I am thinking about building a varminter on Savage short action, to shoot steel core 5.45x39mm russian mislurplus ammo. A local dealer sells 1080 round can for $140, which is the motivation behind this. I wonder if anyone shoots this ammo in bolt action gun with precision barrel and can comment on accuracy. I mean steel cased berdan ammo. Thank you.
Anyone shooting 5.45x39 mm milsurplus in a varmint setup?
- Thread starter w123driver
- Start date
Many years ago (1983-1985, to be precise) I was a 18 year-old private drafted in Soviet Army. My regiment was in a steppe near Mongolian border. The closest village was hundreds of miles away. We would shoot saiga antelopes from AKS with this very ammo. Great supplement to canned food we had. Hundreds of them were roaming there. I can tell you this thing was deadly. Not single shot, usually bursts of three-four rounds, hoping one would hit. The range was probably 300-400 yards, definitely not closer. They would not let you come closer. An animal would drop on a spot if hit even with one bullet. I never had to shot at a human (thank Lord for saving me from this), but there were officers and starshinas (Russian equivalent of staff sergeant) who served in Afghanistan. They would tell us stories of what this bullet does to a human.
markr said:
More and more Ranges are banning Steel Core ammo for the very same reason you mentioned....RICOCHETING off the property and doing injury or damage to others.
Barnaul (Russian, I think) does a BT Spire-Point expanding bullet version of the 5.45X39mm. I've no idea how it performs - I doubt if the number of civilian owned rifles in the calibre reaches double figures in this country with semi-auto rifles falling into the 'Prohibited Weapons' category of our Firearms Acts.
The only reason I know of this ammo is that I used to do some work for a large north of England gun dealership which sourced all sorts of unusual foreign milspec ammo for certain customers. They were commissioned to provide some tens of thousands of 5.45X39mm rounds and obtained these having assumed they were the normal steel core FMJBT milspec, only to discover they were lead-core expanding examples. A few boxes were left over after the order was fulfilled and I had the chance to examine and photograph what is a rarity in the UK.
Barnaul is very cheap over here, so it may be worthwhile chasing up the US importer re this particular grade for sporting use.
Laurie,
York, England
The only reason I know of this ammo is that I used to do some work for a large north of England gun dealership which sourced all sorts of unusual foreign milspec ammo for certain customers. They were commissioned to provide some tens of thousands of 5.45X39mm rounds and obtained these having assumed they were the normal steel core FMJBT milspec, only to discover they were lead-core expanding examples. A few boxes were left over after the order was fulfilled and I had the chance to examine and photograph what is a rarity in the UK.
Barnaul is very cheap over here, so it may be worthwhile chasing up the US importer re this particular grade for sporting use.
Laurie,
York, England
PacNor Barrel Co. makes a .222 diameter barrel blank for the 5.45x39mm.
It's an interesting project, just might have problems with your Savage action bolt face not fitting just right.
A single shot falling block (ruger #1 or Win 1885) action would be a good platform.
It's an interesting project, just might have problems with your Savage action bolt face not fitting just right.
A single shot falling block (ruger #1 or Win 1885) action would be a good platform.
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.