I have a 20" rifle and 16" CAR.  I'm thinking about purchasing a 16" upper in 7.62x39.  Are they worth the money?  How's accuracy?  Are the weapon and magazine reliable?

Any information, experiences appreciated!!

John

lots of good information and opinions in the last few days check the posts for the last week or so

In engineering terms, they say "a new broom sweeps clean".  The point being that it is better to have a ground up design for the purpose rather than to adapt an old one.  If you want to shoot 7.62, buy a rifle built around the round (and the AR isn't that rifle).

The mag well on an AR has the wrong shape.  It is built around the 5.56 round and not the 7.62x39.  Can it work?....sure.  Does it work well....not that well in my opinin.  The mags that fit the ARs in 7.62 lack the amount of curve needed for this round and hence most guys have problems with jams when loaded more than a few rounds.  

Buy a Russian RPK version of the AK and you will be happy and it shouldn't cost much more a good quality upper that will fit your AR.

This is a good example....

http://www.impactguns.com/store/vepr_k_7.62x39.html

Simple, never fails, easy to work on, fun to shoot.  


Cheers,
D/D

Hell yes!! in my opinion.
DavidDetroit, if you have a Registered Receiver M16, like I do,  the 7.62x39 upper is a very good reason.  Figure the upper is around $400 vs buying a Registered AK - around $7000.
My 7.62x39 uppers run 100% - the whole 30 ROUNDS - FULL AUTO!!  So if I can get it to run Full auto, you can in semi for sure.
I have 7 working 30 round mags.  A few I had to tinker with and some I didn't.

Need to screw a Vortex on the end of that critter, but otherwise it's looking good!

-- Chuck

Beavis says:

HEH-HEH-HEH,,,Fire!---Fire!---Fire is COOL!,,HEH-HEH..

Looks like a 51.  I love your pics Amphibian, keep'em copming.

I guess the question was all about value?  I can get a great AK to shoot that round for less than $500 for the entire gun.  I would rather have a entire high quality AK over another upper for my AR, but that is just my opinion.

Like Troy, I don't know of a good source of high cap. mags for the 7.62 ARs.  ProMag makes a super 10 rounder that works as well as I've seen in ARs.  I have used the USA ones with very poor luck.  The feed lip steel is too soft and you need to bend them back every so often.  I would rate the USA mag as little more than hobby junk.  I have had the exact same experience with the Mini 30 to the point where I gave up.  The only good 30 rounder I know of is the Thermold, and they get $75 each for them.  I just refuse to pay that, hence I am stuck with the ProMag 10 rounder.   On the other hand, there are tons of mil surplus high cap AK mags out there that work great in any of the good AKs.  

5.56=AR
7.26x39=AK
Why screw with a 5.56 AK or a 7.62 AR? [;)]

But that is just my opinion here and you know what they say about those.

I have had 2-Colt 7.62x39 Uppers,BUT I HAD 10 G-TECH MAGS,like the one in amphibians Blaster,if you can't find those mags,FORGET IT!!!!,As said by a number of AR Dudes,buy a AK for the AK rnd,and have fun making all types of differant uppers w/the AR..I am thinking of getting the .21 (5.45x39) Upper,the AR mags will hold the Rusian rnd,and from what I have read,they shoot Great,very accurate,and hit like a concrete block..I have a mint OLY preban Lower i bought from Stokes,and on top of it,I put a Colt style 9mm,so I have a fun Carbine in 9mm,it LOVES Wolf 9mm ammo,Wolf 9mm has guts,it is Hot,and w/the steel case extracts perfectly..If anyone sees this,and can answer why my Carbine with the same length barrel,out performs my UZI in 9mm,in Distance,and accuracy..The CAR15 w/9mm Upper out shoots the UZI bad,though the AR is ammo picky,where as the UZI shoots ANYTHING i put in it,from ammo that is 900fps,to ammo HP and 1450fps..At 130 to 150 yrds,the AR carbine is much more accurate,and puts a faster rnd down range??????

What are those mags ? They look like regular AK mags. If they are then can't you make mags yourself from AK mags ?

You CAN make them work with USA mags.  I have 2 Gtec mags and don't use them anymore - saving them since so rare.  I use only my USA mags and they work fine.  As I mentioned above, some required tinkering and some didn't.
Here's proof, below is a pic of a friend shooting mine in full auto.  Note the 4 spent casings in the air and the USA mag being used.
[img]http://home.cfl.rr.com/c3stuff/762/cycling.jpg[/img]