by Chris Sullins
(GunNews) – The women in my family don’t like shooting as a recreational sport or hobby. They all know how to operate various weapons and some are naturals with pistols, but they don’t go to the range for fun. As far as tactical weapons go, the loud crack from a semi-automatic carbine, the shoulder thump from a shotgun, or just the weight alone of a battle rifle definitely does not improve things for them.
However, should a dismal future world ever warrant “that every man –and woman– be armed”, I wanted to have something to give them that was more than a pistol when it came to capacity and range, yet didn’t bruise their delicate shoulders. I really wanted to stay with a caliber which I kept in stock and might be easier to find. I settled on something that would use 9mm. Yes, 9mm is weaker than 30 Carbine and we could debate its effectiveness vs the 5.7, but it is still very abundant. And, although my testing used 9mm fmj, it would be interesting to know how 9mm HPs and SPs would compare to the 5.7 on living flesh.
Rather than buy one of the many 9mm carbines offered by Beretta, Keltec, etc, I decided to go ahead and grab a Rock River Arms 9mm upper and mate it with a cheap AR15 lower. I chose a VM Hytech magwell block which uses unmodified Uzi mags. With the mag block inserted like a standard M16 magazine, my upper and lower were very solid with no play or slop between the receivers. I used both a 9mm hammer and 9mm buffer on the inside. If you’re familiar with building AR15s, swapping these 9mm parts is very easy.
I used PMC 115 gr fmj and had no failures whatsoever. The only problem was 1 of the 7 surplus Uzi mags was too tight for putting into the conversion block. Some heavy sanding and steel wool on the mag might have helped fix this. Using an inserted Uzi mag as a monopod on the carbine from the bench, I had no problem shooting 3” – 5” groups at 100 yards with either the iron sights or the Aimpoint. The best group was 2.75” at 100 yards. At least this little carbine can hold its own on accuracy at 100 yards against many 223/5.56/7.62X39/7.62X51 rifles.
We all know 9mm lacks energy compared to other rounds, but I have to wonder how much “energy” a bad guy will still retain with a mushroomed hollow point lodged somewhere beneath his sternum? Remember, this girlie gun is for my recoil sensitive women. But, just to be sure: “Honey, can you hit the bad guy again? Hey, nice shot. Ok, you can stop now. He’s not moving.”
Rapid fire shots at 50 yds at a torso target or from 25 yards at a head target were exceedingly easy with the red dot. Muzzle blast was gentle and recoil was somewhere between Not Applicable and mild in my opinion. But, the real litmus test would be how the ladies perceive it. I hope the thick rubber butt pad helps with that. I’ll post something here with their opinions later –if I can ever get any of them to the range to try it!
In the meantime, I might just have to enjoy this girlie gun a little more myself.
Note: The parts used on this gun are a mix of cheap commercial leftovers and high quality items. The upper from RRA is stock except for the rear flip sight and two-piece rail hand guard I added. Other than the 9mm hammer, the internal lower receiver parts are standard DPMS. The buffer tube, stock, rubber pad are all US-made commercial copies of the older carbine style. The vertical grip is no-name cheap plastic. I haven’t added any velcro or redneck wire to the vert-grip yet…I’ll let the ladies do their own styling.