what brass do i need to load 5.45x39mm. can 7.62x39mm or 220 russian brass used ,help

[larryshepard]

i just bought an ak-74,5.45x39mm weapon and wish to at least try reloading this round.can the 7.62x39mm be sized down to 5.45 cal or will 220 russian brass work for reloading. i have located rcbs rifle dies for the 5.45x39mm but have no reall information about possible brass to use. can any body give me some info about possible brass to use for reloading this caliber. i hate to be at the mercy of easter block ammo manufactures. i would appericate as much input as possible. i have reloaded for many rears but gave up the hobby after starting fammily and raising three kids. now have some time to start reloading again and the 5.45x39mm looks like a real challenge. thanks

[F4Squid]

I'm semi interested in reloading too, would like to save money on .30 carbine and make my own loads for some other rounds, I did look around once for 5.45 brass and had no luck finding any 7.62 cannot be sized down. I'm unfamiliar with the .220 russian I would think its pretty damn close but I just don't know about that one. 7.62 is a definent no go though.

[Skip]

First of all the base of the 7.62 is larger than the 5.45. Conduct a search of this site. I think someone used 222 Reminton cases. You will also need to swag 223 bullets to 5.45. Good luck.

[Bossman]

Being a reloader and an AK-74 owner as well,I`ve put a bit of thought into this,Problem #1:There really isnt a suitable case for reforming into 5.45x39,the head diameter is the problem.the .223 and the .222 are close and may work to some extent but the rim is a bit too small for reliable extraction.The best solution would be to get some Bertram 9m.m. basic cases and reform them into the 5.45 but we would need to go through several resizing steps to get there,like resising in a 7.62x39 die first then going to the RCBS 5.45 die,two steps may be too radical and I cant think of a die that would shrink the neck between the 7.62 and the 5.45 die.Anyway this would make perfect cases but the cost would be considerable.......Bertram 9m.m. basic cases are expensive as hell,midwayusa.com has them....the 5.45 dies are also quite pricey,somewhere in the neighborhood of $90 as I recall,huntingtons has them.
Problem #2:the AK-74 has a bore diam of .221 we can get butt loads of bullets in .224 but firing a projectile in a bore that is .003" too small is a no-no.It may work without wrecking your face and your rifle but who wants to take that chance?.....not I.
Lee can custom make a swage to bring .224 bullets down to .221,it`s expensive and when bullets are swaged that much,we could get some problems with jacket concentricity,resulting in poor accuracy.
So we see that there is indeed a way for us to enjoy reloading for our 5.45 rifles,but it is complicated and expensive.Not really logical when we can have a case of 5.45 delivered to our door for less than $100
Bossman