wanderinwalker
Member
With all of the threads and interest in pistol caliber carbines lately, I decided it was finally time to sit down and do a quick write-up on one of my newest acquisitions, a Colt 6951, AKA a Colt 9mm Carbine.
The brief description of this is it's the current semi-auto version of the 9mm Colt SMG that has been around since about the time I was born. Like most current AR carbines, it has a flat-top upper with 16" barrel, a carbine buffer and collapsible stock. This rifle came equipped with an M4 buttstock, A2 pistol grip and double-heat shield handguard, which I swapped out for a Magpul MOE SL stock, and Magpul MOE forend and grip. I had honestly forgotten how much I disliked the finger groove location on the standard A2 pistol grip until I put the first few hundred rounds through this rifle. And the MOE SL stock solved the issues of the stock pinching and pulling on my face during firing and the lack of a "grippy" surface on the buttplate. Plus, the stealth gray color makes it look different from all of the bazillion other ARs at the range.
I put the first few hundred rounds through this rifle with it in bone-stock condition, including using the irons. It took a little adjusting of the sights to get it hitting where I wanted, and after a few strings my eyes were having trouble keeping the front sight in focus. OK, that was expected with the short sight radius. But it was enough to prove function with the OEM magazine and get me familiar with the rifle. Being an AR it was a quick learning curve. It does have a standard single-stage AR trigger, and I know some people will find that abhorrable. For me and the uses a 9mm carbine is likely to be put to, I just don't see it as an impediment to practical accuracy. It's certainly nowhere near as bad as an out-of-the-box CZ Scorpion trigger.
The next step was to get my green dot Trijicon MRO mounted up. I picked a Trijicon Lower 1/3 Q-Loc mount, and everything bolted right up as expected. In the same shipping box were the first batch of additional magazines, and that's where the issues started to crop up. Brownell's Colt-style 9mm mags would not lock into the rifle with the bolt closed, and the action wouldn't cycle with mags locked in with the bolt open. I decided to return them instead of attempting modifications when a pair of Metalform magazines, which looked identical to the Brownell's mags aside from finish, locked up and worked just like the Colt-marked OEM magazine. I'll note this pair of Metalform magazines doesn't drop-free from the lower, but another pair purchased from a different vendor does, as will the OEM magazine. Lesson learned: Colt-style 9mm ARs are more like 1911s than Glocks when it comes to sorting out magazines.
As of writing this, I've put around 800 rounds of mixed 9mm FMJ through this carbine, the majority of it being Winchester 9mm NATO 124gr FMJ. Since the original SMG was set-up to run on this kind of ammo, it would explain why it works so well. Accuracy has been to my expectations, about 2.5" at 50 yards for 5-shots from a bench, with 100 yard offhand hits on a 1/2-scale silhouette being routine. Steel plates at 25 yards stand no chance. The rifle cycles quickly and I find it to have minimal muzzle rise when I'm driving the gun. Everybody always mentions recoil when talking about blowback 9mm carbines, and I don't notice the Colt being any worse than my CZ Scorpion, and it certainly isn't like a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 or a Ruger PC-9. Being a blowback action it does get very dirty, very quickly, After 300 rounds or so the receiver is filled with lots of unburnt powder and debris. The magazines should also get a disassembly and clean after the same interval. Two of my magazines have developed an intermittent failure to feed on the last round that I'm assuming is from accumulated crud due to my lack of magazine maintenance thus far.
And it will get very dirty because it's too easy to put rounds through. It makes me smile even more than plinking empty shotgun hulls with a .22 rifle. Bring a 9mm pistol and the Colt to the range with 200 rounds of ammo? Better be sure to save some for the pistol, otherwise it will all go through the carbine and you'll be turning your range bag inside out for any spare rounds you might have missed. Going to do some 100 yard bench shooting with the .308 hunting rifle? Throw in the 9mm carbine to shoot at 50 yards or the 100 yard steel while the .308 cools down. Not sure which shooting bays will be available when you get to the range? Bring the 9mm carbine and you're good for whatever is open. There's a reason why I've put 800 rounds through it in less than 8 weeks, and it isn't because my ammunition budget suddenly found some funds to spend before the fiscal year closes.
Would I recommend getting one? Maybe. It is an AR that you can use on steel plates inside 100 yards without special ammo. It is the same manual of arms as any other AR-15. It does cost less to shoot than 5.56mm. It does have less muzzle blast and might even be OK at some indoor ranges when it's big brother is verboten. And for those who want it, it IS a Colt.
Edited: Spelling and grammar.
The brief description of this is it's the current semi-auto version of the 9mm Colt SMG that has been around since about the time I was born. Like most current AR carbines, it has a flat-top upper with 16" barrel, a carbine buffer and collapsible stock. This rifle came equipped with an M4 buttstock, A2 pistol grip and double-heat shield handguard, which I swapped out for a Magpul MOE SL stock, and Magpul MOE forend and grip. I had honestly forgotten how much I disliked the finger groove location on the standard A2 pistol grip until I put the first few hundred rounds through this rifle. And the MOE SL stock solved the issues of the stock pinching and pulling on my face during firing and the lack of a "grippy" surface on the buttplate. Plus, the stealth gray color makes it look different from all of the bazillion other ARs at the range.
I put the first few hundred rounds through this rifle with it in bone-stock condition, including using the irons. It took a little adjusting of the sights to get it hitting where I wanted, and after a few strings my eyes were having trouble keeping the front sight in focus. OK, that was expected with the short sight radius. But it was enough to prove function with the OEM magazine and get me familiar with the rifle. Being an AR it was a quick learning curve. It does have a standard single-stage AR trigger, and I know some people will find that abhorrable. For me and the uses a 9mm carbine is likely to be put to, I just don't see it as an impediment to practical accuracy. It's certainly nowhere near as bad as an out-of-the-box CZ Scorpion trigger.
The next step was to get my green dot Trijicon MRO mounted up. I picked a Trijicon Lower 1/3 Q-Loc mount, and everything bolted right up as expected. In the same shipping box were the first batch of additional magazines, and that's where the issues started to crop up. Brownell's Colt-style 9mm mags would not lock into the rifle with the bolt closed, and the action wouldn't cycle with mags locked in with the bolt open. I decided to return them instead of attempting modifications when a pair of Metalform magazines, which looked identical to the Brownell's mags aside from finish, locked up and worked just like the Colt-marked OEM magazine. I'll note this pair of Metalform magazines doesn't drop-free from the lower, but another pair purchased from a different vendor does, as will the OEM magazine. Lesson learned: Colt-style 9mm ARs are more like 1911s than Glocks when it comes to sorting out magazines.
As of writing this, I've put around 800 rounds of mixed 9mm FMJ through this carbine, the majority of it being Winchester 9mm NATO 124gr FMJ. Since the original SMG was set-up to run on this kind of ammo, it would explain why it works so well. Accuracy has been to my expectations, about 2.5" at 50 yards for 5-shots from a bench, with 100 yard offhand hits on a 1/2-scale silhouette being routine. Steel plates at 25 yards stand no chance. The rifle cycles quickly and I find it to have minimal muzzle rise when I'm driving the gun. Everybody always mentions recoil when talking about blowback 9mm carbines, and I don't notice the Colt being any worse than my CZ Scorpion, and it certainly isn't like a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 or a Ruger PC-9. Being a blowback action it does get very dirty, very quickly, After 300 rounds or so the receiver is filled with lots of unburnt powder and debris. The magazines should also get a disassembly and clean after the same interval. Two of my magazines have developed an intermittent failure to feed on the last round that I'm assuming is from accumulated crud due to my lack of magazine maintenance thus far.
And it will get very dirty because it's too easy to put rounds through. It makes me smile even more than plinking empty shotgun hulls with a .22 rifle. Bring a 9mm pistol and the Colt to the range with 200 rounds of ammo? Better be sure to save some for the pistol, otherwise it will all go through the carbine and you'll be turning your range bag inside out for any spare rounds you might have missed. Going to do some 100 yard bench shooting with the .308 hunting rifle? Throw in the 9mm carbine to shoot at 50 yards or the 100 yard steel while the .308 cools down. Not sure which shooting bays will be available when you get to the range? Bring the 9mm carbine and you're good for whatever is open. There's a reason why I've put 800 rounds through it in less than 8 weeks, and it isn't because my ammunition budget suddenly found some funds to spend before the fiscal year closes.
Would I recommend getting one? Maybe. It is an AR that you can use on steel plates inside 100 yards without special ammo. It is the same manual of arms as any other AR-15. It does cost less to shoot than 5.56mm. It does have less muzzle blast and might even be OK at some indoor ranges when it's big brother is verboten. And for those who want it, it IS a Colt.
Edited: Spelling and grammar.
(I should probably have a sign around here somewhere that says "Proudly Glock Free Since 2016". 
