Discuss 9mm AR carbine as a go to

[Jpoe88]

I may scrap the project rifle I have and start filling up my parts bin with what I may take off.

How practical is a 9mm rifle? Intended use is training and trunk or truck gun. I'd like to do something budget friendly but still run. What I need is a barrel, bcg, adapter blocks and mags.

Should I run a Colt mag setup or hold out for a glock 9mm lower?

Are these reliable or only a novelty?

Money is an issue right now but I fee like I'd be at the range more often with 9mm than 223 due to cost.


Discuss please!

[dbain99]

Coming from someone who wants a 9mm carbine or 9mm AR pistol for a "truck gun/range toy" I don't see the advantages over a .223.
I see the initial build cost advantage going to the standard AR pattern in .223 for me. (mags and plenty of spare parts around here somewhere)
Ballistically and lethality gives a strong edge to .223.
Ammo cost at $.20 per 9mm and $.30 per .223 is $100 per thousand rounds. Personally 1000 rounds a year through this setup is something I probably won't do regularly so the savings becomes a moot point.

[Jpoe88]

Coming from someone who wants a 9mm carbine or 9mm AR pistol for a "truck gun/range toy" I don't see the advantages over a .223.
I see the initial build cost advantage going to the standard AR pattern in .223 for me. (mags and plenty of spare parts around here somewhere)
Ballistically and lethality gives a strong edge to .223.
Ammo cost at $.20 per 9mm and $.30 per .223 is $100 per thousand rounds. Personally 1000 rounds a year through this setup is something I probably won't do regularly so the savings becomes a moot point.

All valid points. My buddy is reloading 9mm at .02/rd. But again that's not me

[RedDawn]

All valid points. My buddy is reloading 9mm at .02/rd. But again that's not me

Is he willing to ship. Dang that's outstanding.

The AR9 for me is a great build for HD in pistol or SBR. The rifles are good for competition and training. I ran a pistol with 8" barrel it's not as much flip on the muzzle. I used PSA colt mags that were always snug and I liked the bolt staying back on the last round fired. Metalform are good to go as well.

[Jpoe88]

I believe he's at like .06 using factory fmj, but .02 for cast

[boss_hawg]

Is he willing to ship. Dang that's outstanding.

The AR9 for me is a great build for HD in pistol or SBR. The rifles are good for competition and training. I ran a pistol with 8" barrel it's not as much flip on the muzzle. I used PSA colt mags that were always snug and I liked the bolt staying back on the last round fired. Metalform are good to go as well.

the last time i purchased them, psa colt mags were metalform mags but rebranded by psa.

[ST911]

How practical is a 9mm rifle? Intended use is training and trunk or truck gun. I'd like to do something budget friendly but still run. What I need is a barrel, bcg, adapter blocks and mags.

Discuss please!

The PCC is making a comeback, due to service gun swaps back into 9mm, rise in popularity in the gun games, and ever expanding options for the system. And while not widespread, there's a bit of displacement of .223/5.56 carbines for PCCs. All that's old is new again.

I like the PCC in gun games as a training analog to .223/5.56 carbine use elsewhere.

All valid points. My buddy is reloading 9mm at .02/rd. But again that's not me

The 9mm reloads I see on ranges at that price point sometimes work, but mostly belch clouds of black smoke between stoppages. How are your buddy's?

[tylerw02]

All valid points. My buddy is reloading 9mm at .02/rd. But again that's not me

I don't believe you're buddy is loading at $0.02. You can buys primers for that. Nor powder, bullets, etc as components for that. More realistically 0.12-0.14 if over the shelf. Maybe 0.06-0.08 for cast.


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[wct097]

Back to the original subject of this thread. One thing to consider for "go-to" guns is reliability with cleaning/lubing. I've had most of my gun stuff in storage for the past two years, so I've been notoriously bad about cleaning my guns. I don't even track round counts at this point. I've even slacked on cleaning my carry gun. My carry G19 is dirty from the last time I shot it a month or so ago and I honestly don't remember when I last cleaned my 9mm AR. The last range trip, towards the end of the session, it started to have FTF malfunctions. After fussing with it a bit, and knowing we were over our time limit at the range, I shot a couple squirts of Ballistol through the ejection port and worked the bolt back and forth. That resolved the issue. I'm assuming that the fouling from shooting suppressed had overcome the lube from the last cleaning which prevented the bolt from fully engaging the round. The telling evidence of this was racking the charging handle and leaving the round in the chamber. Even slingshotting the bolt back home wouldn't always allow it to fire on the second try. I take full responsibility for not keeping it maintained, but I can't help but recognize that the mechanics of the 9mm are different enough from the self cleaning features of the 5.56 that it just won't go as long without maintenance & cleaning. As a recreational shooter, that's not a big deal to me, but it might be worth considering if you're using a similar build for a "go to" or defensive weapon.

In short, my experience is that my suppressed 9mm AR can't go as long as my 5.56 or suppressed 300BLK without cleaning & maintenance. YMMV.

Also, I fully plan to spend some quality time cleaning all of my guns in the next month or so when I get everything out of storage this weekend.

[Jpoe88]

I don't believe you're buddy is loading at $0.02. You can buys primers for that. Nor powder, bullets, etc as components for that. More realistically 0.12-0.14 if over the shelf. Maybe 0.06-0.08 for cast.


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You say that but when you're pounding out a thousand rounds a sitting, and your brass is free and so is your casting material, it's pretty low.