wanderinwalker
Member
Short version: I've decided I want another rifle for my birthday/Christmas present this year (I'm turning 35). And I think I want a Colt AR-15 in 9mm.
Long version: I have an AR-15 in 5.56 but there have been changes at my local range, so it doesn't come out as much as it used to. There's no more rapid fire, no more steel plates on the rifle range, rifles are to be only fired into the specific 50, 100 or 200 yard backstops with paper targets, etc.
We do have a small steel-plate range at our family's camp, which a pistol caliber carbine is perfectly suitable for. The ranges are short (10-50 yards) and the guns that get the most use on it are the .22s and pistols. Now I want a center fire carbine that can be used on this range, and pretty much anywhere it's safe to shoot a larger-than-.22LR firearm.
The advantages I see to the 9mm AR are: it's a semi-auto firing a common, inexpensive round. It's the same lay-out as my 5.56 AR. It holds A LOT of rounds (32-round stick magazines), which makes for plenty of steel plate fun between reloads. I can throw a small red dot on it and it would make an excellent stand-in for shooting the 5.56. Plus I'm set-up to reload 9mm, so if the inexpensive factory ammo dries up, I'm still in good shape for feeding it.
Downsides: Expensive. It's the upper limit of my budget, and adding magazines and a quality RDS are going to take some time. I'm unsure if reloading 9mm for a blowback carbine is going to have different requirements than loading for a locked breech pistol. It's a semi-auto, so the brass is going to go EVERYWHERE while shooting. It's an AR-15, with all of the potential transport issues that entails (don't take it into MA or NY, don't travel into VT with high-capacity magazines these days, etc).
So talk to me about your experiences with 9mm AR-15s, or 9mm Pistol Caliber Carbines in general.
Keep in mind, I haven't ruled out a .357 Magnum lever action or a new .22 semi-auto rifle. (I really like the looks of the maple-stock Browning SA-22s and logic and reason could lose out to pure emotion.)
Long version: I have an AR-15 in 5.56 but there have been changes at my local range, so it doesn't come out as much as it used to. There's no more rapid fire, no more steel plates on the rifle range, rifles are to be only fired into the specific 50, 100 or 200 yard backstops with paper targets, etc.
We do have a small steel-plate range at our family's camp, which a pistol caliber carbine is perfectly suitable for. The ranges are short (10-50 yards) and the guns that get the most use on it are the .22s and pistols. Now I want a center fire carbine that can be used on this range, and pretty much anywhere it's safe to shoot a larger-than-.22LR firearm.
The advantages I see to the 9mm AR are: it's a semi-auto firing a common, inexpensive round. It's the same lay-out as my 5.56 AR. It holds A LOT of rounds (32-round stick magazines), which makes for plenty of steel plate fun between reloads. I can throw a small red dot on it and it would make an excellent stand-in for shooting the 5.56. Plus I'm set-up to reload 9mm, so if the inexpensive factory ammo dries up, I'm still in good shape for feeding it.
Downsides: Expensive. It's the upper limit of my budget, and adding magazines and a quality RDS are going to take some time. I'm unsure if reloading 9mm for a blowback carbine is going to have different requirements than loading for a locked breech pistol. It's a semi-auto, so the brass is going to go EVERYWHERE while shooting. It's an AR-15, with all of the potential transport issues that entails (don't take it into MA or NY, don't travel into VT with high-capacity magazines these days, etc).
So talk to me about your experiences with 9mm AR-15s, or 9mm Pistol Caliber Carbines in general.
Keep in mind, I haven't ruled out a .357 Magnum lever action or a new .22 semi-auto rifle. (I really like the looks of the maple-stock Browning SA-22s and logic and reason could lose out to pure emotion.)
