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Practically Shooting

9mm or .45ACP or even 10mm AR-15


Pablo

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Got some cool catalogs that have my creative juices going.

I was thinking of buying a 9mm or .45ACP or even 10mm upper...probably will stick with 9mm for ammo cost, but how awesome a 10mm would be.....anyway I know nothing of AR-15's so I have a ton of research to do, so it's not like I will be doing this next weekend.

My first general question, will any receiver work with any upper?

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Any AR lower rcvr should work with any pistol caliber upper, but a magazine block must be used. The block fits in the magazine well and is (usually) what the pistol caliber magazine latches into. They also might have a spacer/feedramp, and usually the ejector. Most made now latch into place using the regular mag catch, but some are pinned into place by roll pins going through holes added to the receiver. The original Colt 9mm used pins.

The bolt will be different because it will be a blowback system rather than a locked breech. I mention this so you will be careful when shopping. The bolt isn't always included in the price.

I'm not nuts over pistol caliber ARs. I wanted one for a while, then when I finally got a Colt 9mm in the late 90s I hardly used it. I had a Marlin Camp 9 that I had sort of gave up and settled for before finding that Colt, and I ended up favoring it because it was more reliable and more accurate.

Guns are usually best in their original configuration.

I do think they are nice for an indoor range (I had one in a barn when I got mine) or other ranges with cartridge/velocity limitations. And they are nice with a suppressor (another reason I got mine). But I guess the .22 ARs that are pretty common now could do those things too.

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I should state that I have a bias against most pistol caliber carbines (PCCs), and that causes me to dig on them more than maybe I should.

I have this philosophy that if I'm going to carry a rifle or carbine, it might as well shoot a rifle cartridge.

Having said that...

I put them down, but I can cast my hypocritical gaze around here and see rifles in .357, .41, and .44 Magnum, 9mm, 45ACP, and would like a few in the Winchester "dash" calibers like .32-20, .38-40 etc. And I've looked at the Mech-Tech conversion in .460 Rowland a few times.

So I do have a weakness for them. I may wonder about the practicality of carrying one when I could carry a similar weight rifle in a caliber that will do the same and more, but- they are fun. And that's how I see most of them: As fun guns.

The .44 Mag is an exception to me there, since it has impressed me as a rifle cartridge. I don't think it gives up anything to a lot of standard rifle "woods" calibers except range, and that argument makes little sense to me. A guy at the range questioned my .44 carbine compared to a .30-30 because the .44s lesser range. Ummm, If I'm using either, it's because I'm in the woods where I can't see half as far as either could be used easily so what difference does it make?

The .357 Mag is probably OK (pretty impressive with 180 grain bullets) and the .41 is not far back of the .44, but I might as well choose the .44. Unless just having fun. Which must be why I got the Marlin .41 with about a second of deliberation.

I never saw much increase in velocity over handguns when I've choreographed 9mm and 45 ACP. I'm not sure how the 10mm would do.

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I don't know what your plans are for it, but if you are thinking pistol caliber for indoor ranges or because they are cheaper to shoot, a 5.56/.223 AR can address both things with a .22 conversion unit.

I have a CMMG unit and it works great (after the first three magazines went through it). I see them on sale now and then for around 140 dollars, and CDNN has had them in parked or stainless plus a second magazine for 150 on sale.

And BCM makes good stuff. I bought one of their uppers in 2006, which was maybe a year at most after they started making them so they were somewhat unknown. I bought it after hearing good things from a couple of people I trusted. I also used it in a Gunsite carbine class right after getting it, which is an awful idea. Using new gear in a class is not very bright, and using new gear from a fairly new source was just plain stupid of me. It worked fine and during the zeroing phase the first day, one of the instructors remarked about the groups it was shooting and asked what brand my carbine was. When I told him Bravo Company/ BCM, he had never heard the name before. I saw that same instructor taking a carbine class as a student three years later in 2009. Someone asked him what he was using, and when he said "Bravo Company" I quietly remarked that I had one of those. He turned and said "I know. I bought this one after you used yours in that one class".

Instructors see a lot of guns and they see what works and what crashes. I always like hearing their opinion on guns for this reason. I also notice that most use Colts, including this guy usually. So if he felt comfortable using a BCM there, its because he had been seeing good things from them. I like Colt ARs but they are so hard to find that it's good to have an alternative. I think BCM is a heck of a good alternative.

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Or a rifle cartridge. But I repeat myself. smile

Seriously and on a similar thought process, I have wanted an AR in .44 AMP (AutoMag) for quite a while. It would be ballistically capable of anything a .44 Magnum carbine would do, and the rimless case would be more suited to a semiauto.

I haven't figured out the magazine yet, but honestly haven't looked too deeply. Between the AR mags for 5.56, 6.8SPC, 7.62x39, 5.45x39, something should be adaptable even if it needed a spacer in the body and shortened follower.

Speaking of which, I wonder what magazine would be used in a 10mm conversion. Perhaps a Grease Gun mag could be adapted, or just use a 9-Rd 1911 10mm mag. A Glock 20 mag would be too wide, I'd think.

Have you thought about the Mech-Tech CCU?

I know you like wood and steel and aren't a black rifle fan, so a 1911-hosted Mech-Tech would let you put some pretty wood grips on it!

Hmmm, a Mech-Tech 10mm unit... on a Para-Ord or STI hi-cap .40 frame...with some IPSC extended mags....could add up to a 10mm carbine of around 20 rounds capacity.

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I don't think this quite meets your desires, but thought I'd thrown it out there. I had never heard of it until five minutes ago:

http://www.emf-company.com/store/pc/J-R-CARBINE-c283.htm

It doesn't seem to be overly strong (I saw something about standard pressure only for 9mm) and if that's the case, a hot rod 10mm carbine plan wouldn't work here.

But there it is.

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  • 1 month later...

I picked up this Rock River Arms LAR-9, 9 MM AR-15 Carbine last year, and it's been a really good performer. What I really like about it over the Colt is the lower is a dedicated 9 MM. It is machined from solid as a 9 MM, and it doesn't have the magazine block pressed in like the Colt, and as a result magazines, (Colt, C-Products, Pro-Mag), all fit nice and tight with very little wobble.

This rifle easily hits 12" steel gong target at my club range out to 200 yards with a little practice. The cost of 9 MM FMJ ammo is affordable enough to where this gun goes to the range with me most every time. Bill T.

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