9mm AR

Make sure your vendor has a good return policy. 9mm ARs can be tweaky and hard to get/keep running.

I hang out with quite a few guys that shoot them. The ones I've seen work are the RRAs and the newer Olympic guns that use Glock mags. Buddy has a Colt that runs sometimes, sometimes it doesn't.

After seeing all the 9mm AR drama I bought a semi-auto Uzi. Mags are cheap and it just works. More compact than the ARs too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescoping_bolt

BSW

Bushmaster (not a fan) makes one. I saw some guys with it at the range and it look to preform quite well.

I have a Colt and it works just fine...so does my RRA...I do LOVE my Colt,accurate and effective!I havent shot the RRA much yet..so I cant really say.

I just looked and there are a few on GB for around the 1200 range. Little expensive but thats the way of things right now.

I have a Bushmaster Carbon 15 in 9mm. Haven't had a problem with it, yet.

I have a CMMG, Colt style, AR in 9mm -- so far, I have roughly 4000 rounds through it -- if I had to, I'd buy it again!:Cool:

Get the Olympic it takes Glock mags!! I love mine.

If looking at just an upper, the Oly is nice in that you can use Sten mags (cheap) and don't need to change the buffer or hammer, just pin it on and go

I bought an Oly upper that came with a mag block for unmodified Sten mags, and 9 mags. It runs like a Swiss watch! The really nice thing is that you don't need special hammers or buffers with it - it's plug-n-play on your .223 lower.

Oly 9mms have a reputation for eating ejectors, which are a torsion spring-type thing. I haven't had a problem with mine yet, but I bought a couple of spares from Oly.

Oly has designed and built lowers that use Glock mags for use with their pistol-caliber uppers, which is a nice feature if you want to go that route. They also sell modified Sten mags - they have a big block welded to them to fill the mag well. For the price of two of those, you can buy the mag block and several unmodified Sten mags!

We just had a shooter snap a pin in his Oly-Glock version and the gun started doubling and tripling on him. 9mm is a blockback operation and is hard on parts.

My personal take on the 9mm ARs is that they are an imperfect machine and require a lot of fiddling, in no small part due to a lack of quality suppliers. If you buy a Colt 6450 and use only Colt magazines you'll probably have very little trouble but it's an A1 upper and a 16" barrel. People start wanting to get into flattops and SBRs and that's where the trouble starts.

I have two. One is the aforementioned Colt 6450 that has run for a couple hundred rounds, half suppressed half not, without any problems. The other is an Anvil Arms/RRA combo SBR that I haven't shot yet but am anticipating all kinds of problems out of.

If I had it to do over again I would have SBR'd my 6450, bought a stripped RRA or CMMG 9mm upper, and installed a BCM or Noveske 9mm barrel in it. I would upgrade the pins with KNS Gen II anti-rotation pins and I'd run one of the Spike's or other 9+ oz. buffers in it.

If you're looking for a tinkerer/project/frustration-maker, the 9mm AR (especially one scratch-built) is certainly an excellent choice. :banghead:

I've run my Colt suppressed, and the whole reason for my SBR purchase was to put a can on it. The silencer is a YHM 9mm Wraith QD. If using a barrel 10" or greater I'd stick with this one. YHM also offers a 9mm XL which is a longer, fatter, version of the Wraith QD that might be an option on a shorter barrel.

Wraith QD
Overall Length 7.500 Inches
Diameter 1.250 Inches
Weight 5.8 Ounces
Suppression Level -30 dB Dry

9mm XL
Overall Length 8.500 Inches
Diameter 1.625 Inches
Weight 11 Ounces
Suppression Level -38 dB Dry

Be advised that since the XL is 1.625" OD it will only fit inside of the YHM FF rails and not the Daniel Defense. It is, however, supposed to be VERY quiet (as it should be at that huge size and weight).

Here's the Colt with can

RRA= Lifetime warranty

My RRA 9mm runs great! You run into problems when you start using aftermarket mags, but the gun can be tweeked, to work. I had zero issues with the factory RRA mag, but when I tried some Colt style CP mags I started getting double feeds, and broke a bolt catch. The bolt hold open feature only works with Colt mags, and never could of broke using the RRA mag since the bolt catch is not used with them. 9mm ARs use a very heavy bolt, compared to a .223, and the extra inertia with the heavy bolt moving forward, can lead to broken catches. My Friend Walkalong, fixed that issue for me The mag issues are no longer, after adjusting the mag block, and the rifle runs 100% with all ammo and mags.

AR15Sales Had the best price on them when I bought mine $869 Delivered, good luck not getting raped in todays market.

The main reason to go 9mm today is cost of ammo. A friend of mine bought a RRA in 9mm, and I gave him crap for buying it. His primary reason was so he could do some "modern cowboy action" shooting, which would only allow a carbine in pistol caliber I guess. Of course its been 6 months and he has yet to do it. Just like has has a saiga 12 he bought more then a year ago that he has yet to shoot. Anyways his RRA is nice, he has a eotech on it, and he said it was 100% reliable. I rather stick to mine in .223/5.56 for the money.

I use my Uzi at local matches where rifle rounds aren't allowed. I think of it more as a practice tool than as a practical weapon. It is cheaper to shoot than the rifles too.

As far as mags go I bought a whole bunch of NIW mags for about $12 each from a guy on Uzitalk. It takes me a while to load them but I can have more ammo than I can really afford to shoot already preloaded when I head out to the range or a match. The LULA for Uzi mags works great and I really, really recommend it it as they are a thumb-buster otherwise.

BSW

I agree completely that having a 9mm AR to "save money" is pretty much a false economy at best. But, there are many other reasons for the 9mm AR.

First is indoor use. Many indoor ranges don't allow 5.56 and with that stipulation the 9mm AR becomes a viable choice.

Second is steel plate and other competitions that only allow handgun ammo. Another fun competition that you can run with the 9mm AR that you can't with a 5.56 is subgun matches which tend to be high round count and lots of "run and gun", which can be a hell of a lot of fun.

Third is the VSBR. 5.56 out of a barrel less than 10" or so pretty much becomes a loud icepick. 9mm ammo, however, that is designed to expand out of a 5" barrel does GREAT in barrels around 7.5". Add a suppressor to that and shoot 147 grain subsonic ammo and you have one badass little home defense firearm.

There are others, but the above are mine. I have given up on fooling myself into thinking that I'm saving money on ammo. If I wanted to do that I'd buy a .22 upper.