The 7.62x39 AR Upper

[Spec.-K]

Hi everyone.
I've been considering doing an AK build, but for the cost of nost kits, I could build a nice AR upper in 7.62x39.
I have a nice AK, so I'm in no hurry to build another one.
I am just trying to weigh my options.

My buddy advised me against it saying it has too much Bolt thrust and will break quickly
I've seen a lot of 7.62 X 39 parts around lately and wondered if that were true why there is so much of it in production.

Does anyone have one and can offer perspective?
I heard long ago that they had problems with reliability, but have they fixed that now?

I like modular guns, so I would prefer the route of the upper because of parts availability and interchangability of parts instead of having a gun that can only fire one caliber.

Please let me know what you think.
Thank you.
-K

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[deadeye]

Have a Colt and no problems with it. The only issue is making sure you get quality mags.

 

[Spec.-K]

I saw these offered by YHM-

7.62x39mm Replacement Magazine (5 or 30 Round) - $23.50 : YHM, Yankee Hill Machine Co., Inc. | Makers of High Quality Firearms, Accessories & Sound Suppressors, Makers of High Quality Firearms, Accessories & Sound Suppressors

I figured they'd be decent quality being from YHM.
Who makes the best mags...?

 

[Nwcid]

As it was stated mags have always been the weak part of the 7.62 AR. There was a company that makes a lower that takes AK mags, but dont know anything about it.

Not sure who makes the best mags.

 

[deadeye]

These worked <broken link removed>
The Yankee Hill may be OK , just make sure you order 1 or 2 and try them out before ordering more.

 

[KalamaMark]

I've got one. I had a lot of cycling problems initially that I narrowed down to a rough chamber. I polished it and it runs fine now. I use CProducts mags.
I'm looking to build a 7.62x39 pistol upper soon. I haven't found much of anything out there in my searches...I must be looking in the wrong spots.

 

[ch139]

The 7.62x39 AR is kinda a neat idea (and can be fun to shoot), but seems to be more trouble than its worth (to me anyway-as already mentioned above... just me, but have never seen one run 100%). If you have an AR to throw little 22cal pills and an AK that eats the commie food, but still want a different flavor of AR, might look into a 9mm setup for the AR.

...an old pic from a little get-together some years ago. A lot of fun sitting atop a registered lower, but still had issues.

 

[Morpheus]

Why not go 5.45 x 39 instead? Mags work better and ammo is cheaper than 7.62 x 39?

 

[simon99]

Didn't RRA come out with one of these in the last year or so?

 

[mjbskwim]

I'm guessing the AR barrel makers are doing a much better job with their barrels than any AK maker ever tried. So you might actually get some accuracy with a AR X39 upper.
I made mine a pistol and it ran perfect.Only had one magazine for it though.

 

[Benny503]

I have a good answer for this question: first youvcan contact member nick "firearm" he used to owned one and fired it.

I traded with "firearm" and never able to get the magazines loaded into the rifle. I shipped mine back to original designer Michael Otti at http://www.ar-47.com/ for small fee and we re-worked on it. It is on the way back to me. I will let you know by next week if the rifle function as the way it should.

 

[Benny503]

my ar47 is back, can not upload pictures from iphone but able to load from ipad. Ipad camera is not that good.

 

[mjbskwim]

View attachment 71548
View attachment 71548
View attachment 71549my ar47 is back, can not upload pictures from iphone but able to load from ipad. Ipad camera is not that good.

Why would you make your kid stand on the wall like that? Or just showing off that he can?

 

[Benny503]

He just want to be in the pictures

 

[Mike Honcho]

If your interested in a intermediate 30 cal AR, the 300 blk has similar ballistics without all the headaches of hillbilly engineering a round never designed for the AR platform.

Uses reformed .223 brass, so you have current mag compatibility and a standard bolt for parts commonality. Only non standard part is the barrel.

 

[Benny503]

7.62 ammo are cheaper, 300 blk ammo are hard to find and much more expensive.

 

[Mike Honcho]

7.62 ammo are cheaper, 300 blk ammo are hard to find and much more expensive.

That point is irrelevant when a x39 AR does not run well compared to a 300 blk AR, not to mention x39 magazines are harder to find and normally more expensive and often less reliable. Same with the proprietary bolt that has a opened up bolt face to accommodate the x39 round. This weakens the locking lugs further and causes shorter bolt life.

Too add,

While 300 Blk ammo is more expensive, the quality of components and bullet selection is vastly superior to any x39 round.

 

[Spec.-K]

My main reasoning is because I have 7.62x39 as one of my standard calibers, and also have dies so I can roll my own.

I like the higher amount of power over the 300 BLK (about 500 more ft/lbs).
Don't get me wrong, I still plan on building a 300 BLK, I just wanted to chamber the 7.62x39 because I have all the components.
I also plan on doing a 6.5 Grendel/264 LBC, and a 358 Gremlin.

Most of the 5.45 ammo is corrosive, so I'm not interested in going that route, but if you can find brass and reload it using 22 cal bullets, I may give it a try too... but think the 20 Practical would be yet a better way to go...

 

[Benny503]

I guess I am not the only collecting 7.62x39, also keep all my 762x39 accepting AK mags. Including pistol

 

[moparhemi]

Go for it. There's a lot of bad info around on these ARs. I have a Colt Sporter 6830 and it is as good as my other ARs. It is a cherry, and we dont shoot steel case ammo, but it runs 7.63x39 like its 5.56. I've got a range of mags from its factory 5 rd to some new AR Stoner ones from Midway just this last Feb. Older Frankenmags can be problematic.