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!
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.
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.
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?
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!