studmuff1228 0 Posted September 13, 2006 Report Share Posted September 13, 2006 Well, does anybody have any input on y they haven't made one. i would like one, it's a nice caliber. Anybody know where a 5.45x39 barrel could be bought for a decent price ? for any gun, but it would need to be atleast 16". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SaigaShooter 0 Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 I think the main reason is ammunition cost. not to mention, the .223 is "bigger" well, longer at any rate. and most people want a bigger gun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shooter2 5 Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Well, does anybody have any input on y they haven't made one. I've heard it's because Russian civilians can't own rifles in that caliber since it's official military issue, and Izhmash doesn't think the limited US commercial demand is enough justification by itself to start up production. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
studmuff1228 0 Posted September 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 yea it all makes since, i guess i will just have to live with a .223 and mebey get a polish kit some day some guy at a gun shop a mounth ago or so told me that wolf was stopping production of that round b/c it was obsolet. i kindof have let that blow in 1 ear and out the other b/c i never really beleve much that most shop owners have to say around here. b/c of statements like that. I'm a little disapointed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tokageko 8 Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 (edited) if it were true, that would suck for those of us who have (and love) our 5.45x39s. My SAR-2 is one of my favorite guns. It's got great accuracy for an ak. My first time at the range produced very honest 2", 5 shot groups at 100 yards. No fliers. They were just in a neat litle cluster. It might do better with an appropriate optical sight. I have lots of magazines for it and nothing to fill them with. Though, this does give me a dumb idea. I'm great at coming up with dumb ideas. If anyone wold make brass for that caliber, it would be probably end up being Norma. Then, we can get a new (finish) chamber reamer made up that will open the neck slightly and give a generous throat/free-bore so that standard .224" bullets could be used. The germans actually did this during world war 2 when they switched to a .323 bullet. The new barrels were made with a groove diameter of .323, but the old guns still had barrel with a .318 groove diameter. The ran the finishing reamer for the new cartridge in to expand the neck. Then, they ran a throat reamer in further to give the bullet a little bit of a "jump" before it hit the rifling. This changed the pressure curve and allowed the bullet to squeeze into the bore without causing any failures. This may be different with auto-loaders though... Edited September 19, 2006 by Tokageko Quote Link to post Share on other sites
studmuff1228 0 Posted September 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 i don't have a gun to shoot it out of but i would sure like to i bet that "poisin bullet" would do a number to a coyotie i see sportsmans guide has 5.45x39 for sale but it is russian surplus. if you were to use the standard .224 bullet wouldn't it eat away at the rifling a lot more aggresively b/c of the added friction ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tokageko 8 Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Not necessarily, as I understand it. For one thing, the barrel on my SAR-2 is chrome-lined. There isn't much that's going to wear that down. For another thing, the bullet would be close to the groove diameter by the time that it got to the rifling in the first place. That's only if it was done corectly though. I think the chrome lining is thick enough to accomodate the extended throat (or "leade") that I'm suggesting. The other option would be keeping the brass and the chamber the same, then swaging .224 bullets down to .221 diameter. Supposedly Lee makes an appropriate die for this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JK-47 33 Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 K-Var had some 5.45x39mm barrels recently, I would check there. They had a 24" RPK barrel (in 5.45.x39)that I was oogling- but it was about 430$! I guess those RPK 74's and parts are quite rare. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
studmuff1228 0 Posted September 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Not necessarily, as I understand it. For one thing, the barrel on my SAR-2 is chrome-lined. There isn't much that's going to wear that down. For another thing, the bullet would be close to the groove diameter by the time that it got to the rifling in the first place. That's only if it was done corectly though. I think the chrome lining is thick enough to accomodate the extended throat (or "leade") that I'm suggesting. The other option would be keeping the brass and the chamber the same, then swaging .224 bullets down to .221 diameter. Supposedly Lee makes an appropriate die for this. humm, yea i see if you did rechamber it b/c you cut into the chrome wouldn't it start to flake off. There would be a lot of friction right there too b/c that is where the bullet is getting squoshed down really fast . but you are saying it won't even dig all the way through the chrome lining, i don't know. I'm not trying to diss your idea b/c it does make perfect since. it would still work even if there was a little flaking * if there was any K-Var had some 5.45x39mm barrels recently, I would check there. They had a 24" RPK barrel (in 5.45.x39)that I was oogling- but it was about 430$! I guess those RPK 74's and parts are quite rare. lol thats a little to much for me i found some for $100 once but im looking to spend mabey $50 Would be bad ass to have a RPK 74 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tokageko 8 Posted September 25, 2006 Report Share Posted September 25, 2006 I watched my father recut the chrome chamber on an M14, as part of the process of fitting a new bolt. There have been no problems with it to date. Chrome may have some problems, but they can be fixed with proper care in tool usage. Anyway, it looks like there's still Russian surplus coming into the US. It may be more expensive, but that's just part of the game I geuss. It's probably all made by Wolf anyway... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
studmuff1228 0 Posted September 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2006 yea i bet it would work, i had no idea that they didn't make brass for it i was under the impression that i could find it somewhere.....hummm that gives me 2nd thoughts about getting a gun in that caliber now yea it probably is all made by Wolf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BattleRifleG3 16 Posted September 26, 2006 Report Share Posted September 26, 2006 Darnet, you guys are making me want one too. I'm severely temped now to use a 5.45 for a particular project that would ultimately amount to a 5.45 Saiga. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swon 0 Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 I have a Saiga 5,45X39mm rifle. K-VAR has all the necessatry parts to do this conversion. What I can tell you is that the rifle is awesome. I love it! It's fairly accurate for an AK as someone else stated. I purchased a Bulgarian kit and did the conversion. Go for it. Worth the costs! One of the best reasons to use a Saiga for this is that the Saiga has all the Russian markings. Right now, we're getting ready to add a new US made folding stock. Sorry, no pics! S Won Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BattleRifleG3 16 Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 My thoughts are that if you're building a 5.45 Saiga you might as well build it from scratch, ie Saigafy a '74 like the CA builders do. But to each his own! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swon 0 Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 My thoughts are that if you're building a 5.45 Saiga you might as well build it from scratch, ie Saigafy a '74 like the CA builders do. But to each his own! A scratch built rifle will not have Russian markings! That was important to me. I wouldn't want a rifle that was supposed to be a Russian service rifle with US markings on a receiver made in Ohio. All these rifles have to be compliant, so it's six of one, have a dozen of the other! It's probably cheaper to build it from scratch. That wasn't a concern for me! I recently took the rifle to a gun safety class that I taught. You should have seen the look on the faces of those kids, when I pulled this Russian marked rifle out of it's case and passed it around for them to handle. They could see and read the Made in Russia markings and proof marks. How many times were they going to get a chance to see something like that! The Saiga receiver legitamizes the rifle as Russian in it's origin. You can't put a price on that! But as you said to each his own! I'm not discounting anyones opinion but it was important to me to do it this way! S Won Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BattleRifleG3 16 Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Sounds like you had a goal that you met extremely well. Instead of calling it a 5.45 Saiga, I'd call it using a Saiga as a donor gun for a maximum authenticity AK-74 build. When I think 5.45 Saiga, I think of the classic Saiga sporter chambered in 5.45. A project I'm planning to do drastically improves the Saiga design and just happens to be in 5.45. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robert-hopson 0 Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Hi' Im new here but ohiorapidfire has ak74 parts kits starting at 269$ and rpk74 kits for about what k-var sales just the barrel for and you get alot of other goodies like mags,bayonet,canvas case. I ordered 4 side folder kits and recieved some of the most beautiful kits I ever have and they weren't but $299 and came with drag bag 4 mags bayonet stripper clips guide mag pouch. very very nice Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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