Piston AR-15 in x39

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Jay the Plinker

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Ok so I love the idea of a piston ar and want to purchase one. I also really like 7.62x39 because of its inexpensiveness to shoot and the better stopping power over 5.56. So I looked up 7.62x39 uppers and found one made by Black Rifle Arms. It looks sweat:D especially with the tactical version. I was wondering if anyone knew about a better piston ar in x39. Or if anyone had experience with it. I am attaching a link to black rifle arms website. Last but not least what lower would you recommend?

http://blackriflearms.com/AR-15-762x39-Complete-Carbine-Piston-Uppers_c10.htm
 
few problems with this... first, piston ARs dont make an AR15 more reliable, they do in fact decrease reliability, and their only use is simpler cleaning.. nothing more... as well as an increase in weight

second.. 7.62x39 isnt going to have much more "stopping power" than 5.56x39mm, neither one has the bullet weight or diameter to rely on expanding ammunition for greater wound cavity like handgun rounds do, and neither one has the sheer power of a full powered rifle round to tear open a wider wound cavity using hydrostatic shock... so 5.56 or 7.62x39, youre going to need to directly hit a vital organ for any chance to kill or "stop"

and third.. 7.62x39 will NEVER be reliable in an AR15 with standard lower receiver, the top 1/2 to 1/3 of an AR15 magazine is straight, even 5.56mm ammunition when stacked will want to roll up into a banana shape, and has been known to cause problems feeding even 5.56mm... the greater taper of 7.62x39mm will greatly magnify this problem and you will not have a reliable rifle by any stretch

if you want a 7.62x39mm rifle, and you want an AR-15.. youre SOL UNLESS you get a specialized AR15 lower designed to use AK-47 magazines (such as the AR-47 lower) but as states, 7.62mm isnt going to have any added stopping power, and a shorter effective range because of poor bullet aerodynamics making it drop like a rock after 200 yards

if you want the accuracy of an AR15, youll lose it when you switch to a piston, and when you switch to 7.62x39, so youre going to take a big hit on accuracy...if you want greater stopping power, get an AR15 in 6.8mm SPC, if you want cheap ammo, the only 7.62x39 ammo thats inexpensive is notorious for jamming AR15s (wolf ammo) so the 5.56mm will be cheaper to shoot with an AR15
 
W.E.G. said:
At this point, anybody who buys an AR15 in 7.62x39 is going to probably regret it.

The SIG 556R (current version of it) appears to be a far better choice.
Price may be a bit high for the time being.
Wait for production to catch up, and for some place like Bud's to start selling them en masse.

http://www.warriortalknews.com/2012/08/my-impressions-of-the-sig-sauer-556r.html
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i agree with this guy.. if you want a more tacticool platform in a piston operated rifle.. go with the sig 556R, sig make very nice rifles, and are actually smart enough to use AK magazines so you wont need to worry about that taper problem
 
im actually doing sort of the opposite thing.. im building an AKM pattern rifle, however, im building it in 5.56mm instead of 7.62x39 or 5.45... reason being is 7.62 ammo, for above rock bottom quality ammo isnt all that cheap, and 5.45 ammo is only cheap because of unstable surplus sources that at some point will disappear.. neither cartridge has a major aftermarket factory backing yet, and the 5.56mm round is the only one thats relatively stable, and will always be available in excess
 
Rock River has a new AR out with a lower than actually accepts AK mags, which i believe is the only way to go. Unfortunately i don't believe they have a piston driven version out yet but i'm guessing they will. What you could do is buy the DI RR in 7.62 and then install an Adams Arms piston kit.
 
if i were to build an AR15 id buy that AR lower that accepted AK mags and build a 5.56 or 6.8mm SPC rifle on that just so i didnt have to use that crappy STANAG magwell anymore
 
If you do get one of the AR lowers that take AK mags, you might use an Adams Arms AR Piston Conversion Kit on an ar UPPER IN 7.62X39.. http://www/adamsarms.net You will have a lot of money invested though. But the better idea would be to save your money and go for the SIG.

I have a Krebs AK and it really shoots accurately and has all the bells and whisles.

I also have a Colt made AR upper in 7.62x39 and I have had nothing but trouble, even with the new magazines that are out now. I think the problem is that the AR lower does not allow the 7.62x39 round to have the radical curve in the magazine.

Another option is to buy a Robinson Arms XCR in 7.63x39. They are piston driven and have an AK style bolt and work well. The barrel and bolt can be changed out to allow caliber swaps by the end user. I have mine in 6.8 and it works great.
 
Jay the Plinker said:
Ugh :mad: so I guess I should wait?
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wait on what?.. you need to make a decision as to what you want in a rifle, because youre really not going to get 7.62x39 to reliably function in an AR15, its not that great of a cartridge to begin with, certainly not worth going out of your way for (5.56 is better), and the sig 551-A1 platform would be the best 5.56mm platform out there since its the only one that doesnt seem obsessed with using the same flawed M16 magwell
 
Gunner-where do you find Robinson arms firearms

Jason- what do you have against the magwell on an AR-15
 
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Jay the Plinker said:
Gunner-where do you find Robinson arms firearms

Jason- what do you have against the magwell on an AR-15
Click to expand...
AR15 magwell is straight requiring the top 10-15 rounds to be straight in the magazine.. the cartridges dont want to line up straight, even the 5.56mm has a bit of a taper to it, enough they had to change the floor plate in the magazines to make it better, but its still not as good as it could be, and we shouldnt force our magazines to be straight, they should be able to have a constant curve with the ammunition... G36 and the AUG has similar magwell, but its curved forward to allow for fully curved magazines and less feeding problems

about the robinson arms has always been customer service, often rude customer service and on the robinson arms forum ive actually read a post from the owner of robinson arms go off on a rant calling anyone who critisizes any feature of the rifle as "feeble minded" and unpatriotic... had a very rude and condescending attitude towards current and potentional customers to the rifle... and that turned me off of them completely..

then you add the fact previous customers of other robinson arms products (vepr, M96) have been left without any aftermarket or factory support, no parts for their rifles... theyve been completely abandoned by the company... to have the nerve to call those customers "feeble minded" for complaining about a complete lack of customer support, service, or even replacement parts is beyond unacceptable from a company

for the price of the XCR you can get the sig 551-A1, or the 556R for even less which is a far better rifle, combat proven, used a long-stroke system same as the AK... they put the recoil spring over the gas piston though so theres no spring behind the carrier, it shortens up the action, lightens the rifle, and allows it to be even more accurate... but best of all, it uses the classic sig 550/551 style magazines which allow that consistant curvature and better reliability in the rifle, and its a professional company with a long history of quality.... and is well battle-proven... in fact, im planning to in the next year or so convert one of these to 6.8mm SPC
 
Ugh so I guess I should wait?
Click to expand...

If you are talking about the RR you may be waiting forever. To my knowledge there is no announcement to release the AK magazine lowered guns with pistons but it would seem like a no-brainer to me that they should. Maybe call and ask. I'd really like them to sell just the lowers so i could build my own.
 
If you want a pistol in 7.62x39, get an AK. I have one built using an AMD65 and it's a nice and easy to shoot little gun. Sort of a SBR without the stock. Uses any AK mag and fires any AK ammo. Only problem I ever have with it is people I hand it to invariably fire off all my ammo!

Gregg
 
Got to argue a bit. Ive got a bushmaster in x39 and after changing to c products mags with wolf extra power ak mag springs the gun just doesnt miss a beat with reloads or wolf. Id trust my life to that gun and it dont say that lightly. Most of what you hear in reguards to the reliability issues is just hear say. One or two guys post saying they cant get theres to work and all of a sudden its all over the internet and anyone wanting to sound like he knows what hes talking about when it comes to ars is posting that there no good. That and the fact that alot of the problems come from guys that are amature gunsmiths (hacks) put them together from parts and truth be told there 556 ars probably dont run reliably. Dont let anyone tell you it cant be done and done right.
 
Yeah ^.

I have two 7.62x39 AR uppers that run fine. a 16" and a 20". Both are DI. I use C-products mags, Barrels from Model 1 Sales.

I've already done combat time, and i don't live in fantasy land, so preparing for (insert long acronym here) doesn't matter to me. I use mine for hunting; and i wouldn't hunt with something that doesn't work reliably and place rounds consistently.
 
not so much the cost as i reload anyway. My thoughts were that first i wanted a 762x39 to have a gun in that caliber for shtf senerios and to have an ar that was capable of deer hunting but not as heavy as my ar10. I thought of the 6.8 and its a fine round. the x39 is very close in power and trajectory ammo is more available as is brass and the biggest reason was that i can buy some wolf ammo go to camp with 500 rounds. Blast it up and dont have to even worry about picking up brass.
 
Lloyd Smale said:
not so much the cost as i reload anyway. My thoughts were that first i wanted a 762x39 to have a gun in that caliber for shtf senerios and to have an ar that was capable of deer hunting but not as heavy as my ar10. I thought of the 6.8 and its a fine round. the x39 is very close in power and trajectory ammo is more available as is brass and the biggest reason was that i can buy some wolf ammo go to camp with 500 rounds. Blast it up and dont have to even worry about picking up brass.
Click to expand...
well i know people that hunt quite successfully with 5.56x45mm using heavier projectiles with good results.. so if its legal in your state you can do it.. for SHTF moments, since surplus has dried up on 7.62x39mm its not as easy to find as a lot of people think.. 5.56mm is the best bet as so many people own AR15s, military and law enforcement is all 5.56mm as well, youd be much more likely to maintain a stable supply of ammunition with that

6.8mm is a really good deer round and im considering converting all my rifles to that, including AKs.. but i have to be sure its the best round... ammo supplies dont really bother me do long as i can find brass to cut and reshape for what i need, since i reload.. so another option would be to look at calibers you could make brass for out of .308/.30-06 if you didnt want 5.56 and really needed somethnig you could be sure you wouldnt run out of ammo for

---

ya know.. if you could find a 6.5 grendel or .264LBC barrel, the bolt head would be the same as one for the AK, but would be more reliable in an AR15, and as a reloader you can find 6.5mm bullets all over, theyre pretty common... so that could be a good option too
 
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you can still get wolf 762x39 as cheap or cheaper then .223 ammo around here anyway. like i said i do like the 6.8 and if it would catch on better so finding ammo and even brass wasnt so tough and expensive when you did find it id consider one. You can buy cheap once fired brass and ball bullets for the 762x39 and the 5.56 buy yourself some surplus powder and make cheap ammo. Good luck with doing that with the 6.8 or 6.5s. As far as I know you cant even make 6.8 out of any other case. Bottom line is they will allways be my second ars. I will allways have an ar or 3 in 5.56. Yes ive killed deer with them and yes I did eat the deer so it does work. How well? Well the deer tasted every bit as good as one shot with my 762x39. A guy cant have all his rifles in the same caliber though. What fun would that be!
 
What about the sig 516 in x39"
I like x39 because I could use it as a brush gun for deer but not spend a fortune on ammo.
 
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