I have a ton of surplus 5.45 and only one SAR2 that eats it.
At some point, I had planned on more AK74 type guns and bakelite mags, back when they were a bargain, but got sidetracked with other projects, and at this time am pretty much not as enamored with AK, HK, etc. platforms and pretty much sticking with AR based for new semi autos.
I am not getting rid of AKs, I just don’t plan on buying more. Sure, when MAK90s and SKS-Ms were like 200$ and ARs cost two or three times as much, it was a cool option. I just don’t feel like paying 600$ or more for non-ergonomic platforms that are not the massive ammo and mag bargain they used to be.
Maybe this is more of a “instead of 5.56” vs. “beyond 5.56” question,
but in stock, available 5.45 uppers are pretty limited right now.
It is either luck of the draw Model 1 quality, getting OA, or a piston.
Are there better options I am missing?
Is it better to just get a barrel and a bolt and build an upper with the current options?
At this time, I am also confused on mags. There used to be C-products mags. Then ASC mags. I thought C-products mags had gone away, but am seeing new ones for sale. Is going with ASC only still the way to go?
I have read over some long term user’s post regarding the 5.45 uppers, but a S&W or Spikes look like they are no longer made or available.
I went with a Spike’s mid-length upper. Grabbed it from AIM surplus earlier this year. As far as mags go the first ones i bought were ASC and they worked flawlessly when loaded with 30 rds. Once I found more mags in stock the only thing available were C-products, I bought three (read bad reviews). All three followers stuck about halfway when loaded with 15rds or more. I took them apart, checked for any burrs or weld slag (found none) and coated the inside of the mag body with some liquid teflon lube. This seemed to do the trick as the followers move freely now. Found a few more at Midway recently. These were “Stoner” brand from what I’ve read is Midway’s house brand. I searched a few other sites that said Stoner mags are made by C-products but mine have ASC followers & Stoner floor plates. The bodies look identical to the ASC brand mags I already have. Haven’t used these yet.
The differences I’ve noticed are that the ASC mags feel smoother inside and out. No sharp edges on them. They seem to have a dry film lube on the inside of the mag body. The C-products mags def don’t have a dry film lube inside the mag body and have a lot more sharp edges.
i se a.s.c. mags in all my 5x45’s work great. had 1 bad, in 50 or so.
many like spike’s. i DONT!!!. have never gotten 1 pc of kit that worked.
older days: bad 5x45 finally returned my money in only 3 months.
.22 uppers: 2 of them 1 of the big wigs said he was sending me his personl upper: returned both
model 1: has never sold me a bad pc of gear
bought 6 7.62x30 bcg in the midddle of the conn. shot storm all work fine in guns i built.
TRY to find a s&w they are out there
good luck
and no i am not selling any of mine have 18k rds in ammo also.
With all due respect: Really dude? I’m sure you have at least something of value to contribute, so please have the decency to use quasi-correct English.
i called spikes’ directly and they say the 5.45’s are a seasonal run item, and sold exclusively thru aim, so they pop every couple of months and go quickly.
i waited about 3 mos…
i have a web browser page-monitoring plug in loaded and it notified me when the upper was in stock. this was early last year, so they went fast (10 mins, if memory serves…).
as to mags, it seems pmag m2 window’s can be easily modified to run quite acceptably at nearly full capacity (and they will still run 5.56, unlike the c-prod/asc 5.45’s). search on youtube there are a number of vids on how to “pro-tilt” the follower to allow for the 5.45’s extreme taper.
i modified some usgi green followers and a single old black follower similarly and it made a huge improvement in loading the 5.45 in 2 usgi style Al mags.
The Spike’s 5.45 middies are very good. I have one, as well.
You can buy ASC mags directly from their website. That’s how I bought mine. They work very well: http://www.ammosc.com/
MrGunsnGear has also had luck with Magpul Gen2 Windowed PMAGs, EMAGs, and MWG IK-520 mags in his 5.45 AR. You can find more details on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Mrgunsngear
Ballistic Advantage seems to be a company that specializes in the 5.45 AR niche. They just started selling complete upper receiver groups and I ordered one.
I need to find either some Gen2 windowed PMAGs to modify or purchase some EMAGs or 5.45 specific mags so I haven’t shot it yet so I can’t give a range report.
Almost every part is treated via some methods to negate the effects of milsurp corrosive ammo. The fit on the upper is very tight and the finish is nice and clean. The finish is so nice that I’m backing away from my original plan to rattle can the gun.
Right now they have 3 uppers offered. I have the 16" mid, govt profile with NiB BCG.
Once I shoot it (it may not be until this weekend) I will give a range report.
Thank you, that sounds great.
My 5.45 mags work great.
(but I only have a trash barrel while I have no decided on the BA barrel I want yet)
Look forward to hearing how it shoots.
Question, does the BA upper use a standard AR barrel nut? I’m looking at one of these and would like to set it up like my work gun. Low profike the gas block then add a Samson Evo rail.
I finally got some 5.45 specific mags and shot the BA 5.45. First, I loaded some rounds in an ASC mag and tried to manually cycle the action to see if the mags would feed/eject. I had issues doing this with more than 20 rounds. Over 28 rounds, the mag did not feed consistently. I disassembled the mag, lubed it, and reassembled it. First I loaded 20 rounds in the lubed ASC mag and the gun ran flawlessly. I then tried 28 rounds and, again, no issues. Obviously the feeding issues are mag related and not related to the URG.
Spent cases were extracted and thrown at around the 3:30/4:00 relative to my standing shooting position and about 5-6 feet from my position. I was shooting WPA 60 grain FMJ.
Ballistic Advantage contacted me via PM on another site and offered to engrave 5.45 onto the upper receiver. I will probably send it back to them to have this done next week.
Pic of complete 5.45 rifle-
I hope I have some time to shoot it this weekend to see how it groups. This was more of a mag/upper function check.
