I have thought of a 5.45 x 39 (to take advantage of the super cheap Russian 7n6 surplus) upper, but it is always the same thing; Something has to be modified, like the special magazine, or the spring for the harder primers, and still...
You can get a cheap Saiga in 5.45x39 and a couple cans (with 1080 rounds each) for a lot less than an AR.
I guess I spent too much of my youth trying to get a Ruger Mini-14 to work. Accuracy mods, magazines that didn’t quite work, as well as the malfunctions which never ended.
Finally I just got an AK. It worked.
Then I got an AR, which I love to shoot, and it worked, but I started to have Ruger Mini flashbacks when I used the ammo it wasn’t designed to shoot. If I use brass, it never fails me.
If it gets you out shooting more, then God bless and good luck, and when the US Army starts using steel I may consider it, but I just don’t have time to trouble shoot any more.
I guess I spent too much of my youth trying to get a Ruger Mini-14 to work. Accuracy mods, magazines that didn’t quite work, as well as the malfunctions which never ended.
Been thinking that for about 10 years.