Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 7.62x39 AR upper?

See the Mutant that runs AK Mags I think. I’ve a BO I can’t seem to find ammo for and my brother is hung up on a Mini 30 type gun like an old one he had. I’m thinking of converting the BO or grabbing an upper if it’s a more reliable option. I remember years back there were some issues with this setup but with so much done now with ARs I’m guessing it’s mostly resolved.

Which barrel maker/bolt would you use if swapping on an existing upper? The BO supposedly was built with a Shilen or other good barrel before they were on the market. I’ve not fired it ever and had it 7 years. The prior owner ran it suppressed and unsupressed without a hiccup and it doesn’t have an adjustable gas block which I think sounds odd. He’s a good friend who offered to let me try it myself but I’ve since moved. I’m not real familiar with AR designs but when I put a PRS stock and rifle buffer tube on it I noticed the old buffer had a translucent section. Maybe it was picked to cycle best. It’s matched to a 556 both built by BPM/Barnes Precision.

Do you handload? The BO is just chopped .223 brass.

If you go down the x39 road, a few key things for success are,

- enhanced firing pin (it's a little longer)

- magazines. I've had no trouble with DSC Duramags.

- full strength milspec trigger spring and full weight milspec hammer. All my ARs are milspec triggers.



I have a couple complete uppers from Palmetto State Armory that have been 100% with steel cased Russian ammo. One is the 16" carbine, the other is a 10.5" pistol. Also rolled the dice on an upper from AR15Parts.com...(I know, I know.....grin), but the stupid thing has also ran fine, it is a 20" barrel and mid-length gas system.

Some pics of the x39's.

Don't feel bad, a guy I shoot with at the club buys a lot of stuff from Model 1 sales and he has a 7.62x39 complete upper from them. It actually shoots pretty good. Its a 20" A2 upper. When I think of model 1 sales, I think dirt cheap, but my friend says he has no complaints, so that may also be a consideration for the OP..

CBC industries has 7.62x39 uppers for 299

I don't feel bad at all. I went down this path to have a few economical uppers that could feed off an alternate ammo supply than 5.56/223.

The way things are now, even 7.62x39 is getting scarce.

I hear you. I still have over 2,000 rounds of wolf steel cased 7.62x39. I actually thought about converting one of my ar's over.