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AR platform pistol... Which caliber and why?

jagermeister

jagermeister

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Joe’s thread inspired me to do some research on this, but I’d like to hear some more thoughts and opinions from the group here. Hypothetically speaking of course, if you were to build or purchase an AR-style pistol to keep in your vehicle and/or in a Go-bag, locked cocked and ready to rock, which caliber would you choose and why?

My initial thought was 9mm for the affordable ammo and soft/quiet shooting. But then I also think it could be beneficial to have the extra range of 5.56. Add in a suppressor and either one could be plenty quiet. What about .300 blackout? Packs more of a punch, but is ammo affordable and available? I don’t like the idea of carrying/storing an additional caliber of ammunition.

Whatcha think?
 
Mike

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I have at 7.5" in .556 and a 10" in 7.62x39. I assembled these before 9mm AR pistol was a thing. Besides I don't have any usable 9mm magazines, but I have plenty of the other two calibers.
 
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jagermeister

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Mike said:
I have at 7.5" in .556 and a 10" in 7.62x39. I assembled these before 9mm AR pistol was a thing. Besides I don't have any usable 9mm magazines, but I have plenty of the other two calibers.
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Makes sense. Okay. But let’s assume you have plenty of mags for any of those calibers... then what?
 
jagermeister

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One consideration I have is the noise. There’s only one thing I dislike about shooting ARs, and that’s how damn loud they are. I always wear ear protection when shooting recreationally. But I really dislike how much they rock your world when taking an impromptu shot at a woodchuck or something similar. My brain tells me it would be even worse from a short barreled AR pistol. So my thought is that a 9mm would be less deafening than 5.56 or .300 BO. If you’re in an oh shit situation, are you gonna think to put your ear protection in before engaging a threat? Nah.
 
jagermeister

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"J" said:
What’s the accurate range of the 9mm AR pistol?
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Surprisingly far accuracy-wise. I’ve watched videos of guys ringing steel at 200 yards without a problem. The problem isn’t the accuracy but the reduced knockdown power.
 
"J"

"J"

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jagermeister said:
Surprisingly far accuracy-wise. I’ve watched videos of guys ringing steel at 200 yards without a problem. The problem isn’t the accuracy but the reduced knockdown power.
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I wouldn’t expect it too have the knock down power out that far but how about 50-100 yards? Light weight, available ammo with an assortment of loads, will be a big deciding factor.
 
Outdoorsfellar

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An oh shit situation would be something up close & personal.... & that's the reason for needing something riding shotgun. 5.56 / .223 might be more accessible , but overkill perhaps for the needed situation. It would be hard to justify long range shooting when self defence comes in to play. On the flip side, go with what your wallet & ears can handle.
 
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jagermeister

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Outdoorsfellar said:
An oh shit situation would be something up close & personal.... & that's the reason for needing something riding shotgun. 5.56 / .223 might be more accessible , but overkill perhaps for the needed situation. It would be hard to justify long range shooting when self defence comes in to play. On the flip side, go with what your wallet & ears can handle.
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That's a very good point, Kevin. Thanks.
 
giles

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What does your wife shoot? I would be more inclined to have interchangeable ammo/mags/parts. I would also think that finding 9mm or 223/556 would be pretty easy from bags on the ground.
 
Jackalope

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I had a similar conversation with myself when I built mine JB. I first thought of the why. For me, I was looking to build a short-range CQB weapon that would be useful real up close indoors, outdoors to 40-50 yards, and easy to handle from a vehicle. With that in mind I knew I wanted it short. A 5-inch barrel was just what the doctor ordered IMO. And while the .223 is a great round it just doesn't have the stopping power that I wanted. Even in rifle length applications, it was proven to be problematic in Iraq and Afghanistan with knocking down haji and keeping him there without having to unload a handful of shots. Out of a 5-inch barrel, the results would probably be even more dismal. Plus that's really a lot of powder for such a short barrel so it's just wasted bang and flash for my intended application. Pus bigger AR mags to carry that wasted bang. 300 BO fixes the knockdown thing but that's still wasted bang in a 5-inch barrel and better suited to a rifle or SBR applications to make use of the range capabilities of the round. So enter pistol calibers. Couple options there. 40, 45 and 9mm. They make 26 Rd 45acp mags and 33rd 9mm mag for Glock which are both acceptable in my eyes, so really it came down to ammo cost and a slight nod to a rate of accurate fire. While the ability for longer range engagements is diminished with the 9mm it is still plenty capable of torso hits at 100 yards if need be. My thought was that really starts to push the limits of "self-defense" though. Engaging at 100 yards starts to get more offensive than defensive, and odds are with a threat at that distance I'm probably going to opt to not engage and slip out if at all possible while watching my 6. Which really brings the threat range back within that 5-50 yard engagement radius. Within that radius I want the ability to make quick work. For me that meant 9mm with 33 Rd mags and a reflex sight to shoot with both eyes open.
 
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jagermeister

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giles said:
What does your wife shoot? I would be more inclined to have interchangeable ammo/mags/parts. I would also think that finding 9mm or 223/556 would be pretty easy from bags on the ground.
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My wife refuses to shoot anything, so that doesn’t apply to me... at least not yet. But you make a good point about picking up stranded ammo.
Jackalope said:
I had a similar conversation with myself when I built mine JB. I first thought of the why. For me, I was looking to build a short-range CQB weapon that would be useful real up close indoors, outdoors to 40-50 yards, and easy to handle from a vehicle. With that in mind I knew I wanted it short. A 5-inch barrel was just what the doctor ordered IMO. And while the .223 is a great round it just doesn't have the stopping power that I wanted. Even in rifle length applications, it was proven to be problematic in Iraq and Afghanistan with knocking down haji and keeping him there without having to unload a handful of shots. Out of a 5-inch barrel, the results would probably be even more dismal. Plus that's really a lot of powder for such a short barrel so it's just wasted bang and flash for my intended application. Pus bigger AR mags to carry that wasted bang. 300 BO fixes the knockdown thing but that's still wasted bang in a 5-inch barrel and better suited to a rifle or SBR applications to make use of the range capabilities of the round. So enter pistol calibers. Couple options there. 40, 45 and 9mm. They make 26 Rd 45acp mags and 33rd 9mm mag for Glock which are both acceptable in my eyes, so really it came down to ammo cost and a slight nod to a rate of accurate fire. While the ability for longer range engagements is diminished with the 9mm it is still plenty capable of torso hits at 100 yards if need be. My thought was that really starts to push the limits of "self-defense" though. Engaging at 100 yards starts to get more offensive than defensive, and odds are with a threat at that distance I'm probably going to opt to not engage and slip out if at all possible while watching my 6. Which really brings the threat range back within that 5-50 yard engagement radius. Within that radius I want the ability to make quick work. For me that meant 9mm with 33 Rd mags and a reflex sight to shoot with both eyes open.
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That’s great insight man. Much appreciated. I didn’t realize the.223 round had such a poor track record in the Middle East. And you make a great point about water powder and excess weight.
 
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Jackalope

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jagermeister said:
That’s great insight man. Much appreciated. I didn’t realize the.223 round had such a poor track record in the Middle East. And you make a great point about water powder and excess weight.
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The 300 was created just for this reason. There was a lot of rumbling coming out of the warzone that something better was needed, especially for Spec Ops. There was a ton of rounds developed like the 45* SOCOM, 500 Bae, etc for this need. The 300 BLK really stuck because the only thing that needs changed to go from 5.56 to 300 was the barrel, uses the same mags and BCG as a 5.56. Theoretically, an operator would only need to carry a shot 300 upper in his pack and he's ready for some door kicking. There is also the ability to produce subsonic rounds for use in suppressed guns. AAC partnered with Remington to market it, then Remington bout AAC. To my knowledge though it didn't see much use in the theatre. SOCCOM is still looking however and the 300 BLK is pretty high on the list. The drawback, expect to pay 3x per round for 300 over 9mm. 20 vs 60 cents a roundish.
 
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