AR15 in 7.62x39 a good idea.....

[Longbow]

...or am I looking for trouble? Are those Russian ammo (steel case, lacquer coating..) compatible with the AR gas system? I have a lower that's waiting to be assembled, 7.62x39 upper is one of my choice but I'm not sure if its a good idea. Any opinions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Sir Galahad]

Lots of people already fire laquered case Wolf .223 in their ARs. Go for it. But what about magazines? Do they make magazines for this caliber that are larger than 10 rounds? If not, you ought to think about an AK a little harder.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

7.62X39mm AR's don't work. The magazine well is too straight.

 

[rugerfreak]

Good Idea??? NOT!!!

 

[SodaPop]

NO

 

[MiniZ]

If you didn't already have a lower, I would say "maybe".

There is a new AR lower on the market that accepts AK magazines, which eliminates one of the pitfalls of building a 7.62X39 AR-lack of good, inexpensive magazines.

Here is a link:

www.ar47.com

 

[c_yeager]

7.62x39 ARs DO work. You just cant use an AK magazine in an unmodufied AR lower. You can however use magazines built to function with that set up (expensive, hard to find, and tend to be low cap). Frankly its probably cheaper to just buy a complete AK (SAR) than a 7.62 upper.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Would be nice... if it wasn't so expensive!

I would rather get a SAR-1

 

[joyadecarolina]

i'd head over to www.ar15.com and ask around. i think they work fine and the mags can be found in 20 rd capacity factory colt or as aftermarkets for range work.

 

[Longbow]

Thank you everyone! I think I'll just make it a .223. I considered the 7.62x39 upper due mainly to ammo cost and availability of the ammo, but for the price of the unit, I'll just get a real nice Hbar .223 upper. Thanks again!

 

[444]

Two friends of mine have uppers in 7.62x39 and they really like them. The problem is the magazines. They use standard AR magazines, but you can only load something like 10 rounds if you want it to run.
I have read numerous times that the magazines that are sold and marked as being 7.62x39 are in fact identical to 5.56 magazines in every dimension.
7.62x39 is only slightly cheaper than 5.56. I personally wouldn't want it, but that is up to you.
The steel case and laquer isn't an issue, particularly if you get a mil-spec chrome lined chamber.