Anyone know about 5.56mm AK's

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goon

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I have lately become fond of the 5.56mm round. It is fun to shoot and available just about everywhere. For the time being, I am not worried too much about terminal effects (three or four of any round will do the job) so to those of you who would try to talk me out of it, please don't.

Anyhow, I have an AR and was thinking about getting a Bushmaster M-4 as well but I really kind of miss the AK. I have had three, one of them being a 5.56mm VEPR K. It was utterly reliable, extremely accurate, and very fun to shoot. The only problem was the balance sucked. If it had been balanced like a regular AK, I would have certainly kept it. I have been away from AK's for awhile so I am not real informed on what is out there anymore.
Is there anyone making a good 5.56mm?

This is what I am looking for:
Stamped reciever
AK-74 pattern (Using something along the lines of modified AK-74 mags or some other common, reliable mag)
Synthetic furniture
High quality (preferably not a Romanian that I would have to replace parts on to trust)

This rifle will be mostly just a shooter would serve at some level as an HD gun as well. Thank you.
 
Saiga

Saiga makes a WONDERFUL AK variant in .223/5.56mm. It has a chrome lined barrel, is very nicely fit/finished, and costs less than $300 new. These are the ones I recommend to shooters who want a semi auto rifle, but don't want to pay AR prices. I had one in .308, but sold it because magazines were hard to find. I have a .223, and I have converted it (five minutes with dremel) to use factory AK-223 magazines. There are good conversions to be had, too, that make it more AK-ish. Pistol grips and folding stocks and all that. Krebs makes some of the nicest, but really pricey. Tromix makes a more affordable version.
Best of luck.
 
I got nothing against a Saiga but I want a pistol grip and I eventually want to put a folder on it.
Thanks.
 
I fixed it

Sorry for the messup. I think you will find the Saiga rifles very nice. Have you gone to forum.saiga-12.com?
Good stuff there.
 
The Tromix converted 223 saigas can use 223 Bulgarian waffle mags with out a problem?

That leads to this question: Which are more available and cheaper, the 223 waffle mags or the 223 weiger mags?

Which ever magazine is more common and cheap is the rifle I personally would buy for those magazines.
 
I sell a lot of Tromix Saigas and Veprs.

The Tromix Saiga sounds like what you are looking for. It balances more like a traditional AK than a Vepr, is about two pounds lighter, but shoots almost as good. Saiga barrels are excellent, and they still have a 1.6mm stamped receiver. The barrels are just standard weight instead of RPK weight.

We start with a base Saiga, then we convert it to take high cap magazines. (normally we turn them to use the Bulgarian poly-waffles available from K-Var). We use G2 trigger parts, SAW grip, and either a fixed or folding stock, your choice. Then we reweld the old trigger holes, polish them flat, then refinish the gun in a black moly coat.
 
You can go with a mak in 5.56 or a wasr or sar, they have them in 5.56. I have been working on putting together a project gun that is gonna be my ak/ cqb gun. It is a sar 3 that i am gonna put a folding stock on, a rail forend, a red dot and vertical foregrip. I think the mix, of reliability, and compact size with the low recoil of the 5.56 will make it a good cqb weapon, i think!
 
.223 AK's are wonderful in everyway EXCEPT magazine availability. This is precisely why I didn't go that route myself. If someone would make a reliable, robust, quality magazines for .223 AK that is $15 or less - that would be ideal. But that's not how it is.


To get a .223 AK mag, you have to find existing ones (often expensive $25-$30ea and up), or modify 5.45 mags. Even some of the existing ones that originated as .223 require modifications to work in a different .223 AK than they were designed for. The magazine situation with .223 AK's is aweful.


NOW, if this is purely a fun gun..and you don't care how many magazines you have, or how reliable they might turn out...go for it.


If you're planning to stock up on magazines (like 10 or more)..and expect them to all work flawlessly...it can be done. But it will be expensive, and a process in finding which ones are reliable, or what modification they need in order to work.


If you want info on .223 magazines, the best place would be the .223 saiga forum over at saiga12.com forums. There are dozens of threads that are highly detailed on the options for magazines available.
 
Ace makes a pistol-grip folder that fits on Saigas with no trigger modifications. Ace isn't giving them away, but they are considered to be among the best.
 
Correia is making one of said pistol grip conversions up for me as we type. WITH a collapsible folder, AND threaded for a suppressor/flashhider/whatever.:evil: Best part:

IT'S MY WIFES GUN!!
:D
They are a very good gun. Slightly heavier than a standard AK, but generally much more accurate as well.
 
You don't see any new production mags for $15. Cheap magazines are a result of military surplus. We use the waffle mags because they are still being imported by K-Var and are about $30. I can also mod the gun to use Weigers, but they tend to be harder to find.

All of the prices are up on my Tromix page. The .223 conversions are going to be in the $600 range depending one which stock options you go with.
 
What type of folding stock is on those Tromix conversions? If you don't mind me asking.... Also do you sell any extra mags for the rifle?
 
Are there any 223 AK's that readily take Galil magazines BESIDES the actual galil rifles?

And what about those AR15 mag adaptors...how are those? Are they reliable?
 
The Tromix conversion use either an ACE or a proprietary Tromix folder. Both are extremely tough.

We do sell extra mags also.

Evil Monkey, on the Galil mags, I don't know. On the mag adapter, I've never seen one actually work.
 
Ah well, I've got everything but the stamped receiver part for you. The Arsenal SA M5 series is everything you asked for except in a milled receiver. It's a bit heavier than a stamped version (no heavier than a VEPR, though), and is very well made. Reliable feeding from the Bulgarian polymer mags, and among the top AKs for accuracy out of the box.

I got a good deal on mine, but I see them going for more than I would want to pay nowadays. You could get a good Saiga conversion for less.

Personally I don't have a problem with the SAR series, since you don't have to pay alot for them. I have a SAR3 folder that's been very reliable, although not as accurate as the Arsenal.

jmm

1825.jpg
 
How hard would it be to modify a .223 AK to take AR magazines? I mean, spot weld or rivet a stamped sheet metal mag well onto the underside of the AK, along with the standard AR mag catch, so it's at the right height... Why not?
 
It has been tried by many companies, and nobody has gotten it to work right. If you could pull it off, you could make a pile of money. :)
 
Saiga times infinity plus 2!. I love em. I like the plane jane types, but you can def spend an extra 100 or so bucks, trick em out a little. or spend an extra 300 and max it out, and still have paid a total of less than 6 or 700 dollars.
Plus the best factor is, their accuracy will actually amaze you, the first one I bought I scoped. I realized that , for me, this was totally unecessary. They are actually moa capable at 100 with open sites, and since this is more of a plinker/shtf gun combo ,scoping is redundant. Now a red dot though....
you can mod just about any ak mag made to work in your Saiga as well.
 
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