9mm AR w/ B92 mags?

[GyroF-16]

As the AWB looks increasingly likely to pass here in CO, I’m contemplating what I’d want to add to the collection while I still can.
One would be a 9mm AR. Because I have literally dozens of Beretta 92 magazines and relatively few Glock mags, I’d prefer one that uses B92 magazines.
I want something reliable, as opposed to a science experiment, and am willing to pay for it.
So far, this is what I’ve come up with from Wilson Combat:

https://wilsoncombat.com/handguns/ar...er-pistol.html

They offer a 16” barrel carbine, too, but I don’t really see what 8” more barrel gets me except something that’s legally a rifle.

The pistol ARs appear to only be available as a custom build for about $2100

Does anyone here have experience with one (or a Wilson Combat AR9 of any flavor)?
How about other 9mm ARs that use Beretta mags?

[GJM]

Not an AR format, but:

https://www.beretta.com/en-us/produc...-series-C5A511

[jh9]

I want something reliable, as opposed to a science experiment, and am willing to pay for it.

Are you going to be using a 9mm AR in any sort of defensive role?

If not, I actually had good luck with these. Or rather the Glock version of that. Not extensive. Only a few hundred rounds including some gold dots, but no failures at all before I SBR'd a Palmetto PX9 lower and started using that.

[GyroF-16]

Are you going to be using a 9mm AR in any sort of defensive role?

If not, I actually had good luck with these. Or rather the Glock version of that. Not extensive. Only a few hundred rounds including some gold dots, but no failures at all before I SBR'd a Palmetto PX9 lower and started using that.

Good question…. I’d certainly like it to be an option.
I tend to justify buying quality by wanting to be able to depend on a particular firearm for lifesaving purposes.
A 9mm AR is appealing as a cheaper (to shoot) understudy for my 300 BLK SBRs, as well as less intimidating (loud and blasty) for my wife to use.

You’ve certainly given me quite a rabbit hole to run down looking at the Stern conversion kits, though.

[GyroF-16]

Not an AR format, but:

https://www.beretta.com/en-us/produc...-series-C5A511

Yep- have one of those already. With a Sierra Papa trigger upgrade.
I’m particularly interested in an AR pistol for cross-compatibility with my other ARs, and for small size.

[Welder]

I looked into the AR9's a few years back when I got the urge for a 9mm AR with Beretta 92 mags. Two different people with personal experience told me not to do it...that Wilson wasn't having success getting them to run right. I don't remember the details, but I'd spend a little time searching for AR9 reliability. Once I was told that and knew to search for it, not everything I found was pretty.

I came to the Stern Defense conclusion myself, and then dropped the idea completely. I really wanted the Wilson to work and not have to use an adapter.

[JRB]

Given the relatively high level of development for Glock-mag PCC AR's, and the relatively low cost of Glock magazines, it really just doesn't make sense to hang this hat on Beretta 92 mags.

I've got a ton of Beretta 92 variants and Beretta magazines. I really wanted a lot of Beretta 92 mag-fed carbines to work, and they didn't.

I was sad until I realized 10 factory Glock mags were cheaper than a case of blasting ammo, and I realized that buying into developed rifles that used common and highly reliable mags was worth far more than some magazine compatibility gimmick that ultimately doesn't work as well no matter how much you spend on the rifle and mag well conversion kit or whatever.

That all said, I'm really not a huge fan of the 9mm AR. The Glock mag fed variants are getting better and worth screwing around with for some folks. I haven't seen anything improve on AR's using any other type of pistol magazine, to include the Beretta mags.

So really, if I absolutely had to get a 9mm AR of some kind, I'd go Colt pattern with the 32rnd stick magazines and just spend the $25 each for C-Products 32rnd double stack mags.
Yes, there's a huge reliability loss compared to a 5.56 AR variant, but I haven't ever seen a Glock-mag fed PCC AR that didn't bobble. Beretta 92 magazines just add further variables that result in even less reliability.
The Colt pattern has its own woes and issues but they're all well known and easy to mitigate/monitor these days.

[HeavyDuty]

I have two 9mm ARs, the first dates back to 2004. Both are Colt pattern and run well; my limited experience with a friend’s Glock pistol mag build was lukewarm, it had feeding issues.

[Screwball]

I have two 9mm ARs, the first dates back to 2004. Both are Colt pattern and run well; my limited experience with a friend’s Glock pistol mag build was lukewarm, it had feeding issues.

I’ve never had an issue with an AR9… Glock or Colt fed.

Unfortunately, with the amount of differences between components, builds tend to have a higher chance of issues… not necessarily the Glock feed.

[GyroF-16]

I looked into the AR9's a few years back when I got the urge for a 9mm AR with Beretta 92 mags. Two different people with personal experience told me not to do it...that Wilson wasn't having success getting them to run right. I don't remember the details, but I'd spend a little time searching for AR9 reliability. Once I was told that and knew to search for it, not everything I found was pretty.

I came to the Stern Defense conclusion myself, and then dropped the idea completely. I really wanted the Wilson to work and not have to use an adapter.

Thanks for the heads-up. I’d be pretty unhappy to drop $2,000+ on a Wilson Combat AR9 only to discover that it wasn’t reliable. Hell, that’s more that I paid for either of my Geissele rifles pre-pandemic.