NEA-15 7.62x39 thoughts? Advice for a beginner

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Just wondering how viable this gun in particular would be. I've talked with guys and read about the SKS (x39 for example) not being overly accurate at 100 yards or accurate at all? (Is this even correct?) ... I guess I'm considering this caliber for cost (practise) and this NEA model because it's based on an AR platform. Has anyone had any experience with this? Accuracy of the gun and caliber and at what range, or longevity of the rifle (ex. 10,000 round barrel life or whatever it may be). I'm a almost scared to post this for fear of getting raked over the coals for some reason or another. Haha
 
I don't think it's been out long enough for someone to shoot it out. Don't think I've seen a range report either. Certainly an upper I'm interested in, as I really fell out of love with the SKS, but not the cartridge.
 
im between the 4-6 inch groups with irons on an sks at 100. If I had some sand bags and wasn't just lying on the dirt I might be able to do better...

The longevity is up to how well you clean it, that corrosive crap is just a pain. MAKE sure you clean it very well and im sure it wont have a shorter then normal life span for a barrel. One lazy day could ruin that for you... I shot only 39 guns up until my last venture into black rifles... SKS, SVT, moisen, VZ58.... scrapped em and got an xcr; in 556...
 
Cheap commie surplus is not exactly match grade. You will want to handload for any kind of real accuracy.
Any gun will only shoot as good as the ammo you feed it.
 
Cheap commie surplus is not exactly match grade. You will want to handload for any kind of real accuracy.
Any gun will only shoot as good as the ammo you feed it.

Yep.. For any sort of accuracy you'll need to do at least MMA.. Also, it looks like its DI... If you're shooting milsurp ammo, you better be ready to spend a lot of time cleaning
 
Just for reference, a quick search of M4carbine.net comes up with not many people who are happy with their 7.62x39 AR15's I don't see why the NEA one would be any different.

w ww.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?146628-7-62X39-AR

On the other hand, people on this board have 10,000s of rounds through their cz858's

Personally for cheap plinking, I might consider an M&P15-22.
 
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I'm in the same boat. I really want to like the NEA x39 because I can shoot the cheap ass ammo. But right now there are so many good deals on .223 rifles it's not worth the bother IMO.

X39 - harder to find mags, more expensive mags, irregular pouches, good ammo is the same price as .223.

What's the point of going to the range if what you take isn't accurate (because of the sh*** ammo you're feeding it). I don't doubt that with decent ammo the NEA will be accurate enough. By that point you'll be paying as much for ammo as .223.
 
MFS ammo in my cz858 is accurate enough to 100 yards, and I can hit the 200 yard gong with it.
It is by no means a rifle that I would take for accuracy, its just a plain rifle that never bugs up on me and its really fun to shoot cheap ammo at the range and ring the gong. Would I ever use the rifle and that ammo to drive nails in a wood board? no they are pretty much 4 to 5 moa. But its a fun gun, just like my sks, and it never fails on me and cause me grief.
Honestly why not just get an sks or a vz58 and about 6000 rounds of mfs?
 
my first impressions with NEA's 7.62x39 gen2 rifle were very good. during first trip to the range with it i have shot 400 rounds of corrosive surplus ammo without any issues. i didn't expect it to be very accurate and even less in my case of shooting standing and fairly rapid. my results were decent using red dot i was able to land all my shots on targets within few inches from point of aim on follow up shots which is good enough for me. i don't think this rifle was designed to shot moa groups and when i considered it my main goal was to have a fairly inexpensive rifle with ar15 ergonomics which can accept all ar15 related parts / accessories and be able to shot cheap ammo. time will tell if it's as reliable as my cz858.

NEA states that rifle has been treated with some type of ARC treatment against corrosion - so far after week of not cleaning it since those 400 rounds cycled i have not noticed any corrosion effects anywhere, again time will tell how good is it. my cz858 (not treated in any way) with all the cleaning and many thousands over many years of corrosive crap only shows very minor surface issues in hard to reach spots, so overall i'm not too concerned.

answers to some questions you can only find out after you buy and shoot one:

does it lock back on the last round fired? - yes, i have used xcr pistol mags and surplus ammo and didn't have any issues with this one.
does mags drop free? - yes, my xcr pistol mags had no problem with gravity.
can you load full mag on a closed bolt? - yes, again using xcr pistol mags i had no problem.
is it single point sling ready? - yes, it has two loops on each side for any type of single point sling with a hook style attachment.
does it have ambi safety / mag / bolt release - no, but it uses standard ar15 parts and all can be replaced with aftermarket ones if desired.
can i replace and use raptor 5.56 charging handle? - yes, this rifle is not AR10 variant and no need to wait for 7.62 version.
what comes in the box? - rifle, lifetime warranty certificate and four spent corrosive casings of test rounds fired by NEA. that's it. iron sights, sling or mags are NOT included.

other AR15 type ergo rifles in 7.62x39 to consider: Armalite - a bit more expensive and has an issue with front sight rail being a tad lower than back rail, so must buy iron sights which can compensate for this gap, doesn't have sling mounting options and no full rail system; RobArms XCR - heavy, expensive and not part of AR15 family, big bonus to some shooters: it is non-restricted. PWS - expensive.
 
Awesome guys, thanks for your replies I appreciate it! And thanks Netcon, good to know about your experiences so far with the rifle. You guys make awesome points for me to consider, all valid. Much respect fellas
 
Just a heads up for those looking for x39 options - wolverine has Armalites at $999. I might have picked one up if I'd not just ordered something else minutes before. :(

Edit : :)
 
I'm torn between the armalite or just waiting for a good deal on an NEA upper...or going with neither and picking something completely different.

Don't know what sort of reviews the armalite gets, but if they only claim 2-2.5 MOA with what I would assume to be decent ammo, commie stuff might just pattern like a shotgun at 100
 
I have one of the new uppers, and bought it to have a matching set sort of speak. I wont get out to the range until friday, but I'm not expecting any problems. As Ryan said elsewhere, these wont go on sale anytime soon. If I were looking to buy again, right now, I would most likely be looking hard at the armalite.
I'm torn between the armalite or just waiting for a good deal on an NEA upper...or going with neither and picking something completely different.

Don't know what sort of reviews the armalite gets, but if they only claim 2-2.5 MOA with what I would assume to be decent ammo, commie stuff might just pattern like a shotgun at 100
 
Post back with some results, if you'd not mind. Ryan says many things I take with much salt. Never say no sale ;)
 
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