So I'm in the position (and opinion) that I can't keep buying ammo for all my calibers so I'm doing a little consolidation. I'd like my main rifles (only have two so that helps too) to be in one caliber so looking for some info on 5.56 AKs. What to look out for, what's the best bang for the buck, all that good stuff. Thanks dudes

And of course..pics always help too

IMO, and this is just my opinion, if you want to go with a 223/556 AK, and use AK mags, you should go with an Arsenal 106FR. I say this because after years of productions they have it "right".



I'm also a fan of doing your own Saiga conversions. That way you can make it whatever you want it to be.



What is your other main rifles?

yeah I was actually looking in the direction of the Arsenals. Always wanted one and like you said, they just do it right. I'd like to do a Saiga conversion, kinda overlooked that one to be honest. My other rifle is my AR, got about 1000 rds through it with no failures at all so that one's not going anywhere.

if your other rifle is an AR, you may want to look into the new mag adapters for the 223/556 AKs that use AR mags. Will be yet another way to consolidate. While these adapters are not my cup of tea, they do fill a niche.

Hmmm you make a good point..maybe I should just get another AR

My Arsenal 106 CR in .223 a great rifle. I am in the same boat. I reload .223 and can make it cheaper than what I can buy 5.45 or 7.62. Down side is the mags. are a bit on the pricey side. But one of the most accurate and fun AK's I have used.

looks awesome man..how does she like steel? or have you tried it?

AKs are designed to shoot steel cased ammo if that's what you're referring to. OK I have nothing to back that up, but they have never had an issue that I have heard of or experienced.

yeah I've never fed any of my AK's brass, only steel. Never had any issues, just didn't know if 5.56 was any different in this case.

The Arsenal guns are nice.  And Century is about to (has?) release PAP 5.56 pistols with a AR magwell adaptor pre-installed that seems interesting.







































 

x2.

Some 5.56 AKs have been known to be finicky...my 106 is not.

We had a Polish contingency working next to us for a while; their Beryls were pretty nice.  Most of the guys we worked with had a tiny pic rail mounted on top of the trunion.

My SLR106 CR does not like steel cased ammo to much. Failure to extract. The bolt is not pulling the case out. I only had about 60rds of steel Tulammo. And had several failures. 0 failures with my brass reloads. So far approx 650 rounds on it. I might try polishing the chamber. Steel cases tend to expand more than brass. I reload and it cost about $3 a box for 55grn. If I reload. Lest expensive Steel cased I can find local is about $5.75 for Tulammo. Which will not work in my Ar's. Very under powered. I will try out some Wolf when I can. But so far excellent results with my Reloads. 50grn. H/P. 55FMJ and 77gran seira BTHP. It can handle a wide verity of loads also. I have some Beryl polish mags also. And they work great.



I also changed to a primary arms RDS. With the Ulimack rail it allows 1/3 lower cowitness with my Irons.

Arsenal SLR-106 rifles are wonderful, as are Archers (Beryl civi replicas). Can't go wrong with either rifle. I absolutely love my SLR-106CR. I have an AKS-74 in 5.45 and plenty of surplus ammo stashed away, but I enjoy shooting CR so much that AKS-74 rarely comes out of the safe even though the ammo is cheaper. I have shot a bunch of brass and steel-cased ammo through CR without a hiccup, always using Beryl and Circle 10 mags.

I stumbled across a "used" (looked like less than 100 rounds through it arsenal slr 106fr.
I paid 850 otd and put on a ultimak gas tube rail (very solid btw) and a hogue grip. I'm using a bushnell trs25 until I can afford an aimpoint t-1. This rifle completely surprised me it shoots very smoothly and the action feels like it's riding on glass. I have shot both m193,m855, wolf mil classic, Tula, and my own reloads using 55gr fmj, 50gr zmax, 60 gr hp, 75gr hp. I only had 2 mags when i bought the rifle and I kept having FTF with one of them. I disassembled the mag and found a small burr whic prevented the follower from moving up to load the next round after I filed the burr down The rifle has been 100%.

It seems more accurate than I am and I'm planning to work up a 75 or 77gr load for it as the rifle has a 1-7 twist. I love the side folding stock, the rifle becomes nice and compact when it's folded. If you find one use make sure it's a bd or be iirc serial number prefix as I have heard some of the earlier ones had issues. The only downside I have seen with it is the mags are expensive. I'm considering having a difinitive arms magwell installed so I can use usgi and pmags in the rifle.
(Ignore the others)
Rifle when I first bought It and hated the tan furniture so I traded for black

And how it is configured now

Also the polish beryl mags work in this rifle I bought 5 black ones  from rtg before the panic and they were used with some sand and other debris inside but cleaned up nicely. They are a good cheaper alternative to circle 10 mags

Another option for you. :)

You live to tease me..looks sweet! On my list of rifles actually

AKs in .223/5.56 can be finicky because of the straight case in the .223 versus the tapered case of a 7.62x39.  I believe the post above about "steel expanding more than brass" is false.  The steel doesn't expand as fast as brass, and thus allows more blowback of crap back into the chamber, which will coat the chamber in carbon, powder, etc--which then makes the chamber tighter, which then makes it harder to feed a straight cased round like the .223, especially if you shoot brass AFTER you shoot steel, and the brass expands and completely filling the now "tighter" chamber.  

Also, there were many WASR-3 guns on the market that wouldn't feed worth a damn, regardless of getting the E. German Weiger mags.  I had to send mine back to Century because it was essentially a single shot.  Sold it right away, and stayed away from 5.56 AKs til I saw this one in the EE.  

I absolutely LOVE this SLR-106fr and have had zero issues.  It's a "BD" prefix  Very accurate, and easy to do double taps w/ the G2 trigger and no recoil.  I've considered doing the definitive arms conversion as well, but I already have 8 circle 10 mags, and could buy a whole lot more of them for what the conversion costs.

Nice rigs.  Right now I think the 106's and beryl's are the best thing going.  However, I'm sure their are some nice sar-3's and Chinese 223 Ak's out there.  I'm not sure about everyone else but I've not seen many good deals on used one's lately.  Come to think of it I haven't seen a cheap saiga either.  Mo

5.56 AK's are nice but try and find mags, at a reasonable price!

I was lucky to find circle 10 mags pre panic for about $30 each not very cheap but not too over priced either. I also lucked out on some polish beryl mags from rtg for $24 ea iirc they were surplus and looked like they had been in some shit. Had a few scrapes on them and the inside had sand and dirt all over they cleaned up nicely though and function fine in my slr 106

KVAR had new Circle 10 5.56 mags on sale a few weeks ago for $30 each.....normally $45 each.  The sale only lasted 3 days.  I think they have such sales 1-2 times a year.

Do all 5.56 AK's have the raised ring on the bolt that beats the base of the round to hell?  I know my M85 does, and I've read that saiga's do as well.

Like this on my Mini Beryl?



This short rail is POPC Gen2 (it has integrated rear sight at end). Now only Mini Beryl uses it. Normal Beryl uses either POPC Gen3 (Weaver) or POPC Gen4 (Picatinny) removable rail mounted over receiver cover and to rear trunion. Rear sight base on current Beryl/Archer can not accept POPC2 anymore.

http://www.robertrtg.com/berylclearmag.html

Beryl 30rd surplus mags $28 each. Hope its helps

Do the beryl mags work well in Arsenal guns like  the SAM5 and 106's?  

Thanks,

--Fargo007

Yes!

Black mags are GTG, clear white mags are not recommended for hard use - polymer was too brittle when aged or exposed to sunlight for long periods. Army required improved mag and green translucent mags were introduced. Green ones are GTG as well.

I bought a couple black 'uns.  

That's all they've got left anyway.  After seeing the accuracy I get out of my SAM-5, I will be getting another 5.56 Kalashnikov for damn sure.

--Fargo007