PSA KS-47 + Csspecs 65G mag + 65G AR Upper

[AP Smizzlers]

Hi Horde!

I've come up with an idea and I'm looking for feedback.

Why not get a Palmetto State Armory KS-47 lower, marry it with a CSSpecs 30 round AK Grendel magazine, attach an AR 6.5G upper and have the best of all worlds?

CSSpecs has a note about their springs and followers having issues but I talked with them on Thursday and it sounds like that has been resolved and shipping will start within the month.

I asked them about this idea and their answer was "we haven't tested that but it sounds like a great idea, and would help us sell a lot more of these magazines."

I'm seriously considering putting one together once the mags are for sale and see how it goes. Thoughts?

[Lemonaid]

May be a winner if you like the AK style of magazine release and inserting. I find the AR system much better.
I wouldn't think there is a greater COAL capacity in the AK mag? Might be a plus or minus there.
Gavin tube review of KS-47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nItvdtsQ7JQ

Oh, I thinks Gavin said there are some parts that would not be interchangeable so if you wanted a different trigger for example it could be a problem.
Get one, try it out and post your results!

[VASCAR2]

There are two versions of the Csspecs magazines, Vepr and AK so I assume you?d want to use the AK mag. I think the receiver is longer on the Molot Vepr compared the AK-47 lower receiver. The advantage of the Vepr is long stroke gas piston and possibly a stronger bolt design compared to an AR-15 6.5 Grendel upper. The Vepr in 6.5 Grendel requires more work to change the stock and pistol grip and I don?t think the barrel has a threaded muzzle.


Sounds like a doable build and would probably prove to be more accurate than the Vepr 6.5 Grendel.

[AP Smizzlers]

I originally saw the VEPR 6.5 Grendel version of the magazine and was going to buy one (rifle and magazine) but the standard AK version appealed for the AK/AR Grendel mashup idea.

Also, if the idea is a failure for some reason, I could make a 7.62x39 pistol out of it.

[A5BLASTER]

I originally saw the VEPR 6.5 Grendel version of the magazine and was going to buy one (rifle and magazine) but the standard AK version appealed for the AK/AR Grendel mashup idea.

Also, if the idea is a failure for some reason, I could make a 7.62x39 pistol out of it.

If you do it. Order a 7.62x39 pmag as well and let us know how it works out with grendel.

[phishfood]

If you do it. Order a 7.62x39 pmag as well and let us know how it works out with grendel.

Not to hijack the thread, but if MagPul can make a 7.63x39 polymer mag, why can't they make a 6.5 Grendel?

[A5BLASTER]

Not to hijack the thread, but if MagPul can make a 7.63x39 polymer mag, why can't they make a 6.5 Grendel?

Two very diffrent mag well designs that's why.

[FLshooter]

I know guys at the range that tried 7.62 x 39 P mags in 6.5 Grendel,jams. They’ve also taken 6.5 Grendel magazines apart and tried to put the followers in P mags ,jams.
P mags are my to go to mag for .223 or 300BO. Flawless never had a jam.I’ve emailed mag pool before and asked about a 6.5 Grendel p mag, they said they are working on it. But up to now they haven’t been able to design one that works flawlessly. So I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a P mag in 6.5 Grendel, it may never happen.

[A5BLASTER]

I know guys at the range that tried 7.62 x 39 P mags in 6.5 Grendel,jams. They’ve also taken 6.5 Grendel magazines apart and tried to put the followers in P mags ,jams.
P mags are my to go to mag for .223 or 300BO. Flawless never had a jam.I’ve emailed mag pool before and asked about a 6.5 Grendel p mag, they said they are working on it. But up to now they haven’t been able to design one that works flawlessly. So I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a P mag in 6.5 Grendel, it may never happen.

You would be the first person in history magpul as told that too.

The rest of us they have and continue to tell us they are not interested in making a 6.5 grendel pmag because the mag walls would be too thin to fit the ar15 legacy magwell.

Now they can and should build a 6.5 grendel pmag to fit the six8 sized recivers.

[VASCAR2]

Or a PMag to fit an AK receiver with 6.5 Grendel AK magazine.

[js8588]

Hi Horde!

I've come up with an idea and I'm looking for feedback.

Why not get a Palmetto State Armory KS-47 lower, marry it with a CSSpecs 30 round AK Grendel magazine, attach an AR 6.5G upper and have the best of all worlds?

CSSpecs has a note about their springs and followers having issues but I talked with them on Thursday and it sounds like that has been resolved and shipping will start within the month.

I asked them about this idea and their answer was "we haven't tested that but it sounds like a great idea, and would help us sell a lot more of these magazines."

I'm seriously considering putting one together once the mags are for sale and see how it goes. Thoughts?

Because the lower will only work with PSA KS 47 uppers.

[A5BLASTER]

Because the lower will only work with PSA KS 47 uppers.

And stripped the upper down and drop a 6.5 grendel barrel into.

Bam ks-47/6.5mm grendel.

[san antonio fj]

Ive had the same ideal for a while, Have a sbr'd KS47 receiver sitting in a drawer for 2 years that I havent built, I was going to use my faxon GB 12" on it but ended up building that on a normal ar SBR receiver. If you end up doing it please post results and mag function im very interested.

[m796rider]

ETA: I have parts inbound from PSA -- let's find out if this works.

This is an interesting idea... I'm actually thinking about taking my 12" Faxon barreled AR upper and combining it with a KS-47 upper/pistol lower/BCG.

My biggest concern is headspacing -- I'm stuck using the proprietary KS-47 bolt which is cut to work with AK mags and has the common 7.62x39 0.125" bolt face depth.

Might look something like this with a CSSpecs 30 round 6.5G AK mag (looks a bit goofy IMHO):

[FRB6.5]

So it sounds like a Type 1 chambered barrel would be needed. I'm curious if the conventional barrel extension will work with that setup, the PSA KS-47's have a large single feed ramp.

[VASCAR2]

Black Hole Weaponry/Columbia River Arms still sell 264 LBC chambered barrels to use .125 bolt face x39 bolts. JSE Surplus also sold barrels chambered to use .125 bolts. I read some of the JSE barrels were manufactured by Wilson Arms and some were manufactured by Marlin (JSE House brand). I’d be concerned the barrel extension might not fit the KS47 bolt as it might be a proprietary design.


http://www.jsesurplus.com/barrels65.aspx

[m796rider]

As far as I can tell the only difference on the barrel extension is the single feed ramp. The upper receiver still has two standard M4 type feed ramps. The bolt has cuts to clearance AK mags, but otherwise appears the same as any 7.62x39 bolt. The firing pin thing will be interesting -- it's slightly different dimensionally from a standard AR15 firing pin to allow ignition of hard primers.

I guess I will find out! Worst case, I'll just have a nice KS-47 pistol shooting 7.62x39 ammo and using AK mags, both of which I have in plentitude.

[VASCAR2]

Sure is an interesting project and be sure to up date us on your progress!

[m796rider]

Quick size comparison of 6.5G AK 20rd mag, 6.5G AK 30rd mag, and 7.62x39 AK 30rd mag.

[m796rider]

OK!

All parts are in, and I did some work to get everything to fit and function.

First, you can see the upper is way oversized at top and bottom compared to a standard milspec M4 upper:



This means handguards that use anti-rotation tabs will not work without modification. As you can see I have a MI handguard on the KS-47 upper, but without the anti-rotation tab that normally interfaces with the upper just below the port door cover hinge.

I also took one of my existing 6.5 Grendel bolts (probably from Brownells, not sure) and reprofiled two of the locking lugs to match up with how the KS-47 bolt is cut to clearance AK mags (Grendel on left):


The .125" bolt face depth 7.62x39 bolt that ships with the KS-47 will not close on a loaded cartridge using a Grendel chamber cut for a .136" bolt face depth. No surprise there.

For the 30 round mag, I ended up dealing with some tolerance stacking that ended up with me cutting one the feed lips down to clear the bolt locking lug (modded mag is on bottom):


For some reason I did not have to modify the feed lips on the 20 round mag, although I had to reprofile the rear mag catch lug on both mags to click into place correctly on the KS-47 lower. Both mags fed steel cased Grendel loads fine.

I am using my standard AR15 firing pin instead of the longer pin that comes with the KS-47. The long pin is designed for a .125" bolt face depth and for igniting extra hard 7.62x39 primers, so I think the regular pin will work better on Grendel loads using a .136" bolt. I will also experiment with the buffer and buffer spring, seeing if the KS-47's AR10 length spring and H2 buffer are required or if I can use a standard M4 carbine spring and H buffer.

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