It’s not impossible… but definitely improbable, for all the reasons stated above.
Rimmed casing suck
Tapered casings suck in ARs
Communists aren’t afraid to change cartridges, so surplus ammo is going extinct.
It would also require that midsized action that no one wants to build. The cost of the rifle would negate the bonus of the inexpensive ammo. For the cost of a 54r chamber, I’d rather build a 30-30… but then the .300Blk is more affordable and delivers near identical ballistics out of a much more reliable platform.
The 7.62x54r has a rim diameter of .570” a standard .308 bolt face Inside diameter (on mine) measures .480”. The bolt face and extractor would need modification but nothing to extreme.
I would give the face of the bolt a cut to the cartridge diameter plus .015” for ease of feeding under all temps and conditions, so call it .585” inside bolt face diameter.
Next is could you use the standard .308 barrel extension?
This is a picture of the smaller AR15 barrel extension but you get the picture.
As far as I can tell it is all very do able. I do however agree with @jtallen83 with developing a good follower and magazine body design would be the most time consuming part of the build, but definitely not impossible.
Two more things I want to bring up. One is obviously you couldn’t use the AR10 lower. The magazine well is not long enough. You would use the long action lower for the build.
Two, I would recommend a extractor pin in the barrel extension for more reliable cartridge extraction, especially after modifying an extractor.
This is what it looks like.
Thank you @switchpod, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. As for rimmed cartridges not being reliable don’t forget the Molot VEPR in 54r. Obviously they solved the problem, trouble is you would probably need to modify or manufacture the lower with a magwell that could take that mag design or modify the AR .30-06 mag’s design to accommodate the 54r to feed reliably as you mentioned.
Man I wish I had the skills to do stuff like this I’d spend all my free time on it.
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