Bolt gun in 5.45X39 cal.

Ray1946

Has anyone built a bolt action rifle for the 5.45X39 cartridge? I was able to get a real deal on a quantity of this ammo and would like to shoot it up in something besides an AK. I talked to the people at Krieger and they will make a barrel...........Ray

Mobuck

Sure it's possible given the proper boltface and bore diameter. The bore might be the biggest obstacle as the boltface is fairly simple. I have some RWS premium quality ammo which is listed as .215" diameter( which costs about the same as 5.56 now). The Barnual I have is right at .222 and initially, I had problems with it jamming in the leade on my M&P15. You might get lucky and find a takeoff Hornet barrel from the past that would work.

Mobuck

Brain Fart. The Hornet barrels would be way too slow twist.

Hawk Carse

Weren't there some East German bolt action 5.45s a while back?

Yup.

http://imageevent.com/willyp/russiansovietcomblocsection/germandemocraticrepublicegermany/ddrssg82sniperrifle

5mmgunguy

Hawk Carse is right on...the East Germans do. It was their Police or Military sniper rifle.

leeblackman

I recall seeing some russian made import bull barreled bolt rifles chambered for the 5.45 cartridge. I don't remember if it was SOG or CDNN, but someone had then in their catalog a while back. I'll look around and see if I can find it.

chumchum

SSG 82

Ray1946

Thanks so much for the input. I have one of the new Savage Edge rifles in .223 and want to use this as a basis for the 5.45 project. I contacted Krieger and talked to someone there by the name of Scot and he was very helpful. He said they could make a barrel with a .214 bore and a .222 groove. I ordered a turned blank with 1 in 7" twist and stainless. He said right now it looks like about a 6 month wait.

I pulled a bullet from the Barnaul ammo and the bullet is a true .222 and the overall length is a whopping .982! Using Greenhill at a 150 constant, this works out to 6.995 with a .214 bore and 7.040 with a .215 bore. So, I setteled on 1 in 7.

Pacific Tool will make a reamer for me at $138.00 with the removable pilot......................Ray

Hawk Carse

That seems like a lot of work to be able to plink up Commie surplus ammo.

Ray1946

I agree in a way, but its something thats been crawling in the cobwebs ever since I put 5 rounds in a little over 3/4" at 100 hundred yds. There are several versions of surplus ammo out there and about 3 versions of commercial, and its all fairly inexpensive.

I was wanting to buy an SSG82, but after having researched them on the web, I decided to build my own. The SSG82 is a rear-locker and I guess some folks have has problems with extraction. Seems like one of the commercial manufacturers would "wake-up" and offer a stainless tubed rifle for this caliber. I say stainless because almost all of the surplus ammo is corrosive.

Sine I retired a year ago or so this has been on my mind, so its time to do something about it...............Ray

Mobuck

You might be able to get a factory PPC bolthead for your project. It's an interesting project but I would guess you'll wear out the barrel before breaking even compared to just shooting the 223 with cheap and/or reman ammo. To each his own. My retirement projects involve AR 15's-a real money pit also.

Ray1946

The PPC bolthead is based on the 7.62X39 case. The casehead of the 5.45X39 is smaller, ones I have measure .392 across the rim and the head. What is really fascinating to me is the projectile itself. The one in the Wolf commercial ammo is .982 long! This is a real flying pencil and you don't have to spend $.85 apiece for them either.

I have a few cases of the surplus stuff from a few years back, but haven't pulled any of them yet. Should be quite interesting...........Ray