Ask the Community

Maybe this rifle has slightly looser tolerances since it's 7.62x39mm. The use of dirty ammo would mean cleaning any firearm more often no matter what firearm or caliber.

The Russian AK has much looser tolerances than most rifles so it does not have problems with steel case ammo. When a cartridge is fired it expands in the chamber. Because brass is slicker (and softer than steel) it will extract easier than an expanded steel cartridge. Similarly, using steel cartridges will over the long haul will wear the extractor out sooner than brass. Windham makes good quality products, so I would have to believe that they did their homework and designed some additional tolerance into their 7.62 x 39 AR to accommodate steel cartridges which predominate usage in this caliber. However, most Russian steel bullets (and Chinese variants) use cheaper powders that leave more residue and you should clean the rifle more frequently than a typical 5.56/.223 type AR.

There are several factors that might contribute to more jamming. Dirty ammo is one. The other is design, tolerances and fit which means tighter is worse not better if the ammo is dirty. Finally extractor design and strength for steel is more critical. The only issues I have personally seen with steel ammo are a broken extractor and failure to extract both on 9mm pistols. Every gun designed to take Russian steel ammo that I own hasn't had a problem. I would not expect any with this weapon.

It really depends on the gun and things like temperature, etc. My ATI Omni runs it easily whereas some people with the exact same rifle say it will not. It is one of those things you've got to try first. Luckily steel cased is not too expensive.