Should I switch to 5.45x39 from 7.62x39?
- Thread starter jlbraun
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kcmarine
Member
Well, that's hard to say. What's the gun for?
MisterPX
Member
Depends on how much you shoot.
Ammo price is about $40-$50 cheaper per K, but you'd need to buy another rifle. Using the cheapest 5.45 wasr, you're looking at about $300, so you'd need to shoot 6K rounds to break even.
Ammo price is about $40-$50 cheaper per K, but you'd need to buy another rifle. Using the cheapest 5.45 wasr, you're looking at about $300, so you'd need to shoot 6K rounds to break even.
rbernie
Contributing Member
Presuming, of course, that you don't sell the 7.62x39 to fund the new 5.45 rifle.
I have multiple examples of both forms of AK, and I generally use the 5.45 for short-range practice. Dunno yet which I'd grab in an emergency.
sefus
Member
5.45 is the topps! Lighter, cheaper, more accurate, longer range, and deadly as all get out. My SAR2 groups better than I ever would have thought an AK could using Russian 7N6 rounds. Even Wolf "patterns" well (It doesnt group, it patterns) but the Ruskies upgraded from the 7.62 for a reason and I see why after having shot both for a few years.
-Sefus
-Sefus
BADUNAME13
Member
I switched to a 74 for training, the 47 is still my 'go to' gun.
The money I saved on ammo paid for the gun/mags, with money left over.
IF 5.45 ever becomes unavalalbe, I can sell the gun and mags, OR keep them and I will have STILL saved money.
Recoil is different, but the controls... are the same. I switched from one to the other in the middle of training and it was no problem whatsoever.
The POS WASR2 was able to make head shots at 100 meters offhand...
The money I saved on ammo paid for the gun/mags, with money left over.
IF 5.45 ever becomes unavalalbe, I can sell the gun and mags, OR keep them and I will have STILL saved money.
Recoil is different, but the controls... are the same. I switched from one to the other in the middle of training and it was no problem whatsoever.
The POS WASR2 was able to make head shots at 100 meters offhand...
High Planes Drifter
Member
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I went with the 5.45 and dont regret it one bit. Surpluss is cheap, its decently accurate at 100 yards freehand, and the little gun is just "fun" to shoot. I have shot many, many, 47's, and I am glad I went with the 74. I enjoy it more for pinging pie plates.
fletcher
Member
If you like your 5.45x39, I'd just stock up on surplus while it's available for cheap.
PercyShelley
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- Feb 15, 2007
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- 1,075
It is my personal opinion that the Space Shuttle, Concorde SST and 5.56x45mm cartridge may be considered engineering successes only inasmuch as the Soviet Union was stupid enough to try and copy them.
That said, 5.45x39 isn't a bad little round at all. I think its advantages have been explained well enough here. I wouldn't count on it staying cheap forever though. There's been a lot of grumbling about the BATFE arbitrarily denying import of the round. I don't know how much of that is true, but it does illustrate that the price of poison bullets is dependent upon a lot of volatile and unpredictable factors.
That said, 5.45x39 isn't a bad little round at all. I think its advantages have been explained well enough here. I wouldn't count on it staying cheap forever though. There's been a lot of grumbling about the BATFE arbitrarily denying import of the round. I don't know how much of that is true, but it does illustrate that the price of poison bullets is dependent upon a lot of volatile and unpredictable factors.
Sounds like a DUer here....
"what is the gun for". We don't need no stinking reasons to buy a gun. We buy them BECAUSE WE CAN..........The 545 is a sweet shooting cartridge.....you can never have too many guns, besides, it irritates the liberals......chris3
"what is the gun for". We don't need no stinking reasons to buy a gun. We buy them BECAUSE WE CAN..........The 545 is a sweet shooting cartridge.....you can never have too many guns, besides, it irritates the liberals......chris3
I wouldn't switch just to follow the whims of the market. 7.62 x 39 should dip in price (not down to sub $100) but things will get better. And you never know, 5.45 x 39 might go up.
I would recommend getting a 5.45 rifle but don't do it for sheer economic reasons. They are fun to own/shoot.
PS- if you are going to buy 5.45 bulk (and I mean bulk) check out Century Arms. If you buy $500 or more there is free shipping- plus the overall discount is huge ($40 off per case of 1080):
http://www.centuryarms.biz/proddetail.asp?prod=AM1352
I would recommend getting a 5.45 rifle but don't do it for sheer economic reasons. They are fun to own/shoot.
PS- if you are going to buy 5.45 bulk (and I mean bulk) check out Century Arms. If you buy $500 or more there is free shipping- plus the overall discount is huge ($40 off per case of 1080):
http://www.centuryarms.biz/proddetail.asp?prod=AM1352
Thin Black Line
Member
Furious, you have 10 years of ammo and at least one spare bolt put aside, right?
Drakejake
Member
I really enjoy shooting my WASR-2 and have stocked up on ammo. If you like .223 (5.56), you will also like 5.45. There is something to be said for the lighter round and the lighter rifle.
Drakejake
Drakejake
rangerruck
Member
I don't know, but it sounds as if it is primarily a cost thing at this point. Round comparison does not really do it. they are too diff. but I will say, that i like the 545 round better than i like the 223.
Prince Yamato
Member
5.45 has the recoil of a Selectric Typewriter and it does that fun tumbling thing upon impact. But I'd say, keep both. I've got both, each has it's advantages and disadvantages.
BADUNAME13
Member
No case discounts until 25 cases.
BADUNAME13
Member
They advertise $119. If you buy over 25 cases it's $110 per case.
I wouldn't switch for economic reasons. I would buy a 2nd rifle in 5.45 just for fun (and I have). 
I might have to get a .223 AK also.
SOG has the Bulgarian ammo as well as others.
Look up Ohio RapidFire on the net. They still have 12 magazine packs for a reasonable price. Do note that many of the mags I bought in those packs didn't fit my Tantal with ArmoryUSA receiver. The magwell wasn't big enough. The orange bakelite mags seem to work best in my Tantal. I have WASR 2 that can take the fatter mags.
I might have to get a .223 AK also.SOG has the Bulgarian ammo as well as others.
Look up Ohio RapidFire on the net. They still have 12 magazine packs for a reasonable price. Do note that many of the mags I bought in those packs didn't fit my Tantal with ArmoryUSA receiver. The magwell wasn't big enough. The orange bakelite mags seem to work best in my Tantal. I have WASR 2 that can take the fatter mags.
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