AR-15 9mm Carbines, Which one to get?

[Dr. Pretorius]

Hello, Anyone experienced with AR-15 9mm carbines and who makes the best one? Feeding Reliability is my main concern. I'm just looking for a fun shooter.

Prost!

 

[RonPaulSupporter]

I'd probably say Colt or Rock River Arms if you can find them.
It might be easier/cheaper to try to build one however, I'm not totally sure about prices or wait times (especially with RRA).

 

[melensdad]

Olympic Arms makes a very reliable 9mm carbine. Actually they make 2 different variants. One uses STEN magazines and the other uses GLOCK magazines. The Glock version requires a special dedicated lower that is not standard; JMO I would avoid that version. On the other hand the STEN version is very reliable. I use one regularly and it has never failed. The factory ships it with a modified STEN magazine, and will sell you modified magazines for something like $60 each. The better bet is to order an adapter block from Brownells. It drops into the magazine well and allows you to use standard/unmodified STEN magazines in your lower. I purchased a dozen STEN magazine for $60. So STEN magazines are cheap!!! The mag block cost about $70 (my mag block did require a bit of dremel tool fitting but works 100%). So for $130 I got the equivalent of 12 magazines. Seems like an economical way to do things, and since the STEN sub-guns are fairly common, magazines can be found at many gun shows, on line, etc.

Best thing with the OLY version is that the lower is pretty much standard and can be used with any upper so if you want to swap off the 9mm carbine upper, you can simply fit the lower with any other upper you have in the safe.

Some folks don't like Olympic Arms, but they are one of the very few companies out there that actually make and build their own guns. Most AR companies buy parts and simply assemble their guns. Many buy parts from Oly. I've got a couple Olympic Arms guns and they are absolutely flawless.

 

[pierce195]

I had a Colt SMG and loved it, traded it in for an MP5. Ball ammo only for my Colt and it would run all day and night. It would have FTF with JHP or other types of ammo.

 

[shooter521]

If you're going to buy off the rack, go Rock River. If you're going to build, that opens up the field a bit.

 

[Dr. Pretorius]

If you're going to buy off the rack, go Rock River. If you're going to build, that opens up the field a bit.

I'm going to put up a AD soon to see if someone will trade me their 9mm AR for my AK Krinkov pistol and if that don't pan out I'm thinking about buying a complete upper and then building the lower like I did with my Bushy gas piston rifle. The Rock River looks pretty nice and it appears they take Uzi mags, at least thats what it looks like in the photo. They might be modified Uzi mags?

 

[shooter521]

The Rock River looks pretty nice and it appears they take Uzi mags, at least thats what it looks like in the photo. They might be modified Uzi mags?

The Rock River 9mm AR will accept modified Uzi mags, or Colt-pattern SMG mags (Colt, Metalform, CProducts, Promag).