Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles are 7.62x39 AR15s always dogs?

If so, why?

Both me and my son have one and they have been problem free.

Can't say how many rounds shot thru them but i have never counted.

I have one of the KS47s from PSA - which takes AK mags. It shoots pretty accurately and has run fine so far. A couple of quirks are that some plastic AK mags don't fit, and you can't use a 1 piece trigger, like the Timney, due to the mag release.

I don't know a lot about 7.62X39 ARs except that I have an exceptional one. It is one of the early Colt uppers. My buddy that is an AR nut said that Colt did it right when they made them. All I know is that it is problem free and very accurate!

Colt deepened bolt face depth from 0.125" to 0.136". Other makers assumed widening the face was all that was needed. Ergo broken bolts. Grendel bolts are supposedly proper.

Some makers used 0.308" bore diameter, too.

Thanks for the replies. I was beginning to think I'd become invisible or something.

A little clarification: the reason I ask is that I have a couple of AR15s in 6mm AR (not ARC) and have listed them for sale elsewhere. I built them just before the 6 ARC was introduced. They're very good rifles but I decided to migrate to large-frame guns for hog hunting. Anyway, there seems to be no interest in these rifles because they're a handload-only proposition to begin with and the 6mm ARC is the easy way to go. So, I was considering acquisition of a couple of barrels to install to make the guns more marketable, and 7.62x39 looks like the easy button, but I hesitate because of some of the comments I've seen on ARs chamber in the Russian round. I figure that the issues just about have to be centered on the magazines but I've figured wrong before. So that's why I'm mining for info here.

I've found that 7.62x39 barrels are readily available, but I'm not diving right in with this idea until I know a little more. I think I'd best research magazines for the round also.

Another option that just popped into my head is 5.6x39, but that's one I have heard next to nothing about. I guess I'll be looking around some more, and see what I can see.


edit: I expect some suggestions, so maybe I should point out the fact that these 6mm ARs utilize the 0.125" recessed bolt face just like the 7.62x39 round seems to normally require.

I shoot the 30x39 with 150s in 10 round mags, .308 barrel with 1-10 twist with a 7.62x39 chamber. I had two, one shot a heavy load of H-332 and the other would not handle the same load which has to have a 2 grain less load. But you can use 1680 and H-335 or surplus 844. The standard 7.62x39 bolt and mags. The curved AR mages may give problems due to the semi - rimmed case.

The original Mini 30s all had .308 barrels, the cartridge is low enough pressure to squeeze down the .311 Russian factory bullets without issue.

Back a couple years ago when I was pinching Pennie’s, I bought a cheaper AR15 upper in 7.62x39. I had some FTE and it was a bad extractor. No extractor to be had at the time, so I replaced the bolt with a new 7.62x39 bolt. Darn thing runs like a charm now.

I have a CHEAP Radical Firearms 7.62x39, has run everything I've put thru it flawlessly. Shoots Bellom brass case 123 gr FMJ under 1 MOA, steel case not so much ( 1.5 - 3 MOA).

I'll pick up some higher end factory hunting rounds to try. Bottom line, it shoots, and has been reliable so far. Maybe 200 rounds so far, with another range date later next week.

For plinking, maybe hogs, this thing is fun!

Sounds like some of the condemnation of ARs chambered for this round is completely baseless and probably should be blamed on bad magazines. Heaven knows there are plenty of bad ones out there.

I'm just not sure the rifles would move that much quicker if I rebarreled them to 7.62x39. I'm thinking maybe going to 6mm ARC or 6.5 Grendel may be the best way to go. Or even .300 Ham'r...that one seems to be getting some favorable attention, but I don't want to put $300 barrels on them to sell them.

Cripes. What to do, what to do.

7.62x39 ARs run fine when everything is right - mags, bolts & ammo. But screw up one of those and you have problems. The ammo is best left to factory/milsurp offerings. Try to step on the gas by handloading and you start breaking bolts. It's a shame because there is a fair amount of improvement to be had in handloading.

I've got three uppers in 7.62x39. A 20", 16", and a 10.5". Been shooting them now for several years. They all run fine.

There are two common points of failure with the 7.62x39 in the AR platform: Magazine feeding issues, and light-strike failure to fire. Here's what I'm using for reliability,

Magazines: 28-round Dura-Mags, by C-Products. I've also had good feeding with the 10-round and 20-round ASC magazines.

Firing pin: I replaced the standard firing pins with the "enhanced firing pin" intended for x39 ammo. It's just a little bit longer to account for deep-seated primers in the common steel-cased ammo, and the extra hard primers.

I'm also using an H3 buffer. Maybe not needed, but it does delay unlocking a bit, and gives a noticeably smoother ride.

Good info, thanks both of you fellers.

Still undecided, and a few are expressing interest in the guns. Maybe I won't have to make a choice, but whatever!

I've always considered the 7.62×39 as a dog.(?)
The old AK's and SKS's were an eyesore to me.
THAT said.......!!!
With today's AR configurations and the fact that they now load soft point hunting bullets, I can see that the 7.62×39 can be a desirable round! 😃

I see the 7.62×39 can be a solid replacement for the time proven .30-30 Win in a semiautomatic format.

I thought the same way about them until I actually used the 6mm AR to kill some pigs. Cartridges don't have to be gigantic to work.

If going larger than a 6mm I am going with the Ham'r.

I wanted more than 5.56/.223 for hog hunting.
I went with the 6.8mm Rem SPC!
I have NOT been disappointed!
I now use the 6.8 as my primary deer, pig, vermin, around the house round.

For me, the motivation to get into the 7.62x39 was twofold. Budget-friendly ammo, and ammo availability.

I 'jumped in' during one of the ammo shortages a few years back, when 5.56 was unavailable, or over $1.00/round for the cheap stuff. At the time, 7.62x39 was still available, and under 50 cents/round.

Even now, you can find the 154gr soft point ammo for a very reasonable price as compared to say the 6.8, the Ham'r, or the 300BO. Example:

https://www.sgammo.com/product/tula...rain-non-corrosive-tula-ammo-packed-used

I found I enjoyed the round enough that I even added an AK47 from Palmetto (GF5) to the inventory.

I thought about getting one in an AR15, but decided against it. Don't like how thin the ring is around the bolt face. Same can be said about the 6ARC. WOA still won't make any AR's in that chambering because they feel it is a week point. I'm happy enough shooting my SKS.


When I think of the cartridge, I always think SKS. It's about the perfect platform for that cartridge. Was shooting it the other day with the girlfriend and made some decent shots, even at 400 yards. Everytime I shoot it, I am reminded that it is a pretty capable little cartridge.