AR9 suggestions? UPDATED, Page 3!

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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Scratch on Sat Apr 11, 2020 7:36 am

Holland&Holland wrote:
yukonjasper wrote:What are the advantages of 9mm AR rifles? Is it the available ammo and CQ effectiveness?


1) fun as heck to shoot
2) cheap plentiful ammo when not in a pandemic
3) handy self defense round in a compact package if you go sbr
4) easy to clean
5) almost no recoil
6) fun as heck to shoot

7) you can shoot steel targets with an AR at close distances
8) reloading 9mm is much easier than 5.56
9) 9mm is much quieter for your neighbors than 5.56
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Holland&Holland on Sat Apr 11, 2020 9:08 am

Scratch wrote:
Holland&Holland wrote:
yukonjasper wrote:What are the advantages of 9mm AR rifles? Is it the available ammo and CQ effectiveness?


1) fun as heck to shoot
2) cheap plentiful ammo when not in a pandemic
3) handy self defense round in a compact package if you go sbr
4) easy to clean
5) almost no recoil
6) fun as heck to shoot

7) you can shoot steel targets with an AR at close distances
8) reloading 9mm is much easier than 5.56
9) 9mm is much quieter for your neighbors than 5.56


You forgot 10) Fun as heck to shoot!
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Scratch on Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:28 pm

I had another idea...

The reason I wanted it to be able to take Glock mags was that I have a bunch of them already, and didn't want to have to get colt mags. I wish I didn't have to use thin pistol caliber mags though because I want it to be so close to my ARs, but I have to use thin Glock mags instead of normal size 5.56 mags.

I know the Mean Arms 9mm conversion mags have been out for a while, but I've heard you have to get the right combination of upper, and BCG for them to work reliably.

I recently found out that CMMG has added to their Banshee line of guns with the new Mk4 series. It looks like their radial blowback design on their BCG's work very well with the Mean Arms mags. That makes it even better for me since the mags are the exact same size that I train with. Plus, it works with standard forged lowers which means BAD levers should work fine!

Now I'm debating on if I should just get the CMMG upper and BCG, along with the mags, and use my lower... or if I should buy a complete Banshee from them. I could just get the upper and BCG, use my lower, and convert my Pmags, but if I buy the whole shebang from them, it has a lifetime guarantee to run.
If I buy from them, I'll also have the upper, lower and handguard Cerakoted from them for 150.00, so that's a plus also.


Hmmmm, decisions decisions.....
Anyone here have a Banshee Mk4 9mm, or is using that upper with the Mean Arms mags... or know anyone that does?
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby 4weelin on Mon Apr 13, 2020 10:34 pm

The answer is

CMMG Banshee 9mm pistol that takes Glock mags. 300 series gets you all the extras. 8" barrel

Mine has 3 lug adaptor for Omega 9K. Shooting 150 grain bullets makes it very quiet.

Never understood the Bad lever thing. Don't own one.

If you pass on this setup because a Bad lever won't work, you're making a mistake
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby westhope on Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:18 am

I purchased a new CMMG Banshee 45 ACP about a month ago. It jams almost every round. I contacted CMMG and they said they will TRY to arrange for me to return it by April 17. They know of the problems with it and are working on a fix.
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Holland&Holland on Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:36 am

westhope wrote:I purchased a new CMMG Banshee 45 ACP about a month ago. It jams almost every round. I contacted CMMG and they said they will TRY to arrange for me to return it by April 17. They know of the problems with it and are working on a fix.


That sucks.
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Scratch on Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:45 am

westhope wrote:I purchased a new CMMG Banshee 45 ACP about a month ago. It jams almost every round. I contacted CMMG and they said they will TRY to arrange for me to return it by April 17. They know of the problems with it and are working on a fix.

Good to know. I've heard of only good reviews from CMMG stuff, but I know there must be bad stuff out there. I'm curious to see how well they take care of your problem. I know it might be hard during the Coronapocalypse. Let me know what happens please.
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Scratch on Wed Apr 22, 2020 7:25 pm

Well I ended up ordering a CMMG Banshee upper with their RDB bolt/carrier and CMMG/Mean Arms Endomags. I'll be installing that on my pistol lower with an SBA3 brace. Those Endomags are kind of expensive, but I have over 30 Pmags that I got as a great deal on a bulk order once, and I got set up as a CMMG dealer so I got a decent discount on the setup. Unfortunately, they said it could take as Long as 12 weeks!

The only box it doesn't check on my list is using Glock mags, but I'm happier with these anyways since I was going for as close to an AR15 as possible.

Can't wait!
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Holland&Holland on Wed Apr 22, 2020 9:24 pm

Glad you found what you wanted. I have list of about 12 guns that I really want but are not quite made, many are close, but not quite.
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby westhope on Thu May 21, 2020 9:17 am

CMMG Banshee 45 ACP received yesterday (5-20). I returned it for frequent jamming on 4-28 after waiting for approval to return because of the COVID 19 virus.

I put about 200 rounds through it. No problems. I used several varieties of 45 ACP; even my 200 gr SWC which they do not recommend using in their manual. Glock 13 round and SMG 23 round magazines. All worked fine. No problems.

They said they replaced the BCG & magazine catch. They said mine was an early S/N and have updated the new models with the modifications done to mine.

Trigger pull is about 6.5 # and will install JP springs to lower it today to about 4 #. CMMG said that will be no problem.
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Scratch on Thu May 21, 2020 12:28 pm

westhope wrote:CMMG Banshee 45 ACP received yesterday (5-20). I returned it for frequent jamming on 4-28 after waiting for approval to return because of the COVID 19 virus.

I put about 200 rounds through it. No problems. I used several varieties of 45 ACP; even my 200 gr SWC which they do not recommend using in their manual. Glock 13 round and SMG 23 round magazines. All worked fine. No problems.

They said they replaced the BCG & magazine catch. They said mine was an early S/N and have updated the new models with the modifications done to mine.

Trigger pull is about 6.5 # and will install JP springs to lower it today to about 4 #. CMMG said that will be no problem.

Good to hear.
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Rowdy Roddy on Sun May 31, 2020 9:06 am

Scratch wrote:Well I ended up ordering a CMMG Banshee upper with their RDB bolt/carrier and CMMG/Mean Arms Endomags. I'll be installing that on my pistol lower with an SBA3 brace. Those Endomags are kind of expensive, but I have over 30 Pmags that I got as a great deal on a bulk order once, and I got set up as a CMMG dealer so I got a decent discount on the setup. Unfortunately, they said it could take as Long as 12 weeks!

The only box it doesn't check on my list is using Glock mags, but I'm happier with these anyways since I was going for as close to an AR15 as possible.

Can't wait!


Built an AR-9 for use with Endomags about a year ago and love that gun. Hasn't missed a beat with any ammo I have tried. Glock mag lowers are known for feed issues with some barrels but the Endomag design jsut guides them right into the chamber. You can get the inserts for $25 a pop and I have a ton of P-Mags that I got for $7 a pop so not much more than a 32 round Glock mag and you don't need a mag well adaptor. I have a 22LR upper that can use the same lower for cheap practice. You will love it.
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Scratch on Sun May 31, 2020 10:22 am

Rowdy Roddy wrote:
Scratch wrote:Well I ended up ordering a CMMG Banshee upper with their RDB bolt/carrier and CMMG/Mean Arms Endomags. I'll be installing that on my pistol lower with an SBA3 brace. Those Endomags are kind of expensive, but I have over 30 Pmags that I got as a great deal on a bulk order once, and I got set up as a CMMG dealer so I got a decent discount on the setup. Unfortunately, they said it could take as Long as 12 weeks!

The only box it doesn't check on my list is using Glock mags, but I'm happier with these anyways since I was going for as close to an AR15 as possible.

Can't wait!


Built an AR-9 for use with Endomags about a year ago and love that gun. Hasn't missed a beat with any ammo I have tried. Glock mag lowers are known for feed issues with some barrels but the Endomag design jsut guides them right into the chamber. You can get the inserts for $25 a pop and I have a ton of P-Mags that I got for $7 a pop so not much more than a 32 round Glock mag and you don't need a mag well adaptor. I have a 22LR upper that can use the same lower for cheap practice. You will love it.


Counting down the weeks.... :D
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Re: AR9 suggestions?

Postby Scratch on Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:50 pm

So back in March of 2018 when I started this thread, I decided I wanted an AR9, but I had certain criteria that I absolutely wanted and was willing to wait for someone to make one. My wish list was:
1. It needs to be reliable with FMJ's or HP's.
2. Needs to take factory Glock mags and they need to drop free.
3. Needs to have a last round bolt hold open, that reliably held open every time.
4. Needs to be able to use a BAD lever for bolt hold open and release.
5. Needs to be able to accept any standard AR15 trigger.
6. "Hoping" to be able to use any AR15 charging handles.

Well my upper from CMMG finally came in last week! It took about 11 weeks and they prepared me by saying 12. I got the Banshee 200, MkGs series upper, with their Radial Delayed Blowback bolt and carrier, and CH along with 2 of their ARC mags. The 8" barrel has one of their SV brakes on the end too. You do not need to change buffers or springs either with their upper and BCG. I also ordered an ARC kit to put in one of my Pmags so I'll have a total of 3 ARC 9mm mags. I completed the lower sometime during quarantine, so it was ready for the upper and as soon as the upper came in, I took it to the range.

It met all the points on my wish list and even one extra that I hadn't thought possible. At the time, I felt my only magazine option was Glock mags or Colt mags. I didn't really want either one since I wanted to keep my training as close to my AR15's as possible. (Muscle memory and mag pouches for a PMag is different than a skinny Glock or Colt mag) but there were no other option so I figured I'd go with Glock mags since I had a pile of them. These ARC mags are great since they actually are Pmags! Same size, weight, and feel, and I don't have to change anything as far as pouches on my belt!
a1.jpg


If you didn't know, the ARC stands for AR Conversion and allows you to take a standard gen 2 or 3 Pmag, pull out the spring and follower, and replace it with CMMG's ARC kit. It's done with no tools, and no permanent changes to the magazine so it can be swapped back to 5.56 at any time. It puts the 9mm round to the back of the magazine and basically adds another "feed ramp" in front of it to take up the extra space. Last round bolt hold open works perfectly! Here you can see the Pmag empty body on the left with the floorplate under it, the standard 5.56 Pmag spring in the middle, and CMMG's ARC 9mm kit on the right.
aguts.jpg


Loading is super easy too! the 9mm cartridges just push straight down with not much force. I'd say easier than loading 5.56 and way easier than Glock mags. Here's a comparison between 5.56 and the ARC 9mm mags.
acartridges.jpg


So far, I've ended up only going through a little over 12 mags worth of FMJ ammo, so at least 360 rounds. I did shoot a little extra to sight in the optic, but haven't had any malfunctions at all with my 115 and 124 gr FMJ 9mm reloads. I did shoot a box of 124gr Speer Gold Dot also with no problems.

I have it set up with a SBA3 brace, Raptor charging handle, MOE+ pistol grip, Ruger Elite 452 trigger, Bad Lever, Magpul back up sights, front and rear QD sling points, and a TLR1 HL light with a front sight post on it. Right now I have a Primary Arms AMD red dot, but have a Holosun HS515GM on back order. To keep the 9mm mags identified, I'm going to cut out a vinyl stencil and spray paint them white with "9mm" but I'm not sure if I'm going to go with a large or small font... which one do you guys like better?
amags.jpg

a3.jpg

a4.jpg


So far I'm thrilled with the performance and fun of shooting this thing! I love shooting steel targets at close range with a rifle! With this lower, 3 uppers, and zero tools, I can shoot .22LR, 9mm, 5.56/.223, and 300BLK. I've talked to a bunch of other customers and dealers about this, and have heard nothing but great opinions on this setup!
Last edited by Scratch on Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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AR9 suggestions? UPDATED, Page 3!

Postby gun_fan111v2 on Wed Jul 22, 2020 12:13 am

Congrats on a new addition and thank you for the writeup! I stayed away from 9mm ARs in part due to the strange look of Glock magazines and this looks like a much more attractive option.

My vote goes to large font, even though I normally don’t like billboard style signs. Perhaps a more subdued color like gray instead of white?

Please keep us updated on how this upper does in the future.
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