Hawkeye
The Leatherstocking
- Jan 29, 2009
- 3,972
Hey all-
(First, I put this in the Rifle section even though it's technically about pistols since it's AR related and most AR stuff is in here. If that was incorrect I apologize.)
Ok, so here's the deal:
I've got several pre-Oct'13 lowers sitting in my safe. Eventually they may end up as rifles. They may end up as SBRs. They may end up as hockey pucks. Who knows. The first thing that they're both going to be, however, is pistols, for all of the obvious reasons.
I am fairly well aware of the legal issues surrounding the building of pistols, what they can and can't have feature wise, and what you can and can't do with them in a legal sense. I've built (from stripped lower and stripped upper) my own AR rifle already (which I've put +/- 1000 rounds through with no issues), so I've got at least a minimum of knowledge there. Some other stuff I have a hazy understanding of but I don't want to go into this with a "hazy" understanding. What I would like this thread to be about is the technical, mechanical aspects of building 5.56mm AR pistols. (Later I'll likely do another one on 9mm, since I'd like a 9mm PDW type gun at some point.) Things like:
What are the "gotchas" in building a pistol compared to a rifle?
What gas tube length is good or bad (pistol vs. carbine mostly)?
What buffer to be used with what gas tube?
What buffer spring?
What kind of buffer tube?
What kind of muzzle device (specifically the flaming pig type things that you see on a lot of pistols - what are they specifically supposed to do, do they actually have any effect, and when should you or should you not use them)?
Any lower-specific stuff that needs to be looked at or changed from a standard AR lower build?
My plan is this:
I would like to end up with at least one of these lowers becoming a 5.56 pistol that I could also eventually suppress. The other may go 9mm, or .300BLK if I end up buying a 9mm specific lower (Engage or QC10). My understanding is that this generally requires at least a 10.5" barrel for most suppressors (not to mention the MD 29" requirement should I ever want to SBR it). I don't particularly care about super accurate barrels or whatever - these aren't going to be sniper rifles. I do generally care about decent componentry that isn't going to crap out on me after 1000 rounds or fall apart or ruin my lower or whatever.
Both of my lowers are PSA Forged.
Stuff I am looking at so far:
Likely a PSA Premium BCG. (have one now, like it)
BCM Gunfighter charging handle. (have one now, like it)
BCM Gunfighter grip. (have one now, like it)
PSA lower build kit, preferably with a QMS or ACT trigger. (guess what... have one now, like it)
Likely a Phase5 buffer tube, maybe a CAA cover.
If I go pre-built upper, something like this:
Palmetto 10.5" upper.
If not then who knows. If I build my own upper again, I may be tempted to take the VLTOR CASV handguard off of my rifle and replace it with a slick keymod one or something.
So what are the general thoughts on what goes together and what doesn't to end up with a suppressable AR pistol?
(First, I put this in the Rifle section even though it's technically about pistols since it's AR related and most AR stuff is in here. If that was incorrect I apologize.)
Ok, so here's the deal:
I've got several pre-Oct'13 lowers sitting in my safe. Eventually they may end up as rifles. They may end up as SBRs. They may end up as hockey pucks. Who knows. The first thing that they're both going to be, however, is pistols, for all of the obvious reasons.
I am fairly well aware of the legal issues surrounding the building of pistols, what they can and can't have feature wise, and what you can and can't do with them in a legal sense. I've built (from stripped lower and stripped upper) my own AR rifle already (which I've put +/- 1000 rounds through with no issues), so I've got at least a minimum of knowledge there. Some other stuff I have a hazy understanding of but I don't want to go into this with a "hazy" understanding. What I would like this thread to be about is the technical, mechanical aspects of building 5.56mm AR pistols. (Later I'll likely do another one on 9mm, since I'd like a 9mm PDW type gun at some point.) Things like:
What are the "gotchas" in building a pistol compared to a rifle?
What gas tube length is good or bad (pistol vs. carbine mostly)?
What buffer to be used with what gas tube?
What buffer spring?
What kind of buffer tube?
What kind of muzzle device (specifically the flaming pig type things that you see on a lot of pistols - what are they specifically supposed to do, do they actually have any effect, and when should you or should you not use them)?
Any lower-specific stuff that needs to be looked at or changed from a standard AR lower build?
My plan is this:
I would like to end up with at least one of these lowers becoming a 5.56 pistol that I could also eventually suppress. The other may go 9mm, or .300BLK if I end up buying a 9mm specific lower (Engage or QC10). My understanding is that this generally requires at least a 10.5" barrel for most suppressors (not to mention the MD 29" requirement should I ever want to SBR it). I don't particularly care about super accurate barrels or whatever - these aren't going to be sniper rifles. I do generally care about decent componentry that isn't going to crap out on me after 1000 rounds or fall apart or ruin my lower or whatever.
Both of my lowers are PSA Forged.
Stuff I am looking at so far:
Likely a PSA Premium BCG. (have one now, like it)
BCM Gunfighter charging handle. (have one now, like it)
BCM Gunfighter grip. (have one now, like it)
PSA lower build kit, preferably with a QMS or ACT trigger. (guess what... have one now, like it)
Likely a Phase5 buffer tube, maybe a CAA cover.
If I go pre-built upper, something like this:
Palmetto 10.5" upper.
If not then who knows. If I build my own upper again, I may be tempted to take the VLTOR CASV handguard off of my rifle and replace it with a slick keymod one or something.
So what are the general thoughts on what goes together and what doesn't to end up with a suppressable AR pistol?