kilibreaux
member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2014
- Messages
- 115
I already own a few AR-15's in 5.56x45, 7.62x35 (.300AAC), and .22LR, but while casting around to find the very best deals on components for rolling my own .300AAC rounds I happened to take a look at the cost of 7.62x39....and then the cost of 5.45x39...HOLY...well, basically 5.45x39 is currently about as cheap as cheap can be! Sure it's Russian surplus, corrosive, big whoopty-do I know how to clean a rifle - especially after 8 years in the 82nd Abn Div.
But what struck me is....300 Black out is currently rip-off priced at $30/box on average because there is no MilSurp version and the ammo makers KNOW the round went from not being in existence to hugely popular in just a few years time. Even loading your own .300 Black isn't "cheap" thanks to the inflated gouge for .308 bullets versus .224". I costed out my latest .300 ammo to run just under $10/box of 20 using once-fired 5.56 brass converted (by me) to .300. While roughly 1/3rd less expensive than OTC it's still not what I call "cheap" when viewing other options...like the 5.45x39.
I already have a Bulgarian AK-74...WONDERFUL variant that came in "parts kit" form yet BRAND SPANKING NEW. I really like the round...clearly while most Americans who've never capped anyone with an M-16 love to diss the stopping power of the 5.56 NATO, during the Vietnam war the Russians were paying attention to just how effective the little round is and came up with their own variation.
I don't really want to get into a debate on whether the 5.45 "beats" the 5.56 because it doesn't, but it does deliver more than ample terminal performance to ruin someone's day, and it's LIGHT YEARS superior to the .30 Carbine, and both are extremely nasty when loaded with expanding point bullets which we civilians get to have in quantity...same for the 5.56.
But here's my point...a 5.45 barrel in M4 profile costs just $5 more than a 5.56. A 5.45 BCG is just $40 more. Despite "expert opinions" the 5.45 WILL feed just fine from 5.56 marked mags, but even so, 5.45 marked mags exist in quantity - for the AR platform. So basically I can build up a 5.45x39 for basically what a .300BO or 5.56 would cost, and acquire surplus ammo for $3.50/20rds based on half-case prices. There is no way to load .223 for that using once-fired. NO other ammo deal beats it. For a potential SHTF scenario, a 5.45 AR WITH 1,000 rounds of ammo can be added to the rack for LESS than the cost of a garden variety "economy priced" 5.56 AR-15! I call that worth taking a long hard look at.
Some might say, "yeah but .223 will be found all over the place after the big collapse..." yes, and with a 1,000 rounds of 5.45 one should be picking up not only the .223 ammo, but also the rifle that shoots it from a pair of cold dead hands, and if not, it wouldn't have made any difference what caliber was being employed. Regardless if "we" individually stockpile the same caliber as everyone else, when we run out of bullets we're gonna be OUT OF BULLETS! It won't be like a video game where we happen upon little caches of ammo, and whomever we're having "issues" with certainly isn't going to drop ammo for our usage against them. My point is, the current low price of 5.45, combined with the fact that hell has frozen white and for the first time in history one can put together an AR-15 in 5.45 for LESS $$$ than an AK-74 parts kit, means an AR in that caliber has become a "no brainer." Besides, there are a lot of AK-74's floating around out there which means that ammo IS likely to encountered, as is the 7.62x39.
But what struck me is....300 Black out is currently rip-off priced at $30/box on average because there is no MilSurp version and the ammo makers KNOW the round went from not being in existence to hugely popular in just a few years time. Even loading your own .300 Black isn't "cheap" thanks to the inflated gouge for .308 bullets versus .224". I costed out my latest .300 ammo to run just under $10/box of 20 using once-fired 5.56 brass converted (by me) to .300. While roughly 1/3rd less expensive than OTC it's still not what I call "cheap" when viewing other options...like the 5.45x39.
I already have a Bulgarian AK-74...WONDERFUL variant that came in "parts kit" form yet BRAND SPANKING NEW. I really like the round...clearly while most Americans who've never capped anyone with an M-16 love to diss the stopping power of the 5.56 NATO, during the Vietnam war the Russians were paying attention to just how effective the little round is and came up with their own variation.
I don't really want to get into a debate on whether the 5.45 "beats" the 5.56 because it doesn't, but it does deliver more than ample terminal performance to ruin someone's day, and it's LIGHT YEARS superior to the .30 Carbine, and both are extremely nasty when loaded with expanding point bullets which we civilians get to have in quantity...same for the 5.56.
But here's my point...a 5.45 barrel in M4 profile costs just $5 more than a 5.56. A 5.45 BCG is just $40 more. Despite "expert opinions" the 5.45 WILL feed just fine from 5.56 marked mags, but even so, 5.45 marked mags exist in quantity - for the AR platform. So basically I can build up a 5.45x39 for basically what a .300BO or 5.56 would cost, and acquire surplus ammo for $3.50/20rds based on half-case prices. There is no way to load .223 for that using once-fired. NO other ammo deal beats it. For a potential SHTF scenario, a 5.45 AR WITH 1,000 rounds of ammo can be added to the rack for LESS than the cost of a garden variety "economy priced" 5.56 AR-15! I call that worth taking a long hard look at.
Some might say, "yeah but .223 will be found all over the place after the big collapse..." yes, and with a 1,000 rounds of 5.45 one should be picking up not only the .223 ammo, but also the rifle that shoots it from a pair of cold dead hands, and if not, it wouldn't have made any difference what caliber was being employed. Regardless if "we" individually stockpile the same caliber as everyone else, when we run out of bullets we're gonna be OUT OF BULLETS! It won't be like a video game where we happen upon little caches of ammo, and whomever we're having "issues" with certainly isn't going to drop ammo for our usage against them. My point is, the current low price of 5.45, combined with the fact that hell has frozen white and for the first time in history one can put together an AR-15 in 5.45 for LESS $$$ than an AK-74 parts kit, means an AR in that caliber has become a "no brainer." Besides, there are a lot of AK-74's floating around out there which means that ammo IS likely to encountered, as is the 7.62x39.
