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5.54x39???

GA BOY said:
I sold my prized ak a while back, I'll get another one or two or three again
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I've been shooting AKs only for many years, don't get me wrong though I like ARs just fine too though. Once I got into carbine competitions I realised that shooting 7.62x39 vs a bunch of AR guys was really hard. It was like racing a jeep against corvettes on asphalt. I picked up my first 5 45 in order to keep follow up shots fast and tight. It worked. I have three now and rarely shoot my 7.62 AKs anymore.

Watch combat footage from the Ukraine conflict. A billion 5 45 rounds flying back and forth from both sides. Very informative.
 
Yeah. Less recoil than .223 in a full size gun. Much less than 762 x 39. Ageed minus reloads you can almost keep up with an AR. SBR is cool but dumb. Velocity is what gives these tiny rounds .223 included... the killing power. That big fireball comming out the end it all your killing power dissapperaring.
 
Everything is a trade-off.

SBR's sacrifice velocity for a compact package that works better in close-quarters.

A long barrel will give you more velocity, and therefore more energy, at the cost a more unwieldy weapon.

So why do many military/LE units go with something in the neighborhood of a 12" 5.56? Still better energy than a pistol caliber SMG in the same size package, as well as the ability to punch through many types of body armor.

I've got a Colt 9mm SMG with a 9" barrel, and a 10" SIG 556xi Russian in 7.62x39mm. If I had to go through a door against unknowns with either, I'll take the SIG, unless I had the necessity of running a silencer/suppressor.

One of my good friends spent 12 years as a Force Recon Marine and another 8 in NavSpecWar. In Iraq, his weapon of choice was a 12" M4. He used it plenty and had faith in it.

I don't own an SBR that's smaller in caliber than 7.62. I'll agree, if I'm gonna lose a lot of velocity then I'll opt for a heavier bullet. Again, cuz everything is a trade-off, it has quite a bit more recoil and muzzle jump than the same gun in one 5.56 or 5.45 would have. So, more punch, but I can't shoot it as fast accurately. In the time I can out 3 accurate rounds on target with it, I can probably put a good 6 rounds or so of 5.56 on the same target with equal accuracy out of my 16" 5.56.

I will admit, the vast majority of folks running an SBR run it cuz it's cool. As an American, I'm fine with that as well!
 
The SBR packages are very handy. I remember clearing Williamson Bro's BBQ after dark one evening. Silent alarm and when we arrived, my partner and I could hear an irregular "banging" inside the restaurant. To us, sounded likely something trying to break into something. As it turns out, it was the noise of old steam pipes.

Anyways, I went in with a 14" Benelli M1. Something reassuring about a scattergun at close quarters, and it had a Surefire dedicated forend on it. This was before we were issued weapon-mounted lights for our G22's.

The restaurant was a bugger to clear. Lotsa nooks and crannies, and having to clear every booth. I found out soon that even my 14" Benelli was too long in many instances. I was constantly transitioning from shoulder-to-shoulder. I ended up slinging it on my back and going to my G22 and a handheld light.

In this particular instance, a lighter weight SMG or SBR with a 9"-10" barrel would have been the ticket. More punch than my G22, the ability to defeat body armor (in an appropriate SBR), more accurate, light-mounted, and possibly a RDS a similar that, combined with the fact that it's shoulder-fired, would make it quicker to put rounds on target in a lowlight environment. Not just quicker to put rounds on target from the start, but once you're rolling you're gonna be able to put more accurate rounds onto the target in the same amount of time.

So, when working in a CQB environment, there can be a world of difference between working with a 14.5"-16" barrel vs a 9"-12" barrel.

Now, if you're working in outdoor open areas, an SBR wouldn't be my first recommendation. Now we're talking further engagement distances where the reduced velocity of the SBR is a detriment. This is why the military settled on a 14.5" barrel for the M4; it's a jack-of-all-trades. Works OK in most CQB situations but you can still engage at the distances that most infantrymen can accurately engage. It would be nice if all grunts had the ability to pick and choose like my Force Recon buddy. He had a selection of weapons he could choose from to suit the mission at hand. Alas, just not possible for the regular grunt.
 
So far I'm really liking it.

It's similar to the 223 but cheaper (only about $20/1000 more than 7.62x39). You can get Hornady V-Max rounds as well and Magpul is about to release magazines for it.
 
spencer60 said:
So far I'm really liking it.

It's similar to the 223 but cheaper (only about $20/1000 more than 7.62x39). You can get Hornady V-Max rounds as well and Magpul is about to release magazines for it.
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Nothing real cheap about that ammo. I have 500 rounds. It's about 40 cents if you look around.
 
leechnilk1 said:
I've been shooting AKs only for many years, don't get me wrong though I like ARs just fine too though. Once I got into carbine competitions I realised that shooting 7.62x39 vs a bunch of AR guys was really hard. It was like racing a jeep against corvettes on asphalt. I picked up my first 5 45 in order to keep follow up shots fast and tight. It worked. I have three now and rarely shoot my 7.62 AKs anymore.

Watch combat footage from the Ukraine conflict. A billion 5 45 rounds flying back and forth from both sides. Very informative.
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Once I got a polish tantal side folder , I shelved the mak90 and SAR 1 and scooped up a SAR 2 and 3k of 5.45 surplus.

Done and done.
 
jimipanic said:
Once I got a polish tantal side folder , I shelved the mak90 and SAR 1 and scooped up a SAR 2 and 3k of 5.45 surplus.

Done and done.
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I want a Tantal pretty bad to use as a beater, but I've heard a lot of stories about the jacked up twist rate on the earlier imports. How well does the muzzle break work compared to the normal 74 style break? It looks virtually the same, but I was wondering about the performance.
 
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