Having shot rifle caliber ARs for several years, I gotta admit I know next to nothing about 9mm AR set ups. I always thought of them as strictly range toys but am now starting to see their value as HD guns. For some reason I have in my head that they have reliablity issues. Is this truly the case? If not what sort of 9mm set up would be recommended?
SBR’d AR in 9mm of course!!!
I had an SBR’d Vector Uzi and I never even bought into the cool factor. It was accurate with irons, but heavy, slow to bring into action, heavy, had terrible ergos- esp with selector, and was hard to whip around… b/c it was heavy! It also didn’t run 100%.
My 9mm AR is faster to bring into action and whip, doesn’t have the folding stock to mess with, mounts optics solid, has perfect AR ergos- esp with selector, no goofy solutions to add a tac light, and is 100%!!
As an added benefit, you can throw on a .22 upper or a 5.56 upper w/ no additional stamps!
MP5s are nice too, and are lighter, but you lose the versatility b/c it isn’t a modular weapons system and you can’t mount an optic solid.
Yeah… I’m looking for BUIS…
Mine runs trouble free and is a joy to shoot!
So who makes a solid 9mm upper, and what’s the most solid block to use for a standard AR lower?
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What are the respective barrel lenghs on these two? Also, did you build that AR upper yourself or buy it? If bought, from where?
Not quite sure what you mean by a “solid” upper.
You can get a 9mm upper from Spikes, CMMG, Colt, and a few others. Or you can use a standard .223 upper as well. The 9mm upper often does not have the hole for the gas tube, and may not have the relief for the bolt cam pin.
The Uzi has a standard 10" (10.2"?) barrel, and the AR has a 5.5" barrel. The AR upper came from Spike’s Tactical. It has a screw-on fake can. I keep it around to use as a thread protector when I don’t have a can installed. I suppose I could get a flash hider for it, but this has worked fine so far.
For me solid = quality 
I vote RRA on the upper.
For the block, you’re going to have a lot of different opinions, but here’s my reasoning for the Hytech:
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I don’t need BHO b/c I’m used to AKs, and I would reload tactically if I really needed to before I lock slide/ bolt.
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No BHO = no broken bolt catch.
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High quality, cheap, plentiful unmodified Uzi mags.
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Bottom loading, mounts solid w/ no adjustments and very quick to switch out.
I believe a lot of the old BS about unreliability came from people using substandard sten blocks with substandard sten mags… and then there’s the “Olympic system…”
I would stay away from all that.
If you’re now looking at 9mm AR’s, then get a Colt 6450, and then get a 10" Colt 6430 barrel for it.
Thanks for the tip. Right now I think I’ve narrowed it down to either the SBR 9mm AR or an SBR Beretta Storm in 9mm. Of course this project will be on hold until I can finish up my Recce(ish) 5.56 build.
What, if any, issues are there with a 5" vs. a 10.5" barrel on 9mm AR’s. Was wondering about cycling challenges. Will attaching, or detaching, a suppressor reqiure any changes to get reliability?
Have a 10.5" barreled upper that I want to shorten to 5".
Welcome any input.
My 5" runs like a top with or without the can.
I have a CMMG 9mm 7.3" 9mm upper and a Glock 34 (5.34" bbl). How much of a difference in MV do these two have? A Glock 17L has a 6.02" bbl if you want more. JM2CW.
A lot of it is going to depend on how tight the individual chambers, and the type of load you are shooting.
Not an exact comparison, but this should give you an idea. This is with a subsonic load I use, with a 150 gr. bullet, and Win. 231 powder. All firearms were shot with a Trident-9 installed.
5.5" AR15/9 = 971 fps.
Glock 35 w/ Lone Wolf 9mm Conversion Barrel: 1016 fps.
10.2" Uzi SMG: 1044 fps.
I think the 9mm SMG comes into it’s own in the HD role. Would prefer that over the SBR AR. I think it’s an academic discussion though as I wouldn’t recommend anyone use a SMG, SBR or anything with sound suppression for HD due to legal liability issues.
The straight stick mag issue mentioned earlier is about the only flaw, this is why the MP5 evolved a curved magazine. But so far I have yet to be able to make my Uzi or Colt 6450 choke. The blowback on the Colt AR 9mm is pretty simple and reliable. Only real complaint is if you drop a Colt 9mm stick mag it will probably spill a few rounds.
Well it isn’t modular as far as going to other calibers, but as far as configuration it’s far more modular than the AR system. And rock solid optics? Simply not the case, factory QD mounts do quite well and B&T mounts might as well be milled receiver rails.
What legal liability issues would you be refering to? IMHO a good shoot is a good shoot. Granted, a prosecutor might have an easier time painting the user of a suppressed SBR as an evil person looking to wreak havok on their fellow man, but a good shoot shouldn’t get passed the grand jury. And that’s if any charges are filed by the responding LE agency. I’m thinking a suppressor wouldn’t be a deciding factor in whether to file charges relative such an event anyway.
The short answers are often the best ones. Thanks for the input. Now I’m going back and forth on whether to go 7.5 inchs or 5 inches. Intend to suppress no matter which way it ends up. Hmmmm…
I would look into getting a MKE MP5K clone that have been recently imported and SBR it.