Author Topic: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm  (Read 13947 times)

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Offline Dannyboy53

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Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« on: January 13, 2016, 08:16:12 PM »
A short while ago we started gathering an AR lower & upper, finally got it all together and assembled Monday night. A Palmetto State Armory 16" upper w/ Pa15 multi lower. Our own Brian recommended C Products magazines but I could not find any in stock! We ended up taking a chance with two ASC 20 round mags. They have worked flawlessly but do not drop free when released.

We started out yesterday by sighting in at 50 yards then moved out to 200 yards. She fired the remaining 10 rds of Golden Tiger at 50 yards that I had received from running-man a while back. No pics RM but they all fell within 5 inches (@ 50 yard target), MUCH better than my Russian SKS! Targets were mounted on a half sheet (4'x4') of plywood. Targets of course were my standard top of the line, high quality, custom hand painted 4 inch bullseye! (Sorry guys, no orders for my targets) She was using a rolled up packing quilt to steady the carbine!

She was fighting a 12-15 mph cross wind and I must say I am damned proud of her shooting!! This little PSA P47 worked without a single hiccup and we are both very satisfied with the function, fit and finish...it's a good quality firearm in our opinion. By the way for some time now PSA has been installing the "enhanced" firing pin in their carbines...no light strikes at all.

Cost of the upper & lower was $498, with the rear sight/carrying handle & two magazines we have a total of $554 tied up in it. We might have done better but we are satisfied.

Her target frame is in the treeline under the gray looking tree!


With a 12-15 mph cross wind.





Brian, for all your help, recommendations/suggestions...thank you!

« Last Edit: June 14, 2016, 10:53:02 AM by Dannyboy53 »

Offline Power Surge

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2016, 08:24:36 PM »
Really nice Danny! I've got two of those ASC 20 round mags coming for my bullpup project, but any 7.62x39 AR 20 round mags were damn near impossible to find!

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2016, 08:31:02 PM »
Thanks Power, the ASC mags had a few decent reviews so we took a chance. We've run about 80-90 rounds through them with no problems so far.

Offline armedhippie

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2016, 09:25:36 PM »
That's just "cooler than a popsicle" Danny. An AR in 7.62x39 has always been on my "1 day" list. Good stuff right there.

Sounds like I better keep an eye out for 7.62x39 ar mags just in case I ever get around to building 1. Yall know of any that should be avoided?

I know you've heard it a million times but... you got 1 heckuva keeper there Danny  thumb1 You best get to practicing, Mary's gonna be able to shoot rings around ya soon  rofl rofl rofl
Hippies are like stray cats...Feed 'em once and they never leave...then they stink up your couch.

Offline bbush44

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2016, 09:59:38 AM »
You are welcome Danny, I am glad you and Mary are happy with it. I am new to the AR scene myself, but just made recommendations from my research/experience. Glad the ASC mags are working out for you, I wish I would have bought more of the CPD 20 round mags when they were in stock.
Here is where I got mine from. http://shop.northriverllc.com/762-x-39-AR-Magazines_c19.htm
I check every few days hoping they will pop back up in stock.

Offline running-man

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2016, 10:58:17 AM »
That is most excellent Danny, thanks for the update!  thumb1

On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult was the build?  Was there anything that gave you fits or did it pretty much go together like a mil spec assembly should?  What's the perceived recoil on this one vs your Russian SKS?
      

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2016, 03:41:50 PM »
Wow, that's an economical and apparently very good quality build!  Great job!

That is some really good shooting under any circumstances...but over irons in a heavy crosswind at a blackish dot on a kraft paper brown and grey background  :o  thumb1  Heck, I may have accidentally put a few fliers through the windows of your truck under those conditions rofl

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2016, 02:38:12 AM »
That's just "cooler than a popsicle" Danny. An AR in 7.62x39 has always been on my "1 day" list. Good stuff right there.

Sounds like I better keep an eye out for 7.62x39 ar mags just in case I ever get around to building 1. Yall know of any that should be avoided?

I know you've heard it a million times but... you got 1 heckuva keeper there Danny  thumb1 You best get to practicing, Mary's gonna be able to shoot rings around ya soon  rofl rofl rofl

Thanks Hippie, she is a good gal and I'm proud to be with her. She has taken very good care of me lately! What do ya mean "shoot rings around ya soon", she's doing that now!

I really don't know what to tell you to avoid AH, bbush suggested the C Product mags to us because he uses them and they worked perfectly for him. From what I am reading a lot of mags are a problem but we got lucky with the ASC 20 rd mags apparently. I'll probably get some more of those if the C Products don't show up soon. Power Surge has some coming in, I hope his luck with them is as good as ours.




That is most excellent Danny, thanks for the update!  thumb1

On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult was the build?  Was there anything that gave you fits or did it pretty much go together like a mil spec assembly should?  What's the perceived recoil on this one vs your Russian SKS?

Actually running-man I sort of cheated! At the last minute I changed my mind and got a "blem" completed lower ($139). It was discounted plus it was on sale when I ordered it. As for the recoil, to us it's noticeably less than the SKS but not a lot less. On a scale of 1 - 10, I would put the AR @ 5 and the SKS @ 7 by comparison. The fit of the upper to the lower is excellent however, no rattle at all. And they all have the "enhanced" firing pin that took care of the light primer strikes that the early 7.62x39 AR's were noted for. BTW...I have yet to find the blemish on our lower.



Wow, that's an economical and apparently very good quality build!  Great job!

That is some really good shooting under any circumstances...but over irons in a heavy crosswind at a blackish dot on a kraft paper brown and grey background  :o  thumb1  Heck, I may have accidentally put a few fliers through the windows of your truck under those conditions rofl

Thanks Phosphorus! I'm proud of how well Mary did, she stayed focused in that cool wind. I fired only five shots and I got one on paper. At least I did hit the 4'x4' sheet of plywood five times!

I'm going to pick up some rifle targets soon and do some shooting at 100 yards and see how it goes. Maybe get a little competition going with Mary & her AR against me and my Russian. I'll yet y'all know how bad I beat her  ;)  8)
« Last Edit: January 16, 2016, 10:32:24 PM by Dannyboy53 »

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2016, 03:02:17 AM »
You are welcome Danny, I am glad you and Mary are happy with it. I am new to the AR scene myself, but just made recommendations from my research/experience. Glad the ASC mags are working out for you, I wish I would have bought more of the CPD 20 round mags when they were in stock.
Here is where I got mine from. http://shop.northriverllc.com/762-x-39-AR-Magazines_c19.htm
I check every few days hoping they will pop back up in stock.

Brian I will check back every day and I'll holler at you when they post some more. Thanks again BB!  clap1
« Last Edit: January 15, 2016, 03:13:34 AM by Dannyboy53 »

Offline Justin Hell

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2016, 06:02:52 PM »
The tinkering part of me agrees with the cheap part of me that an AR in x39 would be a great project...without adding another caliber to stock up on.

My dad's AR had a forend malfunction that neither he, I or my gun nut uncle could figure out so I have a little less desire, and heard versions in this caliber were a little troublesome on cycling properly.  I haven't researched it deeply though.

I have little issues with recoil, but does the weight compare to normal ARs? Both of my parents ARs feel like toys compared to my SKSs and Mosins. My bubba's could be restored if I just got something that already was one. :)


Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2016, 10:29:11 PM »
Hi Justin, I was concerned about all the troubles that were reported when this carbine came out in 7.62x39 also. I did a lot of research before committing myself and took a chance after reading the problems had been worked out. Mainly the problem was the standard length firing pin simply wasn't striking the surplus ammo primers hard enough. Now all the manufacturers are installing what they are calling the "enhanced" firing pin which is a few thousandths of an inch longer. That fixed the misfire problems.

The main issue with the 7.62x39 AR right now is finding magazines that work! bbush uses the C Products 20 rd mags with no problems, we have ASC 20 rd mags and they are working great for us...no cycling issues at all. Like Brian, Mary uses the 20 rd mags because of the ammo coming in 20 rd boxes! From what I have read of reviews on the internet it's the 30 rd mags that are more prone to cause problems. I did read about several guys putting the AK 30 mag spring in the AR 30 rd mags and it fixed the feed problems. Unless one has some lying around I can't justify buying AK mags just for the springs!

As for the weight, I think this one weighs in around 6.5 lbs, maybe 7lbs, empty.

Offline sksmcrossvilletn

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #11 on: June 09, 2016, 07:30:08 AM »
Instead of buying AK mags just for the springs why not buy wolf AK mag springs and install those? They are extra power!.
« Last Edit: June 09, 2016, 04:03:35 PM by sksmcrossvilletn »

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2016, 02:07:06 PM »
Instead of bushing AK mags just for the springs why not buy wolf AK mag springs and install those? They are extra power!.

I may get some of the Wolf springs and put up for replacements but for now our ASC mags work great.

Offline sksmcrossvilletn

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #13 on: June 09, 2016, 04:04:09 PM »
Instead of bushing AK mags just for the springs why not buy wolf AK mag springs and install those? They are extra power!.

I may get some of the Wolf springs and put up for replacements but for now our ASC mags work great.

Right if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2016, 04:30:41 PM »
sksmcrossvilletn I have always thought it a good idea to keep spare parts (extractors, ejectors, firing pins, etc) and spring kits on hands for a time when a person might not be able to get them when they are needed. I have spares put away for our SKS carbines and pistols but nothing yet for our Ar's.

Offline sksmcrossvilletn

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #15 on: June 10, 2016, 04:02:26 AM »
Im probably going to build one of these on an Anderson lower. I can't find any uppers from psa. All I find is from radical firearms which I've never heard of that has an 8 week wait and one from Anderson but it's 650 with tax and shipping.

Offline bbush44

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #16 on: June 10, 2016, 02:07:22 PM »
Im probably going to build one of these on an Anderson lower. I can't find any uppers from psa. All I find is from radical firearms which I've never heard of that has an 8 week wait and one from Anderson but it's 650 with tax and shipping.

If you sign up for for PSA's newsletter or the notify me when back in stock they will email you when the AR-47 complete upper is available again. I am sure they are trying to push everyone to their new KS-47 instead right now.
Another option I looked at is Bear Creek Arsenal. They had several different versions when I was checking them out. They show only one style right now.

http://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/upper-assemblies?spec_caliber=19

Offline sksmcrossvilletn

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #17 on: June 11, 2016, 04:25:29 AM »
The ar47 or pa47 are not even listed in 16" length on the psa website. All they have is pistol length 10"

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #18 on: June 11, 2016, 05:47:21 AM »
I noticed that, it appears they have discontinued these.

Offline sksmcrossvilletn

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Re: Mary's newest toy...AR15 in 7.62X39mm
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2016, 04:26:13 AM »
I noticed that, it appears they have discontinued these.

Just my luck Anderson makes an upper for it but you'd have to get an enhanced firing pin in order to run steel cased ammo!