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68K views 133 replies 41 participants last post by  c18cz858 
#1 ·
What magazine could be used if there is a 7.62x39 barrel produced by bushmaster? Will an AK mag fit? Will there be a new design?
 
#3 ·
According to a Bushmaster Sales rep it will use the same lower. Meaning that the caliber change will be using AR 7.62x39 mags. There's not too many companies that make that kind. Pretty sure CProducts are the main ones who make it. IMHO if this is true I think they are making a huge mistake. Even Sig's new rifle uses AK mags. With the extreme cartridge taper, the caliber is just not meant to go in a straight magwell like the AR design.
 
#4 ·
If they decide to utilize the (POS) 7.62x39 AR type magazine, I'm not even going to waste my time. The AK mag is the most reliable magazine (designed specifically) for that round and if they
eff it up by using the shoddy AR type mags they'll be shooting themselves in the foot.

They need to follow through with the original Masada designed AK lower that'll accept the AK mag.

Sig got it right with the 556R pending user reviews.
 
#5 ·
I know with the XCR a lot of folks were having troubles with the CProducts mags when they first came out in 7.62x39. It seemed the customer was the beta tester on that project because there were quickly 3 or 4 revisions to the mags, followers and springs. I haven't paid much attention since but then again haven't really seen the multitude of complaints about them either. I remember though people saying to break-in the mag and install a Wolff heavy spring and it would do wonders. Not loading it full to 30 as well seemed to help.

That said, if they try and do it with the standard AR mag well there will be some backlash because, right or wrong, a lot of folks are too lazy to go through any extra steps to get them running right. It'll flop. AK mags are cheap, plentiful and reliable as anything. They could push a 5.45 out the door too. Running -74 mags, now that would interest me.
 
#7 ·
That was so they could show the capability w/o the investment in another bolt/barrel combo. IIRC the original bolts were off the shelf AR18.

Best bet would be for a dedicated AK style lower. Second best would be for an alternate lower with a Magpul designed mag for 7.62x39. The larger mag well would allow rounds like 30AR in hi-caps too.
 
#9 ·
US Palm and Arsenal's waffle mags are the two best on the market. US Palm is to the AK market like Magpul is to the AR market. Nice company!
 
#11 ·
we can hope its 400 for the barrel/bolt setup. bm has been pretty good about the pricing so far but who knows how they will be when they release the new barrels
 
#22 ·
I just ordered another barrel system with operating system from Bushmaster this morning for a grand total of $596 shipped (one month backorder).


They said that the 6.8 conversion should be around the $670ish range. Also, the varying 5.56 barrel lengths DO EXIST but are currently only available to LE and Military departments.
 
#12 ·
Now I have never dealt with them myself but just from reading it seemed to me that the biggest problem people had with the 7.62 AR mags was that they didnt work well with steel cased rounds. I really dont want to have to get a new lower just to have 7.62. If that ends up being the case I will just buy a an AK and get it over with. One of the main draws of the ACR to be was it would be more than one gun in one. The more parts I have to purchase to be able to do that the less attractive it is to me. It's still a badass rifle though. I would jump on some PMAG style 7.62 mags. Someone write Drake over at Magpul a letter and tell him to get to work.
 
#15 ·
Now I have never dealt with them myself but just from reading it seemed to me that the biggest problem people had with the 7.62 AR mags was that they didnt work well with steel cased rounds.
Not so much just steel cased but that x39 has an extreme case taper compared to 223. The XCR crowd really blazed a trail on this one. Like I mentioned in an earlier post after their x39 conversion came out CProducts quickly had several revisions to the mags out in short order. It seems that they aren't running all that bad now though if you plan on using them for serious work wring 'em out first.

I reckon we'll see an AK lower eventually (later than sooner) but Bushmaster probably just wants to get product out the door quickly. Compared to 5.56 it'd be a smaller market even if a 5.45 were thrown into the mix. I think they're making do with what they already have, so to speak.

As for Magpul making mags, probably won't happen. They'd have to make a new lower to fit the mag since it would be larger than a PMag. That would make sense from a business standpoint as the customer would be tied to your products if they wanted to shoot that caliber (unless they went with the AR spec mag of course) but also means it only works in that one rifle. In the end that's a big investment on what is still a small market.
 
#14 ·
To my knowledge they had those last year as well. But there has been multiple confirmations that it will be AR style magazines, including from myself. I personally hope this is not true and will not get a 7.62x39 caliber change if it uses AR style magazines. I would rather spend the 500 or so dollars from that to get more stuff for a 300 Blackout.
 
#16 ·
I understand the taper problem, I've actually had similar but smaller scale problems with mags for my 10/22. I guess what I was getting at with the whole magpul thing is that their has to be a way to engineer an AR mag for 7.62x39 that actually works. Not to be a raving fan boy, but if there is company that can engineer something like that my money is on them.
 
#18 ·
Slightly off-topic, the 5.45 mags have had a decent track record. The case isn't as tapered of course. I don't know that a 5.45 conversion would be a big player on the ACR market other than cheap shooting. Folks might be a little hesitant about running corrosive combloc ammo in their rifle which leaves the newer non-corrosive ammo which gets comparable to cheap .223 options. I'd buy one though since I already support that round.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I see a awful alot of uncertainty in this thread.

I've used the Cproducts 3rd gen 7.62 AR Mags for my XCR-L 7.62x39mm kit, never had a failure. Ran like a dream with 4 seperate mags. The mags themselves feel a little flimsy, and the paint flakes off rather quickly.. but I used them over and over and over, and they still have not had a single problem. Off topic for a second, I love the XCR... i've got 5.56 and 7.62, and man, that gun really is some fierce competition to the AR-15's ACR, SCAR's, and REPR's. dual stage trigger (only 3lbs pull), gas/bolt system, ease of use and takedown, and adjustable gas system.... wooo, its a fine gun. Such a nice rifle, it'd be a coin toss on which I would recommend buying first... the ACR or the XCR.

But then again, I love my enhanced ACR all the same :)

But I'd love it alot more if it could do friggin 7.62 like my XCR can right now.

Not all of us want to buy a new lower. More power to those with deep pockets who can. But for the rest of us who thought the damn gun already cost enough the way it is, on the ACR, the 7.62 AR mags are fine as long as you buy genration 2 or higher (current is 3). And their not expensive. If all I have to buy is bolt, barrel, firing pin and a couple of these mags, I'd be satisfied, and comfortable that it will run fine.
 
#21 ·
Like I said I really dont have any experience with them myself, and had only read a couple of places where people were defending the magazines and used that argument. They were fairly old posts as well and from the more recent stuff I have read it seems like they worked out some of the kinks and the newer C Products mags are working alright. 7.62X39 really isnt ever going to be my go to choice for ammo. It would be nice to have just so my friends that keep trying to get me to buy an AK would just shut up. I am much more excited about converting it to 6.8.
 
#24 ·
Interesting that they actually took your order for the barrel group. I also noticed that another member was able to secure a couple of firing pins. Maybe the light bulb is starting to get some shine to it. (hoping)
 
#28 · (Edited)
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they offer a lower that will take standard AK mags.

I don't have any 74 magazines to compare side by side with my 47 mags, but aren't they close in outward dimensions?

In theory, would an ACR lower that uses AK mags be useable for say both 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 barrel conversions?
 
#32 · (Edited)
7.62x39 cal. conv. - my attempt update 1-22-12

things are looking good up to this point, here is what I have so far : a 16 inch mid gas melonited barrel as made by www.ar15performance.com , 2 ASC magazines, 1 fitted with an original AK 30 rnd spring (will update when tested after seeing if any advantage is had with this mod Alex Robinson himself suggested this course of action to me during our conversation at the 2011 SAR WEST show earlier this month) my spare bolt opened up by" Flounder" (MANY THANKS SIR !) at www.gaprecision.net and a caliber correct extractor from www.model1sales.com (custom polished by Flounder also) (18.95+ s&h) mounted the barrel, minus gas system for now, it fits alot tighter in my trunion than an O.E.M. barrel , but not too tight, polished the foward edges of the mag feed lips (a litle too sharp for my taste , but thats me) -and THOUGHT I was good to go for a simple blank round testfire WRONG !! (that "click" almost broke my heart !) dicovered that a standard AR-15 extractor does not allow the larger diameter ACR firing pin to travel far enough foward to hit the primer ! I started removing material from the extractor trying to duplicate the ACR 5.56 units dimensons and -right or wrong- (time will tell) I ended up removing a small amount of material from the area on the firing pin that passes along the inside of the extractor, reasoning that the F.P. cannot over travel and pierce the primer due to the main shoulder that contacts the rear of the bolt .Once I conquered that hurdle, I was rewarded with 2 rounds of east german crimped blank ammo feeding firing extracting and ejecting (again manually ) very nicely I might add !! right now waiting out this blizzard it will be sometime before I can safely make it out to my range for live round test once that happens barring anymore suprises, it will at last be time for a semi auto test will keep you posted -positive input welcome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well it now runs semi auto (30 rounds and held the bolt open!) -reamed gas port to .095( from .080 to start with )had 2 failures to feed which I attribute to how the mags presents the rounds in relation to the trunion- not sure if its going to be a big deal ,might just need break in time next I will try russian tula steel cased and report back
 
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