgarian 5.45 x 39 arrived. At $119 it was too cheap not to snag. The AK-74 will be picked up soon.

So my questions are:

A) Anyone ever buy the ammo before they bought the rifle?

B) How the heck do I open this thing? Would a K bar work?

 

[Drakejake]

I used a hammer and chisel to destroy the seams at one end of the can. Once you can get one box of ammo out, you can wiggle out the others. A big headache, but I really like the rifle and the round. I hate cleaning up the corrosive stuff after shooting, however.

Drakejake

 

[DJW]

You might try a manual can opener.......even one of the $.02 mil spec ones.

 

[0007]

If you're not in a big hurry to open the can, send me a pm with your address and I'll send you one of the "can openers" that usually come with cases of the ex-combloc ammo.

 

[coltcollector]

Bulgarian Corrosive 5.45

Buck00,
You know that stuff is corrosive, right? Be sure to clean your weapon. I bought the gun, 5 magazines and a case of ammo. It's corrosive too and I nearly lost my gun.
Ronbo

 

[coltcollector]

Non-corrosive Bulgarian 5.45

I've seen '92 vintage Bulgarian advertised as non-corrosive. Costs more though.
Ronbo

 

[buck00]

I am sure I can get it open, it came with a military can opener, I was just curious to hear some ideas. Thanks for the responses.

You know that stuff is corrosive, right? Be sure to clean your weapon.

Ja. I have heard people screaming bloody murder about this previously.

I have no problem completley cleaning my rifle after I shoot. In fact, I have OCD about keeping it clean.

 

[mickmten]

Opening...

I've had luck opening these things with a hefty screwdriver and a hammer. Takes a while, and you have to be careful so that you don't pound the hammer into live rounds, but it can be done.

Neighbors look at you a bit funny, too if you do it on your front porch.

Mick

 

[ATC]

I've seen '92 vintage Bulgarian advertised as non-corrosive. Costs more though.
Ronbo

Don't believe it. ALL surplus 5.45 ammo currently available in the US is corrosive. Some more than others, but all corrosive.

 

[buck00]

Buck, that's why I got 5400 rounds of it in today.

I spent a summer working for UPS in a warehouse. You put a hurting on some guy who had to take those off the belt and load them into the truck. I'm not even going to talk about the driver who had to bring them to your door! hahahahahhaha

 

[ATC]

HAHAHA buck, I often feel sorry for the poor guy who delivers my ammo. It's always been the same guy since 2004 or so. He always has the same look on his face when I answer.

 

[rockinrussky]

bulgarian milsurp better than wolf 5.45

This is just from my personal experience but I've liked the milsurp bulgarian 5.45 better than the wolf 5.45. I've bought over 5 boxes of 25 rounds from a local gunstore of the Wolf Military Classic 5.45. It had a pretty bad failure rate. Basically, the primers were set in way too deep in many of them. The last box I fired (last sunday) I had 6 duds out of 25. I'm wondering if this was just a bad batch or what... basically the bulgarian milsurp never gave me this problem. I know that this round round is not nearly as popular as the ever beloved/hated 7.62X39... but has anyone else ever experienced this issue before?

 

[MudPuppy]

I've used silver bear and wolf through 2 or 3 different rifles without problem.

Haven't tried the various wasp ammo types yet.

 

[ball3006]

I got some of that ammo..

last month and it shoots good. Mine came with a large can opener. In the past I have used a sharp chisel and carefully worked around the lip of the top to cut it open. The empty can makes a dandy parts/cleaning can for the garage.....chris3

 

[cheygriz]

Electric drill with cut-off wheel works fine, if you do it

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