Personal Experiences on your 9mm AR SBR

[OJB4]

As the subject implies.....I'm wanting a 9mm AR SBR and looking for your opinions on your personal setups. Would you do anything different from what you currently have? Where did you get your setups? Did you build from scratch or are there rigs already complete and ready for shipping (if so what's a good company/quality rifle)?

I'm thinking of a glock magazine compatible lower paired with a 5.5 inch barrel with an 8 - 10 inch rail, but other than that I'm not sure where to go and what to look at. I don't wanna just google where to get something like this....I'd prefer a dealer that has a good reputation among you guys.

Nobody in my area has any fun toys like I do so I've got nobody to mentor me and am counting on y'alls experience to help me out. I'm the area pioneer in silencers and most recently some SBR's, but I've only purchased stock Daniel Defense SBR's. Where would y'all look if you were wanting something matching my above description.

Thanks in advance.

Jay

[Prince Yamato]

I don't have experience with the SBRs but I do have experience with 9mm ARs. If you're going dedicated, the Glock mags are nice, but you're limited to 9mm and 40 and Glock mags. You could easily just get a regular AR and Colt mags. Then, if you got sick of 9mm, you could go back to .223 or 300 black. Honestly, for what you'll spend on a 9mm AR, you could just as easily go with a Scorpion or Sig MPX. I had a Colt pattern 9mm. It was fun and cheap to shoot, but it looks doofy with the big mag well and small magazine.

[speed6]

I'll bite. I have a 7" 9mm upper from JSE surplus. They don't make my upper any more apparently (just checked the site) but I have a 7" barrel with a 7" YHM quad rail forend, CMMG ramped bolt for use with a standard hammer, spike's tactical 9mm buffer, Hahn precision bottom-load mag block and metalform magazines. I have two SBR lowers, an S&W and an no-name one I built myself. They both work but the bolt catch on the no-name (ADI maybe?) doesn't work as well as the S&W. I like the 7" barrel/forend combo because you can run it without a can with a flash hider and it looks good, then swap out the FH for a suppressor and it allows you to easily install and remove user serviceable cans. 7" also keeps 147 grain ammo sub-sonic. I would do the standard ar-15 lower with a mag block, since it stays a multi-caliber gun. If you already have some SBRs a glock mag lower would be OK I guess. A couple things I have found:

If you can, try out your lower/upper combo in pistol configuration to make sure it will functions. I have heard of people getting a slightly out-of-spec lower that will cause the disconnector to not be set between shots. This doesn't result in full auto (that I'm aware of) just a single-shot SBR. I think you can file down some FCG components to fix this though.

Get metalform mags. ASC mags are crap crap crap, as are c-products.

Get adapters, sub-sonic ammo, sights etc NOW. Don't wait till you get the stamp back or you will regret the wait time! Some 9mm AR components are kind of niche and can be out of stock often.

Don't expect this thing to be bb-gun quiet. It is a blowback sub-rifle and I shoot mine with hear-pro even with a good can (ti-rant 9). I may try a heavy buffer or something to try and quiet it down a bit.

Things I like about my setup: short and handy, suppresses well, 16" or less with a full-size can installed, looks cool, shoots cheap ammo, reliable, relatively quiet (to the neighbors at least, still kinda loud for the shooter).

things I don't like: HEAVY. Holy crap, turn some stock off the OD of that barrel, this isn't a varmint rifle. I would go with a lighter-profile barrel if I did it again. I might do a different fore-end like a key-mod or something if I did it again. The YHM forend is kind of big on the OD.

Like I said earlier, upper is JSE Surplus, lower (in the pics) is off an S&W M&P-15 MOE, and I think i got everything else from 9mmar.com or JSE surplus. Brownells also has some of their own 9mm AR-15 mags, I think metalform actually makes those.

[OJB4]

I don't have experience with the SBRs but I do have experience with 9mm ARs. If you're going dedicated, the Glock mags are nice, but you're limited to 9mm and 40 and Glock mags. You could easily just get a regular AR and Colt mags. Then, if you got sick of 9mm, you could go back to .223 or 300 black. Honestly, for what you'll spend on a 9mm AR, you could just as easily go with a Scorpion or Sig MPX. I had a Colt pattern 9mm. It was fun and cheap to shoot, but it looks doofy with the big mag well and small magazine.

Thanks for the reply. I'll look more at the MPX but my first impression of it (I've never actually held one) was there's just something about it I'm not wild about. Nothing concrete, just from my first impression. It could grow on me though.

I've already got a SBR'd .223 and a SBR'd 300 BLK so that's why I'm leaning towards a dedicated 9mm lower.....and I've already got plenty Glock mags to play with too so that won't be any additional expense.

Thanks again!

[speed6]

If you can find one with good reviews a glock lower would be your best bet then. 9mm AR-15 mags are like 40 bucks each.

ETA: also forgot to mention (don't know how much research you have done) but most 9mm ar-15 muzzles have 1/2-36 threads as opposed to 1/2-28. You may need a different FH/adapter/mount/piston for this gun for that reason.

[OJB4]

I'll bite. I have a 7" 9mm upper from JSE surplus. They don't make my upper any more apparently (just checked the site) but I have a 7" barrel with a 7" YHM quad rail forend, CMMG ramped bolt for use with a standard hammer, spike's tactical 9mm buffer, Hahn precision bottom-load mag block and metalform magazines. I have two SBR lowers, an S&W and an no-name one I built myself. They both work but the bolt catch on the no-name (ADI maybe?) doesn't work as well as the S&W. I like the 7" barrel/forend combo because you can run it without a can with a flash hider and it looks good, then swap out the FH for a suppressor and it allows you to easily install and remove user serviceable cans. 7" also keeps 147 grain ammo sub-sonic. I would do the standard ar-15 lower with a mag block, since it stays a multi-caliber gun. If you already have some SBRs a glock mag lower would be OK I guess. A couple things I have found:

If you can, try out your lower/upper combo in pistol configuration to make sure it will functions. I have heard of people getting a slightly out-of-spec lower that will cause the disconnector to not be set between shots. This doesn't result in full auto (that I'm aware of) just a single-shot SBR. I think you can file down some FCG components to fix this though.

Get metalform mags. ASC mags are crap crap crap, as are c-products.

Get adapters, sub-sonic ammo, sights etc NOW. Don't wait till you get the stamp back or you will regret the wait time! Some 9mm AR components are kind of niche and can be out of stock often.

Don't expect this thing to be bb-gun quiet. It is a blowback sub-rifle and I shoot mine with hear-pro even with a good can (ti-rant 9). I may try a heavy buffer or something to try and quiet it down a bit.

Things I like about my setup: short and handy, suppresses well, 16" or less with a full-size can installed, looks cool, shoots cheap ammo, reliable, relatively quiet (to the neighbors at least, still kinda loud for the shooter).

things I don't like: HEAVY. Holy crap, turn some stock off the OD of that barrel, this isn't a varmint rifle. I would go with a lighter-profile barrel if I did it again. I might do a different fore-end like a key-mod or something if I did it again. The YHM forend is kind of big on the OD.

Like I said earlier, upper is JSE Surplus, lower (in the pics) is off an S&W M&P-15 MOE, and I think i got everything else from 9mmar.com or JSE surplus. Brownells also has some of their own 9mm AR-15 mags, I think metalform actually makes those.

Thanks for all your info and ideas. I'm playing around on the sites you listed now. I'll make sure I keep weight in mind as I piece everything together.

[OJB4]

If you can find one with good reviews a glock lower would be your best bet then. 9mm AR-15 mags are like 40 bucks each.

ETA: also forgot to mention (don't know how much research you have done) but most 9mm ar-15 muzzles have 1/2-36 threads as opposed to 1/2-28. You may need a different FH/adapter/mount/piston for this gun for that reason.

Couldn't I just use the same spacer that I have to use on my 22 LR S&W AR?

[speed6]

Are you talking about your suppressor mount? Unless they have a non-standard thread, the threads your 22 AR are probably 1/2-28. Maybe someone else with more knowledge of that upper can chime in.

[OJB4]

Are you talking about your suppressor mount? Unless they have a non-standard thread, the threads your 22 AR are probably 1/2-28. Maybe someone else with more knowledge of that upper can chime in.

Scratch that.....I had a brain fart while reading the post about 1/2"x36 threads.....I was thinking that that was just longer threads like on factory thread jobs on AR's and therefore needed a spacer to get the can to square up properly.

[thebangswitch]

If you want to use glock mags https://www.quartercircle10.com is a good place to start. They have barrels of all sizes and they use 1/2-28. http://www.jprifles.com is another good place for parts

[AlabamaPaul]

New Frontier Armory just released a new 9mm lower that uses Glock mags which is much cheaper than QC10. I also used a Tros 5" barrel with 3 lug mount...

[batman4706]

I've got one on a DDLES (now QC10) Glock lower. It was originally set up as a 40 S&W gun and I later built a 9MM upper for it. It's a 5 in ADCO barrel, JP BCG. It has a 9 in rail on it since I wanted the Octane 45 partially covered. I did have a Slash buffer and Wolf heavy spring, which worked well, but I now have a JP Captured 9mm setup in it. The only problem I have now is that it will not lock back (Glock magazines). When I first built it I had ejection problems, so I bent the ejector ever so slightly towards the port and it works fine now.

[OJB4]

Thanks for the leads guys. I just put an email in to quarter circle 10 a couple days ago and am waiting to hear back from them. I'll also look at the other websites yall mentioned.

Thanks again!

[OJB4]

I've got one on a DDLES (now QC10) Glock lower. It was originally set up as a 40 S&W gun and I later built a 9MM upper for it. It's a 5 in ADCO barrel, JP BCG. It has a 9 in rail on it since I wanted the Octane 45 partially covered. I did have a Slash buffer and Wolf heavy spring, which worked well, but I now have a JP Captured 9mm setup in it. The only problem I have now is that it will not lock back (Glock magazines). When I first built it I had ejection problems, so I bent the ejector ever so slightly towards the port and it works fine now.

This is basically exactly what I was going for. Minus the problem with not locking back of course. I'm hoping QC10 emails me back what I'm wanting to hear. Found a pic on their website that was exactly what I was going for. We shall see soon enough.

[beanfield33]

Qc10 took over tooling and intellectual property from ddles when they went belly up. I have a ddles colt lower and like the setup. I've heard lots of good things about qc10 and I understand they're releasing a lower to work with mp5 mags as well as a 3.5" 9mm barrel (threaded 1/2x28). I went with a 5" tros 3 lug barrel. Here's mine.

[MJF1911]

Mine isn't a real AR, its one of the Just Right Carbines. I've had my SBR F1 stamp approved for a while now and this thread reminded me of it so I called my gunsmith to schedule a time to chop the barrel down to 5" and thread it 1/2x28. The JRC is a decent enough gun and runs fine in it the current setup with Glock mags, but seeing what is out there I would have much rather gone with a QC10/DDLES.

[Rooskibar123]

(Long time lurker, first time poster)

I recently finished a Quarter Circle 10 9mm AR. It's a QC Glock lower, bolt and 5.5" barrel. Upper is a side charger from Gibbz. Ti-Rant 45 is currently attached until my 9mm version comes out of jail.

It runs like a top. I assembled it but did have a gunsmith look it over and make some adjustments to the bolt catch and now it locks back every time.

The only problem is it's made me want to build a 45 version.

[BCJ]

I built one back when only colt and RRA made parts for them. Mine is set up as an integral SBR at 12" overall suppressed barrel length. The 9mm AR is loud in general due to ejection port noise of the blowback action and light bolt. I ended up making an extra heavy buffer out of stainless and the tungsten weights from an H3 buffer. The one in the middle is the one I made, the lowest one is a factory 9mm buffer

[YugoRPK]

Personal experience? Way too loud from the ejection port with a silencer. I wouldnt own another one or any other direct blowback carbine. Its a glorified High Point without the bolt mass. SMG's work completely different firing from an open bolt and are weird quiet. Closed bolt blowback carbines are a waste of funds if you expect them to be quiet with a silencer. First time I fired mine I wanted to chuck it out in the woods.

[OJB4]

(Long time lurker, first time poster)

I recently finished a Quarter Circle 10 9mm AR. It's a QC Glock lower, bolt and 5.5" barrel. Upper is a side charger from Gibbz. Ti-Rant 45 is currently attached until my 9mm version comes out of jail.

It runs like a top. I assembled it but did have a gunsmith look it over and make some adjustments to the bolt catch and now it locks back every time.

The only problem is it's made me want to build a 45 version.

Where did you find that hand guard? I've been looking online for that exact one and can't seem to find it. Maybe I've been googling the wrong key words.

Thanks.....that looks like what I'm going for in my build.

[HotGuns]

I have several and they all run like scalded dogs.










Sound good suppressed too. Pretty much all you can hear is the bolt slap and the bullet thumping the target.

[speed6]

I built one back when only colt and RRA made parts for them. Mine is set up as an integral SBR at 12" overall suppressed barrel length. The 9mm AR is loud in general due to ejection port noise of the blowback action and light bolt. I ended up making an extra heavy buffer out of stainless and the tungsten weights from an H3 buffer. The one in the middle is the one I made, the lowest one is a factory 9mm buffer

Would you be willing to share a detail drawing? Seems like that would be straightforward to make out of 416 on my mini lathe. I have a jig to drill tubes/round stock for my drill press for the roll pin hole.

[Rooskibar123]

It was sitting in the case at my local gun store. He's had it for some time, made me a deal.

Lancer Systems. http://store.lancer-systems.com/categor ... handguards

(Long time lurker, first time poster)

I recently finished a Quarter Circle 10 9mm AR. It's a QC Glock lower, bolt and 5.5" barrel. Upper is a side charger from Gibbz. Ti-Rant 45 is currently attached until my 9mm version comes out of jail.

It runs like a top. I assembled it but did have a gunsmith look it over and make some adjustments to the bolt catch and now it locks back every time.

The only problem is it's made me want to build a 45 version.

Where did you find that hand guard? I've been looking online for that exact one and can't seem to find it. Maybe I've been googling the wrong key words.

Thanks.....that looks like what I'm going for in my build.

[OJB4]

Thanks a bunch Rooskibar123. That made my search a whole lot easier. How do you like it so far?

[ncorry]

So, is there a way to build a lower that will accept Glock 9mm and Glock 45 mags?