9mm AR Carbine?

[Stinky]

I'm thinking of getting a 9mm AR style carbine. I have a bunch of 9mm ammo and want to use it for 3 gun, hunting, plinking. I want it to be able to hit 4" circles at 60-70 yards.

I presently have a Kel-TEc, BUT it is going back to KT as it won't run. If it doesn't run, or isn't accurate enough, the above is the next plan. I haven't shot it enough to evaluate it. I was told that they are accurate and reliable enough...we'll see.

What sort of platforms would work? Olympic has one that uses Sten mags. Rock-R has one that uses Uzi mags (which I like better than Sten mags) and Lone Wolf makes a lower that uses Glock mags...what else is there and what are your thoughts?

[MattR]

I love my Rock River, it runs great, plenty accurate for steel matches and the 3 gun in Lake George. The only issue I had was I bought some C Products mags and they are a little off on the mag release hole they set the mag up a little too high and it was tight on the bolt. But I had the tops polished, they are stainless and work fine now.

[patrick0685]

olympic arms has one that uses glock mags now...that would be my choice

[Colorado Osprey]

Olympic can use it's own polymer mags, Glock, Sten mags or Uzi mags. You can convert or have converted Uzi or Sten so that you don't need a mag well adapter. They can also of course use a mag well insert/adapter so that no conversion is necessary.
Glock mags can only be used if you get their Glock pistol caliber lower that is set up to take Glock mags. New Olympics are being shipped with it's new polymer mags.

With that said, Olympic by far is ahead of the game in the pistol caliber AR world.
They designed the 1st one and continue to excel in reliability and accuracy.

In fact the Olympic pistol cal design works so well that Colt tried to buy manufacturing rights after developing their own design.... repeatedly.

The only reason that RRA makes a pistol cal AR is that Colt lets them copy their design. Olympic is still holding tight to it's design and not letting others copy it.

The bonus to the Olympic design is it does not require a modified or dedicated lower. Most RRA/Colt pistol cal AR's require tweaking to be reliable. Most Colt/RRA conversion uppers also require you to swap out the hammer as well as the buffer and spring. Olympic conversions are drop and rock.

Accuaracy.. no brainer. Olympic has always been know for their accuracy from their barrels.
Speed shooting stationary clay targets at 50-100 yards is just as easy as using a 223.

I'm not just shooting from the hip here. I have owned multiple makes of pistol cal AR's. I now own exclusively Olympic in pistol cals AR's in 9mm and 10mm.

[Squeeze]

I'm thinking of getting a 9mm AR style carbine. I have a bunch of 9mm ammo and want to use it for 3 gun, hunting, plinking. I want it to be able to hit 4" circles at 60-70 yards.



I have a custom built 9mm AR that I put together a couple of years ago and love it. The upper is 98% Rock River, the lower I used a Stag Arms lower. I will enclose a pic. I honestly love shooting it more than my .223 AR. I was at the range a while back and was able to hit a paper plate at 100 yards with some 115 gr ball home-loads that I put together. If you go through with getting one, you won't be disappointed. Colorado Osprey is correct in the fact if you go with a non-dedicated lower, you will have to buy the adapter kit, which I did, as far as having to "tweak" anything, that has NOT been the case here and mine runs like a champion race horse. I simply bought the 9mm conversion kit from Brownells which included the mag-well block, 9mm hammer, buffer & spring, installed it and it was good-to-go. One stop shopping. I ran this little gem in a Mean Streets Tactical Carbine course last summer and it never missed a beat.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/TangoDownPro/9mmAR-Left.jpg

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/TangoDownPro/9mmAR-Right.jpg

Enjoy...

[SAnd]

I just finished putting one together. I have only put 150 round through it so my experience is limited. I have one 10 round magazine that doesn't work at all. The other 3 mags I tried worked perfectly.

I have a Rock River Arms barrel. I bought a Hahn mag block and CMMG Enhanced bolt assembly from Brownells. I am using Uzi mags that I cut the mag catch notch. I bought a 10 round mag from Rock River that is really loose in the mag well. It's the mag that doesn't work.

The CMMG Enhanced bolt uses either the AR15 or M16 standard hammer and is ramped. It also has a weight in it. The bolt assembly weights 15.8 ounces. I don't know if other 9mm bolts have weights in them.

I like my setup because I can change calibers without a lot of work. I just pop the magwell out and change uppers. The Uzi mags are cheap too.

[sneakerd]

I've often considered getting a 9mm AR, but the more I consider it, I just don't see the practicality. The fun part would be all there, but my S&W M&P 9mm pistol with 1 extra 17-rnd mag is a much more compact package than a 9mm AR with 1 32-rnd magazine.

[sako55]

I decide on a RRA LAR 9. It has the dedicated 9 mm lower. To me it was a lot better quality than Oly. Talking mostly about the finish. The Oly I looked like hell. Ordered it almost 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately it may take up to 3 months before its delivered. Plenty of time to stock up on ammo and mags!

[Akyla]

I've been thinking of building a dedicated 9mm AR as well. As I have lots of Glocks mags, I've been strongly considering the Olympic or Lone Wolf lowers made for GLOCK mags. Anybody actually have either of these?

I also saw a new one last week at Machine Gun Tours. I don't recall the name but I have it written down somewhere. It looked similar to an AR, but not exactly, but it takes GLOCK mags and was just over $600 new as I recall. Could be interesting.

[USMC88-93]

I believe Colt is coming out with a Flat top version of theirs this year. Previously all they had was the A1 upper version.

[Not_A_Llama]

I also saw a new one last week at Machine Gun Tours. I don't recall the name but I have it written down somewhere. It looked similar to an AR, but not exactly, but it takes GLOCK mags and was just over $600 new as I recall. Could be interesting.
Was it the J R Carbine? http://www.gunblast.com/EMF-JRCarbine.htm

[Akyla]

Was it the J R Carbine? http://www.gunblast.com/EMF-JRCarbine.htm

Yup. That's the one. Decent review from Jeff Quinn too. This carbine is at least a lower cost option than building one. Alan at Machine Gun Tours was going to go put one through it's paces this past weekend. Wonder if he got a chance. Alan?

[Colorado Osprey]

I've often considered getting a 9mm AR, but the more I consider it, I just don't see the practicality. The fun part would be all there, but my S&W M&P 9mm pistol with 1 extra 17-rnd mag is a much more compact package than a 9mm AR with 1 32-rnd magazine.

What you are loosing with just a pistol is intermediate engagement.
The 9mm when shot from a 16" carbine is equivalent or exceeding a 357 magnum in energy and velocity. Accuracy from a 16" carbine means minute of person at distances out to 200 yards as well. Things that although are possible from a pistol, are easy from the AR 9mm carbine.

When I train with my 9mm carbine it includes transitioning to pistol and back and forth.

[Squeeze]

Great Point. I am able to hit a pie plate at the 100 yard mark with my 9mm AR. People who don't see the "practical" use for this weapon system is being a bit narrow minded in my opinion. I am amazed at the accuracy & reliability of the platform along with the cost of shooting it. Everyone I let play with it at the range always seems to ask where to buy one & how much it cost me to build it.

[bluker1]

I've only shot a couple of rounds thru it, but I'm having it SBR'd and then I'm going to have more fun with it and a suppressor. We have been selling them along with the korean glock hicaps. I can't wait until we get the 45acp unit. I've ordered 5 of those because everyone is beating me up to get that caliber. We have one 9 left in stock and another 9mm and 40sw on the way in this week.

thanks,
alan

[DeusExMachina]

I have a M1S upper I bought from Troubleco that's on a Plum Crazy lower right now. I ordered a DDLES 9mm lower that's coming in soon I hope. I'll post pictures when it gets here..can't wait to have the shrunken magwell! I'll be SBRing it and in the mean time it'll be a pistol.

Right now it has a 11.5" barrel through the 9" Troy TRX Extreme rail. I'm going in to MGT (Hey Alan!) today or tomorrow to buy an AAC ECO-9. When the suppressor comes in, I'll be switching to a 5" TROS 3-lug barrel.

Here's an example of the DDLES lower:

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/PCLazarus/9mm%20Project/SBRCensored.jpg

[buckshotbarlow]

I had the same issue with a keltec carbine. I sent it back, and it runs like a glock now. Be patient, wait for them to fix it, then shoot the pi$$ out of it to make sure they fixed it. For the price point, you still can't beat a keltec, even after it's been fixed...

[sneakerd]

Wow Dues- that is one cool carbine. If there was a little smilie for drooling, I'd post it.