Let’s play, how hard can it be? An AR in 7.62x54r

Gunsmithing
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So .30-06 ARs exist so that solves the magwell issue a standard AR10 has with the length that a 7.62x54r has over a .308.

So, you expert gunsmiths how hard would it be to convert one of these .30-06 ARs to chamber the 7.62x54r?

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2

The engineering alone would cost more than the actual gun would be worth imo
30.06 is a centerfire cartridge 54 r is a rimmed cartridge
Logistics alone would be difficult I would think
And honestly the pressures would probably destroy the upper relatively quickly I would think
Not to mention most 54r is corrosive and that alone is a bad notion
Further more the tolerances of a AR are so tight I’m not even sure it could handle a 54r

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Oh no doubt. This is more of an exploratory exercise.

Yup, correct. The 54r is my favorite rifle cartridge.

It’s pretty easy nowadays to find non-corrosive ammo. Got a couple dozen boxes worth. I tend to stay far away from old surplus corrosive ammo.

If memory serves me the .30-06 has something like ~60k PSI and the 54r has in the neighborhood of 56k PSI. Wouldn’t that be comparable? Seriously asking.

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From looking it up the 30-06 has max psi of over 58K and 54R has max pressure of over 56K…

Plus if you load for it, you can dial it in.

Where there is a will there is a way, so if you like the cartridge, and have the time to invest into the project I would certainly like to see the progress.

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I’m guessing the largest hurdles would be the BCG and chamber yes?

Obviously with me not being a gunsmith I have absolutely zero knowledge on how to accomplish this. But like you I too would love to see it happen. Once the wife and I relocate to ID and start our business maybe I’ll have some funds to explore this topic further. I cannot be the only bloke who’s thought about it.

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You are not the only one. Just do a search for AR in 7.62x54R

There are plenty of results of people asking about it but I don’t see a single success story. Probably wouldnt hurt to read the reasons why not a single project came to fruition from the little I have spent looking into it.

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7.62x54R is dying for the same reason the .303 british is dying… Rims suck.

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True

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That’s fine. Doesn’t bother me one bit. I enjoy shooting it and that is what matters to me. :cowboy_hat_face: Plus I’ve never had a failure yet. :+1:

And I would also like to point out that Mosins are still pretty popular (hence the astronomical the price hike!) and the ammo sells in large enough quantities to have lots of brand and cartridge variations available.

That is a great idea. I think I’ll do that as a matter of fact!

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go buy some 7.62x25 sub-calibre inserts and start shooting tok.

just step across the fence - there are even SVT40 chambered in .303 up here

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That sounds like fun. Any idea what the ballistics would be like out of the M91/30 barrel?

Also, I really need to buy a Tokarev from classic while I still can. Hah.

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The British bren guns were in 303 out of a magazine. Several beltfed guns are in 54r and there are conversion kits for beltfeds to use 54r in place of 8mm mauser. It can be done if you want to spend a bunch of money.

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I’n sure it could be done if a person had the skills to manufacture it. The magazine would have to be completely re designed. I’d go with the 6.5 first.

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The real draw initially to the masses was the rifle and cartridge being cheap… those days are rapidly closing. You will probably see it die off except for a few companies like PPU producing it.

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AR style rifles are also made in 300WM and 338 Lapua so I don’t see 54r pressures being any issue…

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Surplus ammo is drying up, we used to shoot surplus 30-06 and 303 out the wazoo. it’s harder to find now. it’s expensive to roll through a 250 belt now. Used to run a lot of 7.7 jap surplus too. Hadn’t seen none of that in a while, but I haven’t looked hard.

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Good idea!
If I was in the market for that particular format I would buy a PSL. The cost would be cheaper in my opinion and a proven design on top of that.
For the 7.62x54r AR . You would need to modify the face of the bolt (issue is if there is enough diameter), and use a 7.62x53r chamber reamer. If you look into Noreen firearms that might be a good starting point for a budget build. When I get home I can check the diameter of large AR bolt face for 30.06 and the rim diameter of the 7.62x54r cartridge and see if it’s possible. Other wise you may have to step it up to the .338 chamber/ bolt face.
You can also look up reloading shell holder diameters if you want.

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I looked into this a while back, but not too deeply. There were no available parts to use to assemble one. I can put together an AR but I cannot make major modifications to make this work. The biggest issue that I remember being discussed was the rim on the case.

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I’m sure anything can be done with enough time, knowledge and money.
@Robocop1051 Is this a feasible idea? I know you have many projects going right now and this would be a unicorn, but could this work in your platform?

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And getting a rimmed cartridge to reliably feed from the magazine.

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