There has been a lot of hub-ub going on over the weekend on 5.45×39 ammunition. Originally brought to light by James Yeager and then by Tim at the Military Arms Channel, ATF Form 6’s (Request for Import) that include the mild steel core 7n6 ammunition are currently being “held”.

You may have seen the e-mail below:

We have been reaching out to our industry partners and indications are that applications are indeed being “held” (note: not denied) until the BATF can get its story straight. We are reaching out to the ATF directly to get word straight from them.

The e-mail is strange, as 5.45 pistols have been on the market since at least 2010 (Robinson XCR and other AK-74 variants).

If this e-mail holds water, it would mean that 7n6 would be banned from future import (like mil-surp 7.62 in 1992). For us 5.45 shooters, 7n6 is the cheapest stuff on the 5.45 market and would quickly evaporate the economic benefit of 5.45. (I just got a Adams Arms 5.45 upper in for review, nuts!).

GunWebsites does an excellent video brief:

Any ban on 7n6 would not ban 5.45, it would just ban the 7n6 rounds only. Brown Bear, Red Army, and other com-bloc importers using standard lead bullets would not be affected.

Stay tuned. We will report back when we have hard facts.