Little luck at the pawn shop - AK drums

[relichunter]

Went to a pawn shop that never has good deals. Once again no deals on guns but then I noticed two ak drums sitting behind some other stuff. Each were marked "ak $99.00". I could see one was probably for an ar15 and the other was ak. I got both for $140 + tax. Sure enough one was a .223 120rnd. Today I was photographing some drums for insurance and noticed the other one I just bought was bigger than the other 75rnd ones. It is a great feeling to make a score once in a while! BTW the .223 drum isn't shown in the picture.

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g431/coleman740/AK%20DRUM/DSCN5500.jpg

[zteknik]

Nice score!![Beer]

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

That's schweeeet.

[jreifsch80]

Awesome deal! I've been wanting to get one of those Chinese .223 drums so I could cut off the feed tower and weld a tantal mag on it and change it to a 5.45 drum :)

[flan7211]

Awesome deal! I've been wanting to get one of those Chinese .223 drums so I could cut off the feed tower and weld a tantal mag on it and change it to a 5.45 drum :)

Oh I'd have to see that! Have you heard of it working before? BTW great score!

[jreifsch80]

I've discussed it with some guys over on the ak forum seems it would be a lot easier to do than converting a 7.62 drum like that one company does

[flan7211]

I've discussed it with some guys over on the ak forum seems it would be a lot easier to do than converting a 7.62 drum like that one company does

With their outrageous price. Aren't they like $600?

[relichunter]

Awesome deal! I've been wanting to get one of those Chinese .223 drums so I could cut off the feed tower and weld a tantal mag on it and change it to a 5.45 drum :)

That is a cool idea. Got me thinking. Could this .223 drum be used in my 5.45 x 39 AR15?

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g431/coleman740/AK%20DRUM/545ar15.jpg

Looks sweet!

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g431/coleman740/AK%20DRUM/cartcompair.jpg

The cartridges are just different enough to create some problems that wouldn't be worth modifiying this drum.

Problem 1: A dremmel tool would be needed to open up the slots just a hair. The cartridges fit but they are too tight.

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g431/coleman740/AK%20DRUM/Jamming.jpg

Problem 2: Red circle shows two bind points where the spring (even cranked really tight) has difficulty pushing the cartridges past.

Problem 3: As the cartridges feed up, the bullet end stays low so it doesn't feed into the chamber. Some of the tilt might be corrected if the feed rail was trimmed a bit.

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g431/coleman740/AK%20DRUM/anglefeed.jpg

[68Charger]

I was thinking it wouldn't work- even if you get past the larger rim size of 5.45, the steeper taper of the case would cause feeding problems...

For example, I need to replace or re-profile the bullet guide on my Tantal 5.56 build I'm doing- with most FMJ it feeds ok, but I tried some 45gr hollow points for grins, and they just miss the chamber (and now they're significantly shorter [ROFL1])

[relichunter]

A quick search shows that Copes Dist. was selling a drum for the 5.45 back in 2010 but it was $300.00! When I get some more time I will do some more research on it.

[jreifsch80]

The copes drums are converted 7.62 drums

[68Charger]

The copes drums are converted 7.62 drums

which makes sense- the main thing you're dealing with is the rim size difference, the OAL and the taper are very similar between 7.62x39 and 5.45x39

I made a decision a while back that I would use magazines intended for the cartridge, and modify the firearms to use them rather than the other way around (e.g. my 5.56 Tantal build is getting an AR mag adapter)

Some exceptions would be cartridges like .300 Blackout or .458 Socom in 5.56 mags... there aren't really mags originally designed for those rounds, but I won't convert AR mags to use 5.45 or 7.62x39.

[MCarp71]

Nice Score!