First Impressions: Colt AR6951 9mm Carbine
I found one of these online 2 days before the word came out from Colt that there would be no more rifles. All the usual online vendors were out of stock, but a deep internet search yielded one.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: It's just like an M4 on the outside, but different inside.
EXTERIOR: The carbine is of the same configuration as the familiar 6920. It is hard to tell them apart at a glance. It's even more like the 6720, which is Colt's pencil barrel version of the M4. Instead of an empty case deflector integral to the upper, there is a larger plastic deflector which is to keep combustion products away from the shooter. The flash hider is an A1 design with slots all around and since it need not be indexed, there is no crush washer. There is no forward assist, but who needs it? Everything else is the same; if you picked one up, you couldn't tell it by feel from the 5.56 M4.
MAGAZINE: It comes equipped with one Colt-marked Metalform magazine; this is the "modified UZI" 32 round magazine. The Colt-marked ones sell for $50-60 online but that's insane; you can get the same thing Metalform marked from Gun Mag Warehouse for $24. The magazine is made of heavy-gauge steel with a steel follower. Unlike the Glock big-sticks, the baseplate comes off easily for cleaning. As we shall see, that's a good thing. My mag loader hasn't arrived yet. This is a necessity as my thumbs are sore from loading. There are shorter magazines available.
INSIDE: Here's where things get interesting. It's not really an AR inside. The rifle field strips just like a 5.56. But the "AR-9" action is straight blowback. There is no locking of the breech. The front sight base is just that, a pedestal for the sight post and something to hold the handguards on. There is no gas tube because there is no gas-operated action. The bolt is of the same rough outline as the 5.56 bolt-and-carrier but it's all one piece and is heavier than an M16 set. The buffer spring feels to the touch to be stiffer, too. All this is because the mass of the bolt and the push of the spring are all that hold the cartridge in place. The firing pin is held in place by the usual "cotter pin" but there is a firing pin spring. The gas key is a nub bolted (yes, well-staked) in the conventional manner. The barrel is 1 in 10" and is chrome-lined. The lower appears to be a regular AR lower with a magazine adapter pinned in. The hammer pin is stainless steel.
FIRING: The rifle was generously coated inside and out with preservative oil. I hosed it down with non-chlorinated brake cleaner (Gun Scrubber at 1/6 the cost) and lubricated generously with Breakfree CLP. Ammunition was:
Winchester 115 grain range fodder
Winchester Q4318 NATO 124 grain
Federal 147 grain FMJ truncated cone
Everything worked perfectly out of the box. It sighted right in and pretty soon was making fist sized groups with me standing offhand at 25 yards. The 147 seemed not as accurate as the lighter stuff. Recoil felt perhaps a bit more than shooting M193 in a M4 but I'd have to shoot them side by side to be sure. I fired about 250 rounds without a hiccup. The flat nose 147 jams up my Sub 2K with Glock mags, but it feeds in the 6951 without protest. [But see comments below]. Cases eject at 90 degrees.
CLEANING: This being a blowback design, the gun gets a lot dirtier than an AR action. You really need to completely hose out the lower every time you shoot it, which is not necessary with an AR action. It took Hoppe's and a GI toothbrush, and brake cleaner, and compressed air to get her all cleaned up. There was a lot of powder dust on and in the magazine, too. I disassembled the magazine, scrubbed inside the body and the follower with Hoppe's, and blasted it out as well. If you are going to do an extended shooting session it wouldn't hurt to add some more CLP before you would need to with an AR action.
This carbine will replace my venerable pump shotgun for home protection duties.
