Originally Posted by
wanderson
I say it depends on your needs. I have an AR pistol in 9mm w/4" barrel (Colt Smg pattern) and and a 5.56 AR pistol with a 10" barrel.
They're both fun, and while the 9mm AR pistol doesn't ballistically do anything any of my other 9mm pistols do, for me it's still quite a bit more accurate at 25 yards & beyond than a handgun, and easy to mount optics. I have other PCCs as well (Storm, Scorpion Evo, TNW ASR, High Point, Sub2k) and while the recoil management in a blowback AR isn't great, a single stage GI trigger is better than any of the other PCC triggers I've listed. With a Shockwave brace the recoil isn't uncomfortable, but mine has a 8.5 oz dedicated buffer and it's harder to do fast follow up shots. If we're talking possible suppression, I'd start with a Scorpion Evo instead.
The 10" 5.56 pistol is more than accurate enough out to 100 yards, and while it's not much shorter or lighter than my 14.5" pinned lightweight middy with the stock collapsed, it's still a pistol. But I wouldn't want to fire it without any ear protection, indoors flash & concussion back to the shooter is much more noticeable than the 14.5" and both have A2 flash hiders.
If you're looking for something to run Glock mags, I'd also recommend looking at a Roni STAB brace if you already have a Glock, I dropped a G32 (.357 sig) in one and was amazed at how much tighter my groups are at 25 yards with the Roni vs 7 yards without. The TNW ASRs also come in a pistol version, and while they're pricey at $700 vs an AR, I can go from 10mm to .357 sig with just a barrel swap by hand.