5.45 S&W AR-15 range report.

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Took my AR out to the range yesterday with a bunch of Calgunners (see the meet section for some pics).
I'm shooting a CMMG lower with a S&W 5.45 upper. Using C Products 5.45 mags with the extra power hammer spring that's provided.
I went through 400 rounds yesterday, and had not ONE hiccup. No failures of any kind. All 6 mags used functioned perfectly. I have them riveted at 10 rounds.
This is about 2K rounds I've put through it total from my estimates. Since using 5.45 mags and the extra power spring, I've had 0 problems. I get asked about my experience with the 5.45 AR15 quite a lot, so I thought I'd put this out there for those that were wondering.
I've used 100% military surplus ammo. All corrosive. I don't have any corrosion problems on my rifle, however.

[tomd1584]

thanks for the report! it seems that the biggest problem tends to be getting magazines to to feed reliably. Since you got that figured out, it looks like you're saving some money shooting that inexpensive round!

-Tom

[Acorn556]

You didn't happen to take pictures of the maniquens did you? It was pretty amazine to see how much damage they did over a .223 caliber. Devistating to see what they did when you shot them after they fell over.

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You didn't happen to take pictures of the maniquens did you? It was pretty amazine to see how much damage they did over a .223 caliber. Devistating to see what they did when you shot them after they fell over.

I didn't take any pictures, but I do still have the mannequins
It was nice to meet you though, I was really digging the eotech and acog on your rifle.

[Jpach]

Nice! What kind of groupings are you getting?

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Nice! What kind of groupings are you getting?

I didn't shoot for any groupings, so I'm not sure, to be honest. I was sighting in my red dot at 50 yards and was ~1" at that distance, but that doesn't mean much.
With the heavy hammer spring, it's a really heavy trigger pull, and is definitely not ideal for accuracy. I didn't have any problems hitting what I was aiming at once sighted in though. Our targets were mostly a mismatch of mannequins, metal pieces, etc, at various distances.

[lineman66]

If I may ask, have you ever tried to shoot the rifle without the heavy hammer spring? If so how reliable was it? The surplus 5.45x39 certainly seems like the lowest priced rifle round at the moment, here's to hoping that the supply will last.

[groovielou]

Cproducts now sells a 10/30 for the 5.45 AR Smith Upper

http://www.cproductsllc.com/shop/index.php?cPath=22_71&osCsid=0f250190d0e85a1968b990747d09acb0

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Cproducts now sells a 10/30 for the 5.45 AR Smith Upper

http://www.cproductsllc.com/shop/ind...b990747d09acb0

Nice! Now I don't have to order them as rebuilds and do it myself
That's pretty cheap too.

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If I may ask, have you ever tried to shoot the rifle without the heavy hammer spring? If so how reliable was it? The surplus 5.45x39 certainly seems like the lowest priced rifle round at the moment, here's to hoping that the supply will last.

I did, and it was maybe 85% good with the regular spring, though I know Bob was getting more like 10% fires with it.

[sonicbuff]

Nice! Now I don't have to order them as rebuilds and do it myself
That's pretty cheap too.

For CA use, you can also use 5.56/223 10-round mags for the 5.45 reliably. Older USGI followers work best.

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For CA use, you can also use 5.56/223 10-round mags for the 5.45 reliably. Older USGI followers work best.

My old 5.56 mags weren't 100% reliable, but probably 90% or so, so for a plinking gun, not that big of a deal to cut back on costs a bit.

[PEBKAC]

I'm currently building one of these, and I was wondering about the corrosive aspect of things. Just windex down the barrel and on the BCG and then a standard cleaning do it? Or do the corrosive agents get on stuff in the lower too? Also, should one clean the gas tube as well or does it matter?

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I just spray some windex down the barrel, in the upper, and in the lower, rinse with HOT soapy water, and then clean as normal.