usefulness of "AR-pistols"

They are highly efficient for speeding along your deafness and blindness.
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Im already pretty much deaf. Use AAC BO flash suppressors on all my AR's, so I can still see OK. :)

I do use a suppressor, on both my 16" and 10.5" guns. The 10.5" is the handier gun. I still wouldnt want to shoot either indoors though, suppressor or not.

A .22 outdoors without protection leaves me pretty much without hearing for a couple of days. I can shoot that 10.5" outdoors with the suppressor with no protection, and it doesnt bother me at all. So Id probably still be better off indoors with it, than even a .22.

With the advent of pistol/shotgun caliber armor, the pistol caliber guns, handgun or long gun, were pretty much done right there. Even guns with a selector. SMG sized rifle caliber guns are now the weapon of choice there. AR (and AK) "pistols" fit right in. :)
 
But I don't see any of these AR pistols being well suited to any of the traditional handgun roles.
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No they are not. Quite simply they are replacements for short barreled carbines for situations where it is legally awkward or impossible to have an SBR. If there was no NFA, there would be no reason for these to exist.

How accurate is an AR-15 style pistol at 10-15 yards shooting it like a normal handgun and is the accuracy any worse than a normal handgun?
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That would be an extremely inefficient way to shoot it.

You can try shooting your AR carbine like a handgun too, but does it make sense to do so?

I wouldn't bother with a barrel less than ~11" for .223 personally if I was going to do this
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I tend to agree, although mine is a 10.5" and thats the shortest I'd go with an AR.

If you look at what Colt was trying to do with the Commando, they had problems with the shorter barrels.

The Navy is now using the 10.5" Mk 18 mod 0 and they had to tweak it a little, but they are also using it for full auto.

10" is also the shortest you can go with the CAR gas system. The pistol gas system puts the gas port too close to the chamber IMO.
 
FairWarning said:
They are highly efficient for speeding along your deafness and blindness.

You probably won't have eye or hearing protection in a defense scenario, so the inescapable reality is that you'll have to face these issues. A suppressor and flash hider can help with this, but then you're getting longer and longer.
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This is exactly where the 9mm AR Pistol shines. 32 rounds, 8" barrel, 3 points of contact, and somewhat tolerable noise levels. Shooting my 9mm AR Pistol outside without hearing protection, for several shots, isn't bad at all. Its certainly less noise than my 5.56 AR Pistol without hearing protection.
 
I completely disagree about blast, flash, and 'horrible' muzzle velocities in "shorter than 10.5 inch" barrels.

I have a 7.5" AR-15 pistol chambered for 5.56x45mm.
I built it as a "toy" with no real hope of utility. But...

It was assembled from a hodgepodge of parts (at least 13 different manufacturers!), and has not malfunctioned ... ever. (A big issue with many AR pistols - regardless of barrel length.)

Blast and flash are no worse than a 16" carbine. (With nothing but a YHM 5C2 on the pistol.)

In theory, they should be worse. But, in reality, it's no different than a carbine.

Muzzle velocity is down. There's no arguing about that. But, anyone that wants to argue about the effectiveness of a 2,000 fps 55 gr SP can be the first volunteer as a test subject for terminal performance.

With my 20" DPMS barrel, squirrels explode. With my 7.5" (unknown manufacturer) barrel, squirrels explode.
Yea, there's a notable difference between 3,000(+) fps and 2,000 fps; but 2,000 fps is still nothing to sneeze at.

In 2009, SWAT magazine did a test with a 7.5" upper receiver, and found that 75 gr OTM (non-AP) loads still blasted through Level III body armor and their test dummy at 25 yards from a "too short" 7.5" barrel. Trauma plate. Vest. Dummy. All dead.
What more do you want? :rolleyes:



Yes, it's short.
Absolutely, you're losing velocity from a 20" barrel.
No, it's not a .22 LR.
No, it's not useless.

But, no, it's not really useful, either.

My 7.5" AR is the only real "range toy" that I own. I take it out after ground squirrels, badgers, and coyotes; and have been known to have it as a "truck gun" on certain big game hunts. But, other than that... it's just for fun.
Is it good for hunting paper? Not really. (My choice of sights precludes such.)
Is it good for hunting big game? Not really. (See previous comment about sights.)
Is it good for hunting small game? Not really. - It kills stuff really well, but it's difficult to eat the meat if you can't find it, because said rabbit/squirrel exploded.
Is it good for concealed carry? Stop living in a fantasy... :rolleyes:
Is it a rifle? No. But it shoots like an SBR.
Is it a good pistol? Absolutely not. The damned thing weighs 5.5 lbs!

Would I build another? Absolutely. Everyone loves it. Ruger 77/22 Hornet (close equivalent)? Fun, but ... meh. Standard .223/5.56 AR? Common place, and ... meh. 7.5" AR pistol? Everyone wants to get trigger happy.
 
Web lance, Enjoy shooting without hearing protection now because in a few years with your ears ringing 24/7 and five thousand dollars in hearing aids from VA you will be able to understand about half of what you hear. Personal experience, and I wear 32db muffs for just about every thing noisy ( including vacuum) trying to keep what is left intact.
Without the hearing aids it sounds like you have a bucket over your head when you talk.
 
We had a power outage in my smaller city. In case there was looting, I carried as many guns as I could when we drove around the city. Luckily there wasn't any. I didn't have an AR pistol back then.

If it happened again, you bet your ass I'd have it with me. Even with the ballistics it take care of many people. It's effective enough, and more easy to handle that my 454 Casull with similar ballistics.


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