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5.45 Soviet ball in new barrel

Ray1946
I am thinking of buying a new Krieger stainless barrel and having it chambered and installed on my M70 Winchester. Since the 5.45 ammo I am thinking of using is the standard Soviet ball with 53 gr. bullet, corrosive primer, and copper-washed steel jacket; would this have a detrimental effect on the rifling of a new barrel?

I guess I am just asking; would the copper-washed mild steel jacket cause a more rapid wear of the rifling?

Thanks,..............Ray
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    No offense meant! But what your thinking about is the classic making of a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If your looking for a B-A in 5.45 X 39, get one of those East German offhand "Running Boar" rifles that Century imported in the 90's.
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  • armilite
    quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
    No offense meant! But what your thinking about is the classic making of a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If your looking for a B-A in 5.45 X 39, get one of those East German offhand "Running Boar" rifles that Century imported in the 90's.



    Agreed
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  • MIKE WISKEY
    well, lets see here...you want to spend many 100's of dollars so you can save a few cents per round by shooting cheap ammo........and get crappy accuracy to boot, sounds like a plan to me .................but back to your question, if you properly clean the barrel after firing, the ammo in question will not shorten barrel life.
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  • Ray1946
    Thanks so much for your input! Its nice to get a straight answer from someone instead of some BS about a sows ear.

    I honestly don't see how spending $300.00 of so for a custom barrel from Krieger is half as crazy as the guys who are spending many times that for JUNK from S+W that has oversize bores, magazines that don't feed and overall piss-poor quality in general.

    Looks like to me those with half a brain would try to fully examine and research the stuff that the commies came up with and try to apply that knowledge to our own infantry weapons...........
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  • Hawk Carse
    Doesn't sound any worse than most of the Internet Projects out there.
    I assume you are going Krieger because they make actual .214x.222 5.45 barrels. It has been a long time since I read the details, which is the Iron Curtain twist, the 7.1?

    I recall the round uses a "Nastybullet" for maximum wounding.
    You going to shoot real Sov surplus?
    The various commercial products made for sale to gullible Americans hardly seem worth the price of a barrel.

    I trust you have bolt face alterations sorted out, and magazine if you want a repeater.
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  • Ray1946
    I got the Krieger because they would actually make a .214/.222 bore/groove diameter barrel at no extra charge! I chose a 1/7" twist because thats what it worked out to. I used the Greenhill formula.

    I had my gunsmith thread and mount the barrel on a Savage "Edge" rifle. I don't like the Edge rifle and decided to have the barrel mounted on my M70. I called my gunsmith last Friday and told him about my brainstorm and he said
    he thought it would work.

    The M70 I have is a "Stealth" version from about 8 or 9 years ago. This beast has a heavy tube with .875 dia. at the muzzle. The magazine in the M70 will hold 6 rnds of the 5.45X39 GI ball and feeding is super smooth...................
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:I guess I am just asking; would the copper-washed mild steel jacket cause a more rapid wear of the rifling?

    Any barrel has a working life, but no it shouldn't.

    With corrosive surplus, just make sure you clean out not only the barrel when you're done shooting, but also the bolt itself.

    And personally, I don't think this project is crazy at all. The only question is whether converting an otherwise good M70 is "worth it", but yeah I say go for it.
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  • bpost
    The answer depends on what you want to do with it.

    For benchrest competition you are probably not going to win, for shooting steel plates out to 250 yards they will probably go clang.

    Any time you shoot a rifle it is one more round against a useful life of between 750 and 10,000 rounds.

    Your Mileage May Vary.
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  • Ray1946
    I am thinking 100 or 200 yd high-power. I know most of the guys that shoot for real use AR-15s and if thats what lights your fire, go for it. I had experience with that rifle a long time ago and want no part of it. I figure if I fool with enough of the new and even GI ball 5.45X39, I will find one that can clean the X-ring at 100 or 200 yds. I have an old Redfield Palma sight from back in the 80's and with a little luck will give it a go................
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  • 5mmgunguy
    Go for it Ray1946 and enjoy the rifle!
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