Anyone for Wilson AR9 Pistol?

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 9/18/2019 | D Justin

[w1n1]

Pistol caliber carbines have become extremely popular for the last few years with the plinkers and prepper crowd. During the ammo shortage, the prolific Wilson Combat company produced their 9mm rifle the AR9. This was supposed to let people enjoy shooting one caliber in a carbine or pistol.

At first glimpse the Wilson AR9 has the similar appearance of an AR-15, so obviously an AR clone. It’s a quality-built 9mm AR with a quality AR price of $2,095. The idea is nice utilizing one caliber across platforms.

Unfortunately, that price is what's killing it in the eyes of many buyers. The other lower end options are these:

• The Sig MPX is also a quality built AR style carbine: $1,732
• The Zenith MKE Z-5 Rifle is based of the classic, reliable MP-5: $1,500
• The new popular kid is the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 Carbine: $999
• Beretta CX4 Storm 9mm Carbine: $800
• Just Right Carbines (JRC): $774
• Kel-Tec Sub-2000: $500
• MechTech Carbine Conversion Unit: $434

Something that seems to be overlooked in the higher end rifles is that people are not looking for a pistol caliber sniper rifle. A pragmatic approach is shooting on the cheap, and using the same magazines we have for our pistols. For some it's finding a nice host for a suppressor. Read the rest of Wilson AR9.

[nuconvert]

$$

[grobdriver]

Two grand for a 9mm carbine?

Good luck with that.

[real saxophonist]

Interestingly, people wouldn’t hesitate to pay two grand for a Wilson Combat 1911.

[Who is John Galt?]

Two grand for a 9mm carbine? Good luck with that.

Oh, come on - I bet the Teutonic 'supermen' at H&K get two grand for 9mm carbines, and theirs are made out of sheet metal...

;^)

[niteowl77]

My experience has been that no 9mm carbine is as reliable as a good .223/5.56 AR or even a.30-30 Winchester/Marlin. Nonetheless, I am currently toying with buying a "railed" Ruger PC in 9x19.

(Which is not on the list, but is not bad bang for the buck if you get one that doesn't have issues.)

[FroedrickVonFreepenstein]

The Kel-Tec Sub-2000 is excellent.

[Who is John Galt?]

Interestingly, people wouldn’t hesitate to pay two grand for a Wilson Combat 1911.

Met a successful businessman years ago who carried a Wilson Combat "Tactical Super-grade Compact" (for some reason that name stuck in my memory ;^). IIRC, they were selling for over five grand, and there was a waiting list to get one.

[Spruce]

An excellent 1911, like the Wilson, are something that will last for generations. Well worth the price.

But then I am a bit of a 1911 wonk

[grobdriver]

Interestingly, people wouldn’t hesitate to pay two grand for a Wilson Combat 1911.

Not this people.

Almost all of my magazines are Wilson - the Kimber mags are trash and I've had uneven luck with GI mags, Colt, Tripp, and McCormick.
I have never had a Wilson mag give a problem in any of my 3 Kimber 1911s.

All that having been said, $2K is a little out there (IMHO) for a 1911 when my sub-$1K pistols operate flawlessly.

[ctdonath2]

I don’t grasp the point of such things. Take a perfectly good rifle, re-chamber for a pistol cartridge, replace the useful stock with a vestigial stock, shorten the barrel to little more than “long handgun” size, cover it with mostly-unused mounting rails, ... and charge 3x the $ of a perfectly good stock Glock 17L that shoots just as well without all the cumbersome cosmetics.

For the price of that thing you can get a real rifle that does what that thing pretends to, pay the NFA tax, _and_ get a G17L that does what that thing actually does. http://clydearmory.com/agency-trade-in-colt-le6933-nfa.html

[Manly Warrior]

I’d prefer to conceal my pistol caliber arms, and intend to use them to get to my rifle caliber arms....

[Lurker]

AR pistols are a great solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. All that muzzle velocity lost, all that powder wasted.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

L

[Lurker]

“the Kimber mags are trash“

That’s odd. We own two Kimber 1911s and a dozen Kimber magazines for them. Not one single failure due to the magazines in over 2 years.

Not one.

They ain’t cheap at $50 a piece, but they’ve been worth every dime to us.

L

[fella]

The old M3 demilitarized to semi-automatic would be cheaper and have an extreme cool/fear factor.

[grobdriver]

Glad you're having better luck.

I'm pretty hard on mags, in training and competition (frequent drops to hard ground).

Keep a watch on the baseplates for spreading. If you use pads it will be harder to spot.

[Lurker]

“I’m pretty hard on mags, in training and competition (frequent drops to hard ground).”

We try to resist the temptation to treat them like $50 magazines. But it ain’t easy. LOL

“If you use pads it will be harder to spot.”

We don’t use them. IMO all they do is add another possible point of failure. And given enough time everything fails.

Best,

L

[Who is John Galt?]

AR pistols are a great solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. All that muzzle velocity lost, all that powder wasted.

I've read that in some localities, folks with a concealed carry permit might buy AR pistols for legal reasons. Apparently in some areas at least, having a loaded AR rifle in your car can be a big "no no", but having a loaded AR pistol in your car is ok, if you have a pistol permit. And some cartridges do better than .223/5.56 in short barrels.

Obviously, FWIW, YMMV, etc., etc.

[Levy78]

go look at the Angstat Arms UDP-9. Great gun...way more value than the Wilson. zero issues after several thousand rounds downrange.

https://angstadtarms.com/udp-9/

[Levy78]

wow! just looked at the prices.... these have gone up $300-400 in the last 6 months.