Does anybody really do this anymore?  I for whatever reason, have the urge to build an upper in 5.45.  Where do you guys get bolt/barrels, for those of you that still do it?  Will the 5.45 rounds fit into a Pmag?  The lack of dedicated mags, and their availability, is really what has kept me out of this game.  Thanks for the input guys.

Yeah, some still build and shoot 5.45 ARs. I have 2, one is the Spikes middy with the Lothar Walther barrel and my latest one has a Ballistic Advantage middy barrel. B.A. sells bolts also.You may want to check to see what Aim Surplus has available also.

The 5.45 AR probably lost some value to some people when the gov't blocked future sales of 7N6 surplus ammo. I bought a bunch back when it went for $0.10 per round, shot a little more than 9k so far.  I was lucky with all the ASC and C-Products 5.45 mags, now I use modded M2 windowed Pmags for most my shooting. There really is not a great ammo selection for these, but as a training weapon- is hard to beat.

Search back here, there are many threads about these 5.45 ARs over a few years time. You must match the bolt to the barrel you use on these, there are at least 2 standards being used and headspace is different.

Edit- The M2 windowed pmags work well for me, but I did the follower modification on all mine. By cutting the legs to allow some tilt, these mags have worked great and don't feel cheesy like the steel mags. There are mixed results on E-mags, I have no experience with them. The cheap ammo made building and shooting these more attractive a choice, you may want to look at the decision differently now. I do still enjoy mine greatly, but ammo cost more now for these than before. The Ballistic Advantage barrels/bolts are nice.

I'll second that

And the 22 bolt can be modified to work when the ammo runs out.

There's also plenty of other surplus 5.45 ammo other than the named 7N6 available from overseas sources, not to mention domestic production (whose numbers will be directly related to the perceived and actual market demand).  I've got tens of thousands of rounds of russian-produced 5.45x39 that is NOT 7N6 surplus, thus not subject to the "AP ammo" importation ban.

Yep!

I am with ricochet7.  I have a couple of the 5.45 variants (one Spikes and one BA).  They are great shooters, but only worth it if you shoot quite a decent amount.

If you are just jumping in, current 5.45 rounds are running about 20 cents per round or more while the cheapest 5.56 is about 30 cents per round.  So if you would buy a barrel (BA 16 inch = approx $200) bolt ( BA = $60) it would take you almost 3,000 rounds to make up for the cost of the barrel and bolt vs shooting 5.56..  

This is assuming that you will be taking an existing firearm and converting it.  If you are building another complete upper, you would be spending additional $$.

Also to consider that in most instances 5.45 is not a round that you can just hop down to your local sporting goods store and purchase (however some of us have it better than others).  But 5.56 is sold (and available now) just about everywhere.  

So while it can be worth it to build a 5.45 AR variant, if I was just getting into it, I probably would just stick with 5.56.

My 5.45 upper is from Adams Arms (rebadged Huldra), and it's great.  I got some of the 7N6 surplus before ATF went goofy.  It shoots great, and the light recoil makes it really nice to shoot.

There are some specific mods to Pmags that make them work well with 5.45x39.  Just search for Pmag and 5.45 here (assuming the search engine likes you today )

I've used the Ballistic Advantage bolts/ barrels from AIM and modified some Gen2 windowed Pmags.  Works great.

I'm ignorant so I'll ask.   Where is that ammo to be found.   I have crates of 7N6 that I wish to sit on and sell at a later date, but I'll shoot other 5.45x39.

http://www.gunbot.net/ammo/rifle/545x39/