Akmr

[Spoe]

Originally Posted by Tegyrius

The best idea I've seen from gunsmiths who're consulted seems to be that the ideal starting platform would be a CZ 527 in 7.62x39mm, but the combination of re-barreling and reworking the bolt face would at least double the price of the rifle.

I'm not sure how feasible it would be to rework the bolt face. The rim diameter of 5.45x39 is roughly 1mm smaller than 7.62x32mm; you'd have to add material.

With the quality of 5.45 out there, I don't know that I'd want to sink that kind of money into the project. Not saying it's bad, but it isn't match ammo.

As for the AKMR, I'm not sure (knowing what we do now) that it would make sense. In most ways, the AK-74 is an AKM modified for 5.45x39mm and so the differences between them are pretty much the list of changes you'd need to make. The main exceptions are the front sight block on the AK-74 and the flash hider/brake vs. compensator, neither of are technically required for the caliber change.

[pmulcahy11b]

Going back to my post at the beginning of this thread, I agree that the idea of the AKMR is a silly concept. It's just an interesting flavoring element.

[swaghauler]

The AKMR would require a new Barrel, Bolt, Bolt Carrier, Gas Piston Assembly (timed to 5.45's "barrel dwell time"), Magazines, Rear Sight and Sight Mount (calibrated to the new round), Springs, and Trunion Mount (to recenter the barrel to the 5.45 bolt's face) to convert it to 5.45mm X 39mm. This would comprise 80% of the cost of a new rifle. The Soviets are too practical for this. They would simply sell TWO used AKMs and build ONE new AK-74 with the money from the sale.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Ya know... way back when I was still in service, one of my Section asked me to identify a strange M16 they had seen in the hands of a another Infantry unit. As it was, the Digger with the strange M16 happened to walk past a little while later so my mate pointed it out to me.

It looked like a mix between an M16A1 and an M16A2... because that's pretty much what it was. It was an M16A1 fitted with the buttstock and forestock of the M16A2.
The Australian military got it's M16s way back in the 1970s, naturally enough they were A1 models. However by the 1990s, some spare parts for the A1s were as rare as rocking horse shit in Australia and so the Army sourced certain M16A2 parts that would fit, i.e. the furniture.

So my point for this rambling reminiscence is perhaps the AKMR could be viewed as actually an AK74 that has been repaired at the depot level with certain parts from the AKM, e.g. stocks, pistol grips and so on, not the internal parts or sights etc. etc. but it's enough to make the rifle look "odd" compared to an AKM or an AK74. Odd enough for Western troops to give it a name to designate it as something other than an AKM or AK74 because they didn't know when they first encountered it, that it was just a repaired AK74.

[Raellus]

The HK32 (a G3 chambered for the 7.62x39mm round and designed to accept AKM magazines) seems to support the AKMR concept, but due to the reasons I previous cited in post #40, I still think it's highly unlikely that the Soviets would have invested in such a weapon.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2...n-in-the-wild/

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Interesting for a later timeline, the Mexicans seem to have begun licence production of the HK32 some years back.
I've found a lack of hard info about numbers, dates of production, intro into service etc. etc. so nearest I can tell, the Mexican HK32 was in the hands of police and army around the mid-late 2000s.

I'm kind of wondering if it was a fallback option in case the FX-05 Xiuhcoatl rifle didn't work out or if it was decided to produce it because AKM ammo confiscated from drug cartel forces could be used?