Debating a -39 pistol for a fun range toy. Interested in the board's opinion on AK vs AR. Gonna put a brace on either, probably an etched optic and maybe an AFG. My range is 120 yards, so no magnification needed.
Not interested in 300 blackout as I have no plans to suppress and ammo is $$$.

Seems build an AR is the general consensus, so a couple questions.
Is anyone running one of the dedicated ak mag lowers (PSA/CMMG) and what do you think of it? Worth the expense/irritation of specialty parts.
For a -39 AR, would you build a carbine length pistol upper or a middy 16" upper?
Are ASC mags the go to for -39 ARs? Their other offerings (9mm colt pattern) ive tried are garbage. Wont even lock in the gun.
Who do we like for bolts/BCGs for -39. Thought I might either try AIM or PSA.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wolfe 21,

I was in the market for a 7.62x39 pistol, but I didn't want the typical Draco. Ended up with an IWI Galil Ace Pistol Brace. Totally cool.

Bit outside of my budget's "safe space". Looks cool, but I am wanting to stay out of the Arsenal pricing zone.

My wife has an m92 pistol that she picked as her promotion present. It is fun. A heavy beast though.

With as soft as the AR market is, I say build either a 10.5" or a 7.5" version and have fun ! You can go cheap and do it for under 5...

That was kinda my thinking, but I've heard some horror stories about -39 ARs and ARs and steel case ammo in general. I need to finish my current pistol build before I do anything else though.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfe 21:
That was kinda my thinking, but I've heard some horror stories about -39 ARs and ARs and steel case ammo in general. I need to finish my current pistol build before I do anything else though.

With the introduction of the enhanced (dedicated) firing pins and harder material bolts, nothing to worry about! I run nothing but ASC 20/30 round mags on my 10.5" with various steel ammo brands, have close to 3k rounds and not 1 hiccup. Now if you were going to build an AR-74, that animal is a whole other story !!

There are a number of videos on YouTube, including a few of folks shouldering pistol braces before ATF said it was a no no. I was surprised at the accuracy, such as it is, from such a short barrel with what amount to pistol sights. In one vid with a 5.56 version, the guy easily hits steel at 100 yards repeatedly, and with regularity at 200.

Here is Christys ak pistol.

quote:

For a -39 AR, would you build a carbine length pistol upper or a middy 16" upper?

I don't know anything about the pistols, but a mid-length/16" upper can make for a light, accurate fun-to-shoot little rifle.

C Products Defense mags are currently the way to go. Look specifically for the "Defense" part. I've tried a couple of 30-rounders, and they're OK, but I vastly prefer the 28-rounders just because they're a hair less heavy and awkward and it's easy to store or carry them in the same nylon you'd use for 5.56 mags. The 20-round mags are also very good - I've only found one duff one out of ten so far, and if you go the pistol route you may find that they're a lot easier to work with just because they're shorter and lighter.

This is a high quality barrel, 16" mid gas for a great price. I have one, accurate at 100yds with Tula, Brown Bear, steel case, etc. Haven't had it out in a while.

http://www.ar15performance.com.../sdetail/38016/36797

quote:

Originally posted by CandyMan.45:
With the introduction of the enhanced (dedicated) firing pins and harder material bolts, nothing to worry about! I run nothing but ASC 20/30 round mags on my 10.5" with various steel ammo brands, have close to 3k rounds and not 1 hiccup. Now if you were going to build an AR-74, that animal is a whole other story !!

What are these enhanced (dedicated) firing pins and harder material bolts, of which you speak?

I put together a x39 AR several years ago from a RRA kit, and after shortening the bolt a few thousands it has ran reliable with ASC 30's ... but I have wondered about the f-p & bolt head hardness ... the rim of the bolt being thinner to accommodate the x39, it seems to be the weak link ... I know that was the case in the Daewoo DR-300 ... I searched for a new bolt for several years and could never find one.

Deal of the day at palmetto state armory for an 18 inch 7.62x39 upper mid gas with bcg and charging handle for 369$

Just a heads up

Any recommendations for a good muzzle device for 7.62-39? Thinking about a surefire 762 comp or a vgs gamma.

quote:

Originally posted by JonDaddy82:
I was in the market for a 7.62x39 pistol, but I didn't want the typical Draco. Ended up with an IWI Galil Ace Pistol Brace. Totally cool.

It's been a while since I've seen a mention of your Galil Ace Pistol ... So Have you SBR'd it? Any more comments? ... Field report?

Saturday night I couldn't sleep and was straightening things up in the funroom and came across a Osprey Defense Piston kit that I picked up on sale maybe 2 years ago ... The intent was to convert my Bushmaster ACR to 300BO and I thought the Osprey kit would fit/work ... It didn't and the kit went on the shelf.
Anyway, I was looking at it and realized it has a FA bolt carrier and I remembered seeing something on the Osprey site that it would work on the 7.62x39, so about 1AM (Sunday) I converted my RRA 7.62x39 upper to a gas piston instead of DI ... With the end goal of running it on my M16

I have the same Osprey kit on my 11.5" 556 upper It works great and runs so much cooler. Heat was is a problem with the RRA upper as the handguards that came on it didn't have heat-shields, the Osprey kit had oversized A2 handguards WITH heat-shields Sunday afternoon I ran 90 rounds in about 20 minutes and there was no issue with heat at all, the bolt carrier was actually cool to the touch.



Although the barrel & upper have M4 cuts, the surplus hollow points would still have a feeding problem occasionally however the FMJs fed perfectly except I did have 1 failure to fire, good strike on the primer, it was just a dud ... The problem with HP's may have been a mag issue, it was a C-Products mag, the others were ASR mags ... More testing is required, but it's changed my mind aboyt this caliber in the AR.

Oh, the recoil was different too ... To say the "push" was slower may not make sense but I don't know how else to describe it other than to say it was oddly satisfying, I don't know what else to compare it to.

quote:

I don't know what else to compare it to.

.45ACP vs 9mm, perhaps? The recoil feels a little bit heavier and a little bit slower than it would with a 5.56.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:

quote:

I don't know what else to compare it to.

.45ACP vs 9mm, perhaps? The recoil feels a little bit heavier and a little bit slower than it would with a 5.56.

I've bought a Colt 9mm SMG de-milled kit which that has the correct spring and buffer, it's much faster and lighter, about the same as my MP5 clone, don't have and not interested in the 45

I was thinking in terms of handguns - still haven't gotten a pistol-caliber carbine.

it went over the top at first ... I just got what you were saying and was going to edit my post but see you have already checked back in!

Yeah, its about like that!

I'm sure its way better now, but I spent several years (years ago) trying to get a 7.62x39 AR to run. Miserable experience at every level, many,many broken parts, asc mags that didn't work unless downloaded, FTE/FTF, etc. etc.
I just went back to an AK and was happy. I have the CMMG but really haven't put too many rounds through it to say its bulletproof, but no issues so far.
I also tried the SIG mess and that was a disaster too. Get an AK to be safe unless you really want to play.