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Posted: 11/21/2020 7:45:45 PM EDT
Mags have always been pricey for the 5.56 AK's, but now ammo is through the roof and nobody, as far as I can tell, is building 5.55 AK's. Is it a dead platform? I greatly prefer the 5.55 and 5.45 guns. It was just a few months earlier this year I was looking at a 106fr and laughing at the $1500 price tag... |
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Hard to call it "dead" when Arsenal just released the SAM-5 this month, PSA is planning on a 5.56 AK release, and Century teased more than once that (before COVID no doubt pissed in the plans) they were planning on bringing in a WASR in 5.56.
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Quoted: Hard to call it "dead" when Arsenal just released the SAM-5 this month, PSA is planning on a 5.56 AK release, and Century teased more than once that (before COVID no doubt pissed in the plans) they were planning on bringing in a WASR in 5.56. View Quote I won't hold my breath on the PSA, but that's good news on the arsenal. I (clearly) haven't been paying enough attention to the market. I thought arsenal had walked away from the 5.56 after the 106 series. |
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SAM5, galil ACE, slr106CR, slr106UR, vepr sporter, vepr super, slr106F, and saiga sporter here. All in 5.56.
Y'all send your dead platform 5.56 aks my way. I'll take them in. |
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Quoted: yeah, they ceased making the 106s round 2013. mine didn't cost me anywhere near 1500 bucks, and that includes the tax stamp https://i.imgur.com/oE0TUFN.jpg View Quote I have a 106ur but I wanted a carbine or fullsized to go along with it. Aside, I wasn't aware there were beta mags with 556 AK towers. |
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AKs in that caliber have always been hamstrung by the fact that there isn’t a standard magazine. It seems like every variant or manufacturer uses a different mag that’s incompatible with everyone else’s. The Norinco 84 imports back in the 80s wouldn’t work in the Poly 223s, and so on and so forth.
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Quoted: AKs in that caliber have always been hamstrung by the fact that there isn’t a standard magazine. It seems like every variant or manufacturer uses a different mag that’s incompatible with everyone else’s. The Norinco 84 imports back in the 80s wouldn’t work in the Poly 223s, and so on and so forth. View Quote Have a SAR 3 and up until I saw the inexpensive composites recently, was set to buy the much pricier Weigers. My SAR 2 and SAR 3 are the AK platforms I kept. My 7.62s all got sold off. Although I do have a Polish underfolder kit that I want to eventually complete. |
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Mag compatibility, availability, and price were all a big problem in the past. Clear Circle-10s were really cool, but pricey.
People say the AC-Unity mags have solved that (and the quality seems really nice for the price), but I don't know about cross-compatibility with all the formerly imported types of 5.56 AKs out there. |
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Has anyone come out with a mag well adapter? I have one for my Micro Galil that takes AR mags. And since it is an AK design, don't see why it would be difficult to adapt the same to standard AKs.
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No one mentioned the M85. I've had no problem finding mags, Polish Beryl and Galil 35 rounders.
I personally don't want a mag adapter and prefer to use ak mags in my aks. But for the M85 there is a mag adapter available, I forgot who makes it but I know M13 offers it as one of their services if you want to roll the dice with those shady individuals. I think it's ~350-$400 |
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Unlike the 5.45 & 7.62 guns, there just hasn't been a "Standard" for the 5.56 AK mag.
Everyone is doing their own thing. Sometimes you can find the mag that gun calls for, sometimes you are "converting' one over with who knows what results. Beauty of the AK is you can take a Russian, or Chinese, or Bulgarian, or where ever AK mag and slap it into an AK from just about any country. 5.56 AKs have been literally all over the map with little interchangeability because of the lack of a "Standard" standard. |
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Quoted: Unlike the 5.45 & 7.62 guns, there just hasn't been a "Standard" for the 5.56 AK mag. Everyone is doing their own thing. Sometimes you can find the mag that gun calls for, sometimes you are "converting' one over with who knows what results. Beauty of the AK is you can take a Russian, or Chinese, or Bulgarian, or where ever AK mag and slap it into an AK from just about any country. 5.56 AKs have been literally all over the map with little interchangeability because of the lack of a "Standard" standard. View Quote This pretty much nails it right on the head |
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On the contrary I believe the popularity of the 5.56AK was considerably on the rise prior to the ammo shortage. Instagram/Youtube personalities were popularizing them and I was seeing far more people getting interested in them. I've been in the AK game for only some 17 years or so but in my opinion 2020 was starting to look like the year of the 5.56 Kalshnikov.
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I have an AK-74 in 300BLK that I am re-barreling to 5.56 as there isn't much out there. The 300BLK barrel will be used for a custom shorty AK project, so it will get some use. I use the Bulgarian 5.56 mags and have enough for a combat load out. I already have two 5.45 guns and a few 7.62 guns. I also have a 5.56 Valmet. That is the one that has magazine issues. I use modified SAR-3 Promags and they seem to work. The Valmet doesn't get out of the safe much, but the 5.56 AK most likely will. I have a lot of steel cased 5.56 waiting for it. The last 5.56 AK I've seen besides my Valmet was an Arsenal. I was going to buy it, but it had sold in the two weeks I saved up for it. The cheap AC-Unity mags look like a good deal. I don't have any yet, but I plan on buying about 10 to stock up on.
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Zastava is supposedly bringing the M90 rifle back but no word on if it will use rock in mags or the AR mag adapter. For whatever reason when they brought back the M85 it did not have the mag adapter.
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Quoted: No one mentioned the M85. I've had no problem finding mags, Polish Beryl and Galil 35 rounders. I personally don't want a mag adapter and prefer to use ak mags in my aks. But for the M85 there is a mag adapter available, I forgot who makes it but I know M13 offers it as one of their services if you want to roll the dice with those shady individuals. I think it's ~350-$400 View Quote I thought beryl mags were everyone's cheap go-to for their arsenals? I haven't tried any, though I have plenty of circle 10's. At least for the guns I have. |
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Quoted: I have a 106ur but I wanted a carbine or fullsized to go along with it. Aside, I wasn't aware there were beta mags with 556 AK towers. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: I have a 106ur but I wanted a carbine or fullsized to go along with it. Aside, I wasn't aware there were beta mags with 556 AK towers. there isn't, I'm the only one, as far as I know that has made one https://www.ar15.com/forums/AK-47/100-round-drum-for-a-SLR-106ur-5-56-AK-/55-166998/ Quoted: Has anyone come out with a mag well adapter? I have one for my Micro Galil that takes AR mags. And since it is an AK design, don't see why it would be difficult to adapt the same to standard AKs. there was a couple of companies that made/making mag well adapters that uses AR mags, do a GOOGLE search. |
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Don't forget the FB Radom Mini Beryl pistols coming in. Guns are 100% built, just waiting on the Polish gov to sign off.
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AC Unity is now offering windowed polymer 5.56 AK mags that seem to work great in all of the 5.56 AKs including the M85, and only cost $14.
https://www.robertrtg.com/store/pc/AK-30RD-5-56x45MM-WINDOW-MAGAZINE-AC-UNITY-392p7087.htm |
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Quoted: AC Unity is now offering windowed polymer 5.56 AK mags that seem to work great in all of the 5.56 AKs including the M85, and only cost $14. https://www.robertrtg.com/store/pc/AK-30RD-5-56x45MM-WINDOW-MAGAZINE-AC-UNITY-392p7087.htm https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/146/E2862340-4DE6-4790-9A3E-7BF7669AAF05-1692205.jpg View Quote Not all, only those that will accept 5.56 mags that share the AK74 mag dimensions. That leaves out a few. For example they will not fit a Saiga without modification That being said I would feel a whole lot better modding a $13 mag to fit a rifle than I would a $50 |
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5.57 ak isn't dead or heading that way. What keeps it marginalized is the lack of any standard magazine.
Magpul makes a decent ar mag, but their ak mag is not widely accepted by ak enthusiasts. |
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Quoted: Not all, only those that will accept 5.56 mags that share the AK74 mag dimensions. That leaves out a few. For example they will not fit a Saiga without modification That being said I would feel a whole lot better modding a $13 mag to fit a rifle than I would a $50 View Quote They work in the Saiga if it's been converted. I run Circle 10 and AC Unity in mine. |
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Quoted: Never understood the interest in 5.56 AK's. View Quote I didnt either until I started competing with my 47's. Now I want one. Lower recoil helps you get back on target/transition to other targets faster, (the guys I shoot with are good enough that I'll take every single advantage I can....their worst days on the range are usually better than my best days on the range). Additionally, I have a ready supply of 5.56 brass and can reload for it., so streamlining of calibers and components. Do I need one? No. Do I want one? Yes. |
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Quoted: Never understood the interest in 5.56 AK's. View Quote My first AK was a 5.45, so I've always preferred the small bore ones. From a high-level, it's like the AK on easy mode. Almost no recoil and pretty accurate. I started in on the 5.56 AK as a plan B for times when 5.45 ammo might be hard to find, just a toy really. They have always been the red-headed stepchild of the AK world given the lack of standardization, and Arsenal/K-VAR didn't do them any favors with their price/availability games on Bulgarian 5.56 mags. Probably a prime example of smothering that market by their own greed. They should have pumped out the design and tried to make it the defacto standard in absence of a real Warsaw Pact one. In the end, the dimensions of the Polish/Russian/Bulgarian did win out but Arsenal is now irrelevant in the market. They've given life to various designs that use AR mags, the Yugo M85/M90 mags, and Russian/Bosnian companies that are making decent mags undercutting the Bulgarian price point. (The Romanian/East German standard is pretty much dead though. ) I think there will always be a small part of the market that's interested in 5.56 AKs, be it for ammo commonality with existing guns, not relying on imports, belief in 5.56 superiority, whatever. There's always room at the AK table! |
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Quoted: I didnt either until I started competing with my 47's. Now I want one. Lower recoil helps you get back on target/transition to other targets faster, (the guys I shoot with are good enough that I'll take every single advantage I can....their worst days on the range are usually better than my best days on the range). View Quote ^^^This^^^ |
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Quoted: They shoot smooth like a 5.45 AK but with better ammo availability (under normal conditions) . View Quote that was one of the driving reasons why I bought a SAR3 and the SLR 106, the SAR3 I bought in 03, was uber cheap, as no one wanted it, so I got it for less the 200 bucks . the foreign made ammo, ie 7.62 and 5.45 is subject to importation bans, not so for .223. I have a couple of 7.62s and 5.45, but what happens if that ammo come to a scratching halt? |
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Quoted: They work in the Saiga if it's been converted. I run Circle 10 and AC Unity in mine. View Quote Interesting because mine will not even allow them to rock in due to the front of the feed lips hitting the trunnion locking lugs, same as Beryl mags. Sometimes I wonder if some Saiga .223s got an AK-74 trunnion while others got an AK-103 trunnion. You can lock in a 7.62x39 mag on mine. |
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Ac unity won’t fit Beryl without mods
Fit the new sam5 just fine, beryl mags also fit sam5 Haven’t tried the AC’s in yugo m95 build yet. 5.56 ak’s are on the rise in my opinion Love them Keeping fingers crossed on mini beryl with new batf interpretations Was hoping to see more FB Radom imports But thinking that ship is sunk now |
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Quoted: Ac unity won’t fit Beryl without mods Fit the new sam5 just fine, beryl mags also fit sam5 Haven’t tried the AC’s in yugo m95 build yet. 5.56 ak’s are on the rise in my opinion Love them Keeping fingers crossed on mini beryl with new batf interpretations Was hoping to see more FB Radom imports But thinking that ship is sunk now View Quote ^This. Me with a mini Beryl in AFG 2017. Met some Polish officers who were cool af. Attached File |
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Quoted: The .223 Saiga trunnion is different, the area that is just forward of the feed lips goes lower than your standard .223 AK. The magazine has to be filed/dremeled down or the bottom of the trunnion in that area has to be milled/dremeled. https://imgur.com/Tii1q7g View Quote I know but you came across as they go in unmodified. I was saying they won't |
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We are currently working on the 5.56 AK. Some folks will never believe us, and I understand that, but we are actively working on it now! It will be out in early 2021.
Thanks, Josiah |
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Quoted: I said they would fit a converted Saiga, I meant full conversion. That's why I mentioned using Circle 10 mags, I converted it to run with Circle 10 mags, that's why AC Unity mags fit. View Quote What is your idea of a full conversion? Because I'm talking about milling the bottom of the locking lugs shorter to allow an AK74 spec mag to rock in unmodified. I considered doing it at one point with an end mill but decided it didn't make much sense when modding mags was not as irreversible. |
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There's a company out of Florida that is making new made copies of the Robinson arms followers that they *claim* will allow an otherwise unmodified 5.45 mag to work flawlessly with 5.56 ammo. The early testing I've seen on YT from people who have gotten preproduction versions has seemed to back that claim up, but obviously we'll have to wait and see for sure.
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Gross. If I wanted to use some weird AR mag adapter, I'd just use an AR. View Quote This is correct. Aesthetically, I've always thought adding an AR magazine magwell makes AK's look awful. Functionally, adding unnecessary and nonstandard parts seems like a problem as well. Hopefully companies will listen... Speaking of which, I always wondered why IWI didn't do an ACE with the original galil magazine for US customers. |
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My zastava m85 is a blast to shoot, one of my favorite firearms. Unfortunately I can't feed it as much as I want to. My 7.62x39 rifles are being used frequently though because I have a lot of ammo to feed them. Nothing but love for the m85.
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