Romanian AK-74

barnett3006 · Post by **barnett3006** » December 9th, 2007, 10:13 pm

Does anyone know if magazines for a .223 ak74/47 will work with an 5.45x39 Romanian ak74?

trent · Post by **trent** » December 10th, 2007, 12:10 pm

interesting question, wish I knew the answer...

2001flhr · Post by **2001flhr** » December 10th, 2007, 4:48 pm

Nope, got a SAR3 myself only mags that work well are the E German in .223. Stay as far away from the ProMags as you can! I bought 3, did all the mod's recommended from others forums. Now I us em for fetch sticks for the dog.

My dos pesos,
Dutch

donnerwetter58 · Post by **donnerwetter58** » December 10th, 2007, 9:02 pm

This is an interesting question.
Most people want to use 5.45 mags in their 223 guns.
The taper of a 5.45x39 case is much greater than the taper of a .223 case. If laid side by side, the 5.45 rounds will form a tighter arc than the .223 rounds. Most 5.45 30 round mags will accept about 20 .223 rounds before binding. There are aftermarket followers designed to alleviate this situation.
There may be other subtle changes as well.
You can find info in the many AK forums out there.

barnett3006 · Post by **barnett3006** » February 4th, 2008, 11:41 pm

I finally picked up a Romy AK74. I still need to take it apart and clean it but I am excited. I also want to finish the unfinished wood furniture that these come with. Pics to come soon!!

donnerwetter58 · Post by **donnerwetter58** » February 7th, 2008, 6:13 pm

My girlfriend has been wanting an AK with pink furniture. So I went and bought her a Romanian WASR-2 last night for Valentines day.
I"m sure she'll want to be involved in turning it pink so it should be a fun project. The thought is to clean and bleach the wood then dye it pink with Rit fabric dye. Finish it with a few coats of urethane.
Seems Dunham's Sporting Goods is always running a sale on some kind of AK. The 5.45x39 versions have little recoil and ammo is (for now) still plentiful and inexpensive.

fritzhund · Post by **fritzhund** » February 7th, 2008, 6:33 pm

Oh No!

More pink guns

And an AK at that!

I can't wait to see this one. Let us know how she looks.

Now my girl is going to make me pink out her Beretta 950 .25

fritzhund

donnerwetter58 · Post by **donnerwetter58** » February 7th, 2008, 8:16 pm

It's OK to pink guns for the lady friends.
I've got the best girlfriend you could ask for. She wants to go shooting more than I do. She has eyes on my second P-64 and is looking forward to getting her CCW. She is a former Army nurse that really misses her M-16. She likes to go to gun shows. And she does all the normal lady stuff too.
If she wants a pink AK....she gets a pink AK. And she can burn all my ammo if she wants too.

barnett3006 · Post by **barnett3006** » February 11th, 2008, 12:00 am

Well here she is after a good cleaning and finishing of the furniture.

I sanded smooth the wood with steel wool and used several coats of MinWax Polycrilic and sanded with the steel wool in between coats.

I havent been to the range yet but I am itching to go!

blinddog · Post by **blinddog** » February 11th, 2008, 12:52 am

barnett that is a nice job you did on that AK. Man there are just so many guns and so little money. After lookingg at yours I think I really want one.

barnett3006 · Post by **barnett3006** » February 11th, 2008, 11:42 pm

Blinddog,

Thanks, I am proud of it. If you are thinking about getting a 74 then you should now that the supply of the less expensive Romanian ones are drying up (www.centerfiresystems.com and www.rrarms.com has them for under 400, i got mine from centerfire) but the supply of expensive Hungarian AKs and Polish Tantals still seems to be pretty good.

barnett3006 · Post by **barnett3006** » February 18th, 2008, 12:01 am

Finally got the range today to shoot my AK! Man its fun to shoot. I did a 50 round barrel break in procedure, during which I had a few mis-feeds and jams. The next 50 rounds fed without any problems. Accuracy was acceptable at 25 and 50 yards, though I still need to tune in the front sight.

Also, I answered my question from above. 223 ak74 mags work just fine (at least the 10 round 223 mags do), I bought a 10 round 223 mag to try out (I like low-cap mags for shooting from a bench). It didn't fit at the range but compared to a 5.45 mag there where only sight differences between the two, so I kept the mag and did some minor file work on it. Now it fits and feeds just as well as the 5.45 mags. It only holds 9 5.45 rounds right now but the spring is real stiff, I think with some use I should be able to get that 10th round in there.

This is the first time I have ever fired an AK of any kind and I am not disappointed in it at all. ;D

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