Talk me into AR pistol

I have a sickness. Symptoms include picking up random AR parts when I find decent prices on them. Today it was a Spike's stripped lower.

Anyway, I like the AR rifle. Have several, all configured differently for different purposes like varmint shooting, HD, carbine classes, etc.

I want to like the idea of an AR pistol. The downside I keep going back to is the size of the finished handgun. Conversely, it's a small package for 5.56mm

Those that own and shoot them, what real use do you find for them? Are they just range toys?

I'm not committed to a build yet, and seriously undecided between building a pistol (partly because of the cool factor) and building a rifle in one of the heavier calibers available for the AR. Rifle pro's and con's are dime a dozen with internet research, but I haven't found much on pistols.

Opinions, please.

 

Opinions are like advice, worth what they cost, but here are mine. A 223 pistol shorter than 10" is a personal flash bang. Fun as heck but wow the fireball. A 300 blackout is great to actually use, plus you could hunt in caliber restricted states like Washington. Big bore pistols like 458 socom or 50 beowolf are close to the most hitting power you can get for the size and weight, plus have an awe factor to them. And I have the sickness too, so take this for what its worth, but try out a pistol. If you don't like it you can always tear it apart and build something else later...

 

I don't have an ar platform pistol rather a sig 553p import. As adcoch said it is a flashbang but sooooo much fun. I actually smile when I shoot it. I use a harness so the flash and bang are quite manageable

 

I actually sold off my AR's other than my 5.56 pistol I built.
It's a great little stand in for an SBR for me.

It's strong suit really is offhand plinking inside 100 yards
Even better if you're getting in and out of trucks with it.

 

An AR pistol with a Shockwave Blade stabilizer is a great substitute for an SBR, no paper trail! Just keep the stabilizer at least 0.001" away from your shoulder.

I wouldn't go less than 10.5 inches for the sake of ballistics and reliability. My AR pistol is so fun to shoot that I haven't touched my 16 and 14.5-inch carbines in months, and I'm in the process of building another AR pistol.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words:


.300blk of course.
The flash can is nice so you don't char yourself. And t lets you use a longer rail which is a tad more comfortable to shoot accurately.



or

 

I had a Sig P556. I found it impractical in nearly every way. Got rid of it.

It was just too expensive for the fun it provided. I enjoy real handguns more. If you want more detail, feel free to ask.

 

Agree completely. A few years ago I had it in my head I wanted an AK pistol. As usual, I did a little research, consulted the gang on a couple forums, and for the most part was warned that they can be fun for a short while, but that the novelty would soon wear off, and I'd be selling it.
And they were right.
Even my gun-nut buddies, that are usually happy to try anything new out, found it to be an inacurate waste of ammo, and just plain unpleasant to fire.
I unloaded it back into circulation here locally, and haven't missed it for a minute.
I believe an AR pistol would be just as useless and impractical, and be even LESS fun to fire.

 

I like my AR pistol, but do plan to SBR it. As a handgun, it's heavy, awkward and horribly balanced. With a cheek weld, it's easier to maintain accuracy. It's a lot of fun to shoot, and will be my go to rifle for training classes once it's wearing a stock.

 

When I built my AR pistol, I went with a 10.5" 5.56 upper. I wish I would have went with a 300 upper (yes a reason to buy another upper). Another nice thing about an AR pistol is that you can use them for deer hunting during alternate method season. Missouri is one state that allows that.

 

I don't own one but my best friend has a couple that we shoot on occasion. The fact that I don't own one should tell you my feelings about it. It is fun to shoot, looks cool and all but I really see no need in having one.

This from a guy that has more guns he doesn't "need" than he can even count. I have safes full of guns I haven't shot in over a year.

 

I did exactly that last year, hunted two seasons with just the AR pistol. I built a 10.5" from parts I bought based on what was decent quality and available when I got to that portion of the build. It shot fine from the first round, handles cheap 5.56 in the 55 to 80 gr weight with no regard to tipped or OTM.

No stock, brace, or whatever. No plans to SBR it as the tube remains a legal method to shoulder from all of what has been written or posted. 5.56 isn't punishing and it's not a range toy. I use a BRT Covert linear and don't see flameballs in daylight.

It does require more thought in carry - my 16" 6.8 doesn't muzzle my off arm or legs nearly as much. Muzzle control is definitely an item to rethink, the length of the barrel isn't there to be your conscience, you have to bear it in mind constantly. Mine weighs a pound less than the minimalist 16" I built and it's noticeable, although after a day's hike wandering in the Ozarks it's still not a lightweight in the arms. However, compared to a HK91?

In the area I hunt the terrain is rarely open for hundreds of yards and when seasons are scheduled it's after leaf fall and in the rut. Deer behavior alters then, you don't see them placidly grazing the way they did just a few weeks earlier. They stick to denser cover and are congregating in areas harder to approach. Most shots in broken Ozark woodlands are as far as you can see thru the brush or trees, which amounts to less than 80 yards. That is well within the 1,000 foot pounds of force a 10.5" can accomplish and works.

Since it's a pistol, then it also falls under MO CCW regulations. Most of those are somewhat academic but you can carry it loaded concealed in the front seat of a car, and don't have to ask permission to cross state lines from the ATF. SBR's are rifles and therefore here must be unloaded cased in the back ammo separate. The AR pistol does have advantages.

As for 10.5" AR's, the Army has been issuing them since 1965, first as the XM177, and now as the CQBR which the Navy calls the MK18. They also use MK262 OTM ammo developed by Crane and Black Hills for the longer guns but which has an excellent reputation among the SBR users. Their use is in shipboarding, clearing, and close urban quarters combat, where they offer superior firepower over pistols without the difficulty of a longer rifle in tight areas.

The AR pistol is just as lethal, it's not a toy, and it avoids registration with the ATF, a trust, the cost of a Stamp, and a long delay. It's also what a lot of the future SBR owners build first - and then they spend money to make things more restricted and less convenient, if you ask pistol users like me.

It's interesting that when the subject does come up on other forums that the AR pistol is characterized as a toy but the SBR - just a pistol with rifle stock - is desireable as it's own Man Card. Go figure. I don't think a stock is worth the expense to have it for what little return in accuracy will result. And even more interesting, nobody has bothered to prove it will. I'll take their word for it.

 

Thanks for the opinions and comments. Like I said, I'm not committed to a build yet, so I want to do all my thinking now, before i start buying other parts.

 

I like that it is a pistol, even with the sig brace. With a CCW permit I could keep it ready to go in the car, where a typical long gun would be a big no no.

I would get in a nice short barrel friendly caliber too.

THAT would be the most attractive thing to me about it.

 

As an SBR owner, I see both sides. I love being able to actually shoulder my SBR and that it has an actual buttstock. I don't like the idea of having to use a brace as a "cheek weld". I see videos and think it looks ridiculously cheesy.

That said, the pistol does have certain benefits that an SBR does not have. I'm glad I went SBR first, but I will probably do a pistol lower next that way I can move my uppers from SBR to pistol when I need to transport. And unless there's an ATF agent hiding with a ruler in the bushes, what I do or don't do in private is my own business.

 

I did it exactly once. No, don't do it. It was all wrong for me. Not comfortable and no way was I accurate. Makes no sense to me, but some people like them. Maybe you can try a friend's.

 

No modern SBRs allowed in my state so this is as close as I get to owning one. That said, I hardly ever shoot it, I would usually rather shoot my rifles but I am not an AR fan either, even though I have a few. To me, .223 is a very boring round to shoot, I like bigger booms and heavier bullets. Build one if you want a fun toy but that's about what they are mainly useful for. Glad I have mine simply because our evil overlords don't want me to, but if I moved to a free state, I would SBR it in a heartbeat. And yes, you can have a VFG on an over 26" "Other" without it being an AOW. This is over 26" OAL. See the Franklin Armory ATF ruling letter.

 

I got a Pro Ordnance AR pistol in '89 and rarely shot it - the muzzle flash was incredible. Got rid of it and lost a ton of money on it, but bought something I could hit targets with.

 

I built one with a 10.5" barrel as a lark some years ago, it is fun to shoot, but since then I've also got my hands on an MSAR and a Tavor. Both those have 16" barrels, are a little shorter and balance far better and a quicker on target than the AR pistol, so it doesn't get shot much these days...

 

A Tavor is what I would look at if I really wanted a SBR, or AR pistol sized gun, because I don't want to register any weapon.

 

The price tag is what keeps me from buying a Tavor.

 

Shooting an SBR AR is much more comfortable than a Tavor IMHO.

 

I will never understand how anyone but a lawyer or an ATF agent could call a sawed off AR a "pistol". May as well just carry an real rifle around. Of course I am just an old man.

 

"Shooting an SBR AR is much more comfortable than a Tavor IMHO."

Indeed, if you can "shoulder" the short barrelled AR, that changes the dynamic of using it tremendously. But then you have to go through the paperwork, wait time and cost of the SBR process.

Since that pic was taken, the AR pistol acquired a Sig brace, so I can "imagine" how it would handle, had it a stock. That said, I still prefer the balance and handling of both the MSAR ( bought used <$900) and the Tavor, ( again bought used)...My regular AR's don't get shot as much either...

OP, you don't know until you try one so, as an earlier poster said, if you're already down the path of acquiring parts, go ahead and build one, or look for a pre owned one you can resell or cannibalize if you don't like it...

 

That's not something I would talk you into.