The AR-47 lower receiver has been available for a while now; is there any legitimate feedback available on the quality & dependability of the AR-47 rifle?

has it been available?  I haven't heard of anybody buying one.

I believe rickinvegas has one and seems to be pretty happy with his.

It's a Hesse product, an AR lower that uses AK mags...

Basically, it allows you to shoot the '2nd cheapest ammo available' (7.62x39) without mag issues...

Downside is, well, you're shooting 7.62x39

Quoted: I believe rickinvegas has one and seems to be pretty happy with his.

I do and I am.
Actually, I have corresponded with a half dozen guys here that have them and they all seem very happy with it.

Pic of Bro-in-law shooting my AR-47


I assembled it from a stripped receiver so I am responsible for collecting everything and putting it all together.  I never had any contact with Special Weapons thankfully.  I have never written out what I did or any kind of range report but to make a long story short, it works.

I used a Model 1 upper and had a local smith do the mods.  The only thing you have to do is widen the opening to accomodate the wider AK mag since it intrudes into the upper by @ 1/2 inch.  The carrier also has to be milled to clear the mag lips.  Thats basically it.
After getting it done, the only functional problem I ran into was some irregular feeding.  I quickly discovered the geometry relationship of the mag/bullet/feedramp was off.  I don't blame the lower since this system was never originally designed to work together.  Luckily the problem was easily fixed with a Dremel and some corse polishing bits.  I widened and shallowed the feedramps slightly........problem fixed (I have heard from some people that SW started to do this mod on their complete guns).  The only other thing I discovered was that hollow points don't work well due to the blunt tip.  FMJ works great.

AR47 Pros:  
Unique gun in a world of same ole, same ole.
30 Cal AR
Cheap mags
Cheap ammo

AR47 Cons:
Gets dirty with Russian ammo and AR gas system.  Real dirty!
No last round hold back
Expensive

Hope this helps

Quoted: It's a Hesse product

not Hesse..........Special Weapons!

Quoted: Quoted: It's a Hesse product not Hesse..........Special Weapons!

Yeah even worse...

At the last SAR show Todd's brother with "Tactical Weapons Training Academy" had a booth, he didnt apreciate it when I pointed out that the AR47 has all the bad features of the AK and all the bad features of the AR in one package! LOL

Bought mine as a complete rifle off Gunbroker from a dealer in AZ. (Not too far from Mesa where SW is based) Anyways, I've been really happy with mine. Only put about 400rds through it so far but no problems. I've used both Wolf & Barnaul Brown Bear. The rifle is accurate (considering the ammo) and cycles perfectly. Just make sure the feed lips on your AK mags aren't too rough (usually only a problem with new mags) I'd pretty much echo Rick's comments. Initially expensive but I already had tons of mags & ammo so in the long run it is fairly economical.

I bought one.  Someone else had built it on a Special Weapons receiver.  The receiver was nice, but the upper was all hacked up to make the AK mags fit.

I HAD LOTS OF FEEDING PROBLEMS.

When I pull the trigger, the rifle has to fire and be ready to fire again, providing the mag is not empty.  My AR47 was ready about 10% of the time.  The other times, I had to pull the charging handle back, or release the mag and clear a misfed round, etc.

The seller said that maybe it was my choice of AK mags, and that he had less problems with Hungarian 20 rounders.  Needless to say, I sent it back and he was honorable enough to give me a refund.

So, maybe if Special Weapons makes an upper that is designed for the lower, and a bolt carrier also, then you will be less likely to have problems.  Or, if your smitty is really good.  But if you get one that went through a questionable smitty...

I took that money and bought an Aresenal Inc. AK variant.  IT IS AWESOME.  It is almost as accurate as my Colt 20" AR, and NEVER HAS FEEDING PROBLEMS, regardless of whether it is clean, or hot, or whether or not I use supercheap ammo.

Quoted: I took that money and bought an Aresenal Inc. AK variant.  IT IS AWESOME.  It is almost as accurate as my Colt 20" AR, and NEVER HAS FEEDING PROBLEMS, regardless of whether it is clean, or hot, or whether or not I use supercheap ammo.

The AR47 is nothing more than a novelty item.  It is not a substitute for either a traditional AK or AR, it's a solution in search of a problem.  I own 3 ARs and 5 or 6 AKs so for me the AR47 was just a fun purchase.  

Quoted: Quoted: I took that money and bought an Aresenal Inc. AK variant.  IT IS AWESOME.  It is almost as accurate as my Colt 20" AR, and NEVER HAS FEEDING PROBLEMS, regardless of whether it is clean, or hot, or whether or not I use supercheap ammo. The AR47 is nothing more than a novelty item.  It is not a substitute for either a traditional AK or AR, it's a solution in search of a problem.  I own 3 ARs and 5 or 6 AKs so for me the AR47 was just a fun purchase.

Same here......  the main reason I got it was cause it gets boring to just buy another AR or AK when you already have plenty of them. ;)