CMMG Banshee shoot report

John from MD · Jul 7, 2020

I had my Banshee out last week and today and wanted to pass on some comments.

As I have mentioned before, I have put a Rise Armament RAVE 140 trigger in the Banshee and a Sightmark Ultra sight on it. This gun is supper accurate with my handloads and the RAVE trigger. I can't say enough about the RAVE trigger.

I am a relatively old man of almost 70 with arthritis and all sorts of other age related stuff yet with this trigger, and with help from the CMMG radial delayed blowback action, I can do triple taps that stay within 3 inches at 10 yards. Some members of the club raise hob thinking I was shooting a burst SMG. :lol:

One issue I had seems to be ammo related. If I shoot slow, it will fire with no problem my pistol load which is Lee 120 TC and 5.2 Powerpistol. If I try to shoot fast, I will get a jam every time. The jam consists of an empty case being pushed by the bolt while a fresh round is feeding into the chamber.

lf I use a Lee 125 RN and 5.4 grains of Powerpistol, I can shoot as fast as I want with no jams.

I'm guessing that, due to the RDB, it needs more umph to get the bolt up to speed.

In any case, these triggers are found on sale usually around $103 and it is well worth it. While I have expensive two stage triggers in my rifles, for a fun PCC, this trigger is hard to beat for the price.

outrider58 · Jul 7, 2020

Thanks for the report. I don't own a gun with that system, so I couldn't begin offer any help in regards to the jamming. I have no doubt you'll get that figured out.

John from MD · Jul 7, 2020

I'm pretty sure the jam problem has gone away with the hotter loads. I also love the way that it can be folded in two.

outrider58 · Jul 7, 2020

John from MD said:
I'm pretty sure the jam problem has gone away with the hotter loads. I also love the way that it can be folded in two.

Bikebreath · Jul 7, 2020

Is this Banshee 100, 200, or 300?

Iron sights?

I'm gonna guess the 200 and iron.

Thanks, John.

John from MD · Jul 7, 2020

Bikebreath said:
Is this Banshee 100, 200, or 300?

Iron sights?

I'm gonna guess the 200 and iron.

Thanks, John.

This is the 300 and has no iron sights. I put a Sightmark Ultra on it.

woodline · Jul 7, 2020

Im between getting one of these and a PTR9ct for outlaw steel matches.

John from MD · Jul 7, 2020

If you like the HK platform, go for it. I have had Hk's in the past when it was hard to get parts. The thing I like about the Banshee is that it is all AR.

woodline · Jul 7, 2020

John from MD said:
If you like the HK platform, go for it. I have had Hk's in the past when it was hard to get parts. The thing I like about the Banshee is that it is all AR.

I am left handed so AR is preferable for me. But I also plan on using whatever I buy as a dedicated suppressor host, so that favors the roller locked gun—just not sure how much. I’ll give it a few months before I make any decisions.

John from MD · Jul 7, 2020

The Banshee is a very clean shooter without a can. I don't know how it gets with can use.

teratos · Jul 7, 2020

John from MD said:
The Banshee is a very clean shooter without a can. I don't know how it gets with can use.

Still very nice, IMO.

woodline · Jul 7, 2020

teratos said:
Still very nice, IMO.

If I go the CMMG Banshee route, I’ll be replacing the whole buffer system. Add an A5 buffer tube, Tubbs 5.56 or .300blk flatwire spring (haven’t decided yet but leaning toward 5.56 for reliability), and kynshot 9mm hydraulic buffer. Per the inventor of the MicroMOA govna gas block, that is the best setup.

By the time I decide between those two, the Angstadt Arms MDP roller delayed pistols and Stribog A3 will probably be on the market. Making my choice more difficult.

teratos · Jul 7, 2020

fbi_surveillance_van said:
If I go the CMMG Banshee route, I’ll be replacing the whole buffer system. Add an A5 buffer tube, Tubbs 5.56 or .300blk flatwire spring (haven’t decided yet but leaning toward 5.56 for reliability), and kynshot 9mm hydraulic buffer. Per the inventor of the MicroMOA govna gas block, that is the best setup.

By the time I decide between those two, the Angstadt Arms MDP roller delayed pistols and Stribog A3 will probably be on the market. Making my choice more difficult.

I’ll have to check out that set-up. The roller delayed stuff is intriguing.

John from MD · Jul 8, 2020

fbi_surveillance_van said:
If I go the CMMG Banshee route, I’ll be replacing the whole buffer system. Add an A5 buffer tube, Tubbs 5.56 or .300blk flatwire spring (haven’t decided yet but leaning toward 5.56 for reliability), and kynshot 9mm hydraulic buffer. Per the inventor of the MicroMOA govna gas block, that is the best setup.

By the time I decide between those two, the Angstadt Arms MDP roller delayed pistols and Stribog A3 will probably be on the market. Making my choice more difficult.

Would you mind telling me what changing the buffer system will do for you? This is my first AR based pistol so I'm really no up with all the mods.

Bikebreath · Jul 8, 2020

This guy has 10mm Banshee and talks for 30 secs about buffers at the 1:07 mark. Apologies if this isn't useful.

outrider58 · Jul 8, 2020

Bikebreath said:
This guy has 10mm Banshee and talks for 30 secs about buffers at the 1:07 mark. Apologies if this isn't useful.

Damn you Bikebreath!

Gotta have one now. :cool:

woodline · Jul 8, 2020

John from MD said:
Would you mind telling me what changing the buffer system will do for you? This is my first AR based pistol so I'm really no up with all the mods.

Please bear in mind that most people aren’t going to care about the benefits of these mods. But as a wrong handed shooter, I get tired of having my face sandblasted by carbon and unburnt powder when I try to enjoy shooting PCCs. So I am perhaps a bit more concerned with optimizing a firearm than most would be.

Those mods are intended to further delay unlocking the firearm to allow more time for pressure to drop in the chamber, which would lead to smoother operation and less recoil. This also allows more gas to escape from the front of the barrel, lowering or eliminating port pop. In full auto (if you are lucky enough to have this concern), it will lower the cyclic rate of the firearm to make it more controllable. With the Banshee RDB there is apparently some give and take in there, as it depends upon energetic unlocking for the extractor and ejector setup to work properly.

Here is the blog of the guy I was talking about:

http://www.c3junkie.com/?page_id=164

This guy eventually settles on a custom setup with a modified 5.45 bolt and fixed ejector, but it seems as though he might have gone a bit too far down the rabbit hole for my interest.

One thing he does warn about is that the CMMG banshee seems to break extractor claws every thousand rounds or so, which stinks if true.

hosspower · Jul 8, 2020

I have the Banshee MkGs 9mm, 300 series. I have put around 500 rounds through it and I have tried at least 5 different factory loads. So far it has been perfect. The last couple hundred rounds have been suppressed with weight added in the bolt and subsonic ammo. Not one failure of any type. I too have read about ejector issues and am hoping it will not be an issue.

John from MD · Jul 8, 2020

Well, mine is working on its third thousand ( I put 200 through it yesterday) and, with the exception of not liking my light 120gn reloads, it is shooting just fine. Yesterday the ammo I used was Lee 125 gn RN lubed with XLOX instead of P/C to see if it would lead when it gets hot. No leading at all and, when I pulled it apart, I found it to be extremely clean. As most of you know, blowback guns really get dirty. This one is almost as clean as a piston action.

I could see plenty of smoke from the XLOX (the wind was behind me) but the test went perfectly. This way I know I don't have to PC bullets for this gun which will save me some work. While PC is clean, it is also a pain when you are coating bullets for seven calibers.

woodline · Jul 8, 2020

That’s awesome John. CMMG should give you a commission when I eventually stop waffling and buy one.

CMMG Banshee shoot report

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