OK, why can't you make a 5.45 pistol?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - OK, why can't you make a 5.45 pistol?

Posted: 10/6/2004 1:49:50 PM EDT

I know about the 7n6 and all that, but isnt their an exception for bullets of less than .22 caliber? 5.45 mikes at 0.214567 inches. Its a .21 caliber, and it ought to be legal to shoot 7n6 out of a pistol and import all you want. Whats the problem though?

Posted: 10/6/2004 1:58:11 PM EDT

[#1]

Bt what I've read is that some 5.45 ammo waiting to be imported has a steel core and if someone gets busted using steel core ammo on a pistol then all the steel core ammo can get banned, ala what happened to 7.62 ammo some years back.

Posted: 10/6/2004 2:02:57 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
Bt what I've read is that some 5.45 ammo waiting to be imported has a steel core and if someone gets busted using steel core ammo on a pistol then all the steel core ammo can get banned, ala what happened to 7.62 ammo some years back.

I know that, but my reading of the law leads me to conclude that projectiles smaller than .22 are exempted.

Posted: 10/6/2004 2:25:58 PM EDT

[#3]

you CAN build a .45 pistol...if you want to risk getting any future import of 5.45 milsurp ammo banned.

imo, a stupid course to take.

if you decide to build one, please...keep your mouth shut about it, stay off the forums with your 'really cool toy' and shoot the sucker where i can't see you.

personally, i could care less if you own a freaking mk19 grenade launcher configured as a pistol...but, i don't want to know about it.

Posted: 10/6/2004 10:55:37 PM EDT

[#4]

+1

S.O.

Posted: 10/6/2004 11:40:15 PM EDT

[#5]

A note to AK enthusiasts:

The passing away of the assault weapons ban has increased the number of legal configurations for these weapons. It seems as if the sky is the limit for the variations that are now possible to produce. We have noticed, for instance, that folding stocks have become popular items in the last few weeks, as well as components to manufacture AK pistols.

However we would like to caution anyone interested in manufacturing a pistol on several issues. First of all the receiver must start out as a pistol. It has never been legal to convert a rifle to a pistol. In the past there have been successful AK pistols in 7.62 and .223 calibers.

It is in the issue of caliber that a hidden danger lies. As of today no pistol has been available in 5.45mm, the cartridge of the AK-74 rifle. It has come to our attention that once a pistol is made available in 5.45mm, this cartridge will be considered a pistol cartridge. Since most, if not all, of this ammunition is imported and contains a steel core.

The BATFE has already indicated that if this happens the ammunition will be considered an illegal armor-piercing pistol cartridge. This will have the same effect that producing an AR-15 pistol in 7.62x39 had on the firearms industry a few years ago. The imported supply of inexpensive high-quality ammunition was cut off. Currently no major ammo manufacturer is producing 5.45 and this caliber would be very expensive to make here.

So we would like to encourage anyone who wishes to build an AK pistol to use calibers 7.62x39 and .223, or any established pistol calibers. We do not need to create another crisis by shooting ourselves in the foot and giving ground back to those who would like to see our good luck reversed.

Thank you.
K-Var

Posted: 10/9/2004 1:49:47 PM EDT

[#6]

Uh oh look what I found www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=23938268

All your steel core 5.45 are belong to us!

Posted: 10/9/2004 1:56:32 PM EDT

[#7]

The 5.45 bullet is .221 inch so it is technically 22 caliber.

5.45 mikes at 0.214567 inches.

No, it doesn't mike at 0.214567 inches. When you put 5.45mm into a millimeter to inches conversion, that is the number it spits out in response. You are not going to mike a bullet to the millionth of an inch with anything outside of Sandia National Laboratory.

You are getting a rounding error when you try and literally translate 5.45mm into english measurements.

Botom line, it is .221, many of us here has miked the bullets with hand calipers. Trust us, it's 22.

Posted: 10/9/2004 4:29:55 PM EDT

[#8]

Damn............I just put a deposit on an ORF AK-74............I hope like hell that 5.45 does not disappear overnight.................crap!

Posted: 10/9/2004 4:41:20 PM EDT

[#9]

Cyclone, it only affects the 7N6 5.45 Military Issue Ball, not the current commercial offerings.

But I want 7N6.

Posted: 10/9/2004 4:44:21 PM EDT

[#10]

OK, I looked into it, had this one figured out the day I posted it. Thanks for the IM CampyBob.

So, 5.45 is not the actuall bullet diameter, its really .221. Why they didn't use .224 like the west, I don't know.

Hopefully, even with the 5.45 pistols appaering in small quantity in the market, it won't be a problem. After all, the law says ammunition specifically made for a pistol, which basically leaves it up to the ATF, which is normally a bad thing.

Posted: 10/9/2004 8:30:58 PM EDT

[#11]

Thanks Heavy Metal...............that eases my mind................but I want that ammo too

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - OK, why can't you make a 5.45 pistol?

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