I have the money now, should I ...

[Big Arm Hannigan]

buy an Oly Arms 9mm AR or wait until the Beretta CX4 Storm comes out, or save some more and buy a 223 AR and a 9mm conversion kit? It will be used for our tactical matches that require use of a pistol caliber carbine. I have no real use for the 223 at this time, but one never knows.

 

[Art Eatman]

Seat of the pants, I'd venture the AR and a 9mm convesion kit. That way, if your needs and interests change a year or six down the road, you'll have the full-house .223 setup.

And, just speculating, a flat-top .223 would allow for multiple uses, for hunting as well as dealing with hostilities. You can go with either a scope or with iron sights...

$0.02, Art

 

[Steve Smith]

Same answer as Art. Both are fun and worthwhile.

 

[Engineer]

You could always by the Oly 9mm carbine now and slap a .223 upper on it later on. The Oly 9mm lower is a standard lower - the only difference is that the caliber will be marked as "Multi" and you'll have a "9mm" stamp on the receiver.

Cheapest way to do it is to buy a stripped lower, and then by a .223 kit from someplace like JT or Model 1 and then get a 9mm upper. This way you cut out the FET on either the complete .223 or 9mm rifle.