The pistol caliber carbine market is getting a little crowded, but there’s always room for a few more entries. Provided they look good, of course. The folks at Matrix Arms have come out with their own take on the 9mm AR-15 style rifle, using a redesigned lower receiver that has a functional last round hold open for GLOCK magazines, as well as a nifty side charging handle design.
It’s a pretty slick setup. For the pistol caliber straight blowback stuff the charging handle works just fine, and they also have a version that works with the standard direct impingement gas system. No need to change the bolt carrier or anything else — it just slots right in.
Coming soon, MSRP is $1,300.
“Matrix Arms” I love it. Build it in a “pistol” form with the brace and it would be better.
Looks like a Quartercircle 10 lower.
Yeah looks like they ripped off QTC10’s mag release…
Somebody tell the Booth Babe about Rule 3 . . . . .
YOU tell her to not finger.
I usually hear at least 1 ND at every freaking gunshow I goto if I stay long enough. This is why I’m starting to believe that some nut goes around loading the guns on purpose.
I’ve been to a few dozen shows and not heard any, thank Invisible man in the sky. I thought that was a rare occurrence.
I’ve only been to one where an ND occured. It was at the last show I went to several years ago and happened outside of the venue. The ND’er had bought a pistol, headed out to his vehicle to show a patiently waiting wife his new toy, and promptly put a round through the engine. I imagine their conversation later that night was pretty interesting.
Damn, I’ve been going to gun shows for 20 years now and haven’t hear of one, let alone actually heard one. Maybe Florida is better than where ever you are (scary thought).
If my nails were painted that ugly color, I would try to hide them, too.
Well you know guys can’t always pick out pretty colors. Just not sure why he felt the need to paint them for a gun show anyway.
This always makes me laugh , should be the most fundamental thing , should be #1 . I see people do it all the time at the gun store around here when they are looking at pistols and revolvers , holding up a pistol and pointing it around the store with their finger on the trigger . I have pointed it out to the sales people and they always say they always check the chamber before they hand a customer a gun and I know it isn’t true , I’ve watched and it shouldn’t matter . They should also instruct the potential purchaser not to point a pistol around at all and definitely not with their finger on the trigger . Their job should go beyond selling guns in my humble opinion . My children knew this fundamental when they were 10 years old and believe me , it has stuck . No finger on trigger unless you are going to shoot the gun or it is pointed at a safe to shoot target . I never even check trigger creep or pull weight unless I have verified multiple times that nothing is chambered and the magazine is out and if I can’t , I’ll either pass or check the ratings . Just a real bug a boo of mine .
No bugger hook on bang switch! Tell her to write it 100 times on the blackboard. No bugger hook on bang switch! Unless of course, she has a legitimate target, and knows what is beyond it.
bugger and booger are two different words, although being a hot booth girl, your spelling might have been more correct.
I think you mean ‘booger’ hook. A ‘bugger’ hook is something else entirely.
They have a pistol version that has a slick buffer tube 🙂 – $1350
That is the best looking 9mm AR I’ve seen thus far. Very sleek. Love the charging handle.
Um… that’s very pretty and everything, but can I get a 9mm carbine that doesn’t cost more than my AR?
Yes, you can.
I see a Hi-Point in your future.
Can we get something with a larger capacity than a Hi Point with aftermarket mags, but under $800?
That being said, I really do like my Hi Point 9mm carbine.
Citadels on sale at Big5 <$700 this week
I think they use Beretta 92 mags
……………………and if you don’t like the way it shoots you can use it to beef up your biceps . 40 pounds unloaded .
Just kidding of coarse . It is a little heavy , like all the High Point stuff and throws those 9s around at about 6 inches at 30 yards but I actually own two of them and I think they are rugged and reliable and suit a purpose , and they are quite fun .
This one looks real nice also .
Palmetto is doing a glock-mag 9mm ar now & you’ll have a hard time spending $600 on one. I paid closer to $1,000 for my glock-mag ar at the tail end of the panic & have zero regrets. I think the kel-tec is a great gun at hi-point pricing, but at the current street pricing, it’s a nothingburger. As for this $1,300 gun in the article, i think they’re late to the dance.
Wow 1300bucks? I think I’ll stick with a Hi-point or the Keltec Sub2000 I used to have-I don’t get it…
Yeah, I can purchase at least three and maybe even four Kel-Tec SUB-2000s for $1300. I would take three or four carbines over one carbine any day.
When is someone going to make a carbine for .357 Magum??? I am absolutely serious about that. Such a carbine would yield ballistics right on the heals of 7.62 x 39mm cartridges and provide SERIOUS stopping power at home defense ranges.
Imagine what a 125 grain hollowpoint would do to a human attacker with an impact velocity of 2,100 fps!
Or seriously up the game and make a carbine for .44 Magnum.
Note: all previous references to “carbines” mean semi-auto carbines with 30 round magazines.
There are lever carbines for both magnums. .357Sig would be nice in a semi-auto, although I’m nit sure how nice the bottleneck would play in a blowback gun.
I really have to ask you aficionados this question: other than “nice to have”, and this one is a nice looking rifle, why have a 9mm AR? I understand a 9mm or a .22LR upper on a multicaliber lower for a few hundred dollars to save money on ammo and be able to use in indoor ranges. But not $1300 list price for what I assume is a dedicated 9mm. This is meant as a serious question. I could buy 2 or 3 sub 2K’s or as many as 5 HiPoints for $1300. The sub 2K’s use Glock magazines if you have a Glock handgun. Is a 9 mm AR that much more accurate, given the limitations of the cartridge?
“Is a 9 mm AR that much more accurate, given the limitations of the cartridge?”
I think you answered your own question.
No, it’s not.
Paul,
I have the same questions.
The big appeal that I would see is that you can get bulk 9 x 19 mm plinking ammunition for maybe 20 cents per round versus 30 cents per round for .223 bulk ammunition. If you are talking about shooting 1,000 rounds, that would save you $100 which is nothing to sneeze at.
In terms of home defense, shooting 9 x 19 mm cartridges out of a 16 inch barrel are going to be relatively quiet in general … and way more quiet than .223 or 5.56 x 45 mm ammunition. Given the moderate increase in velocity from the 16 inch barrel and zero recoil, you don’t necessarily give up a ton in overall effectiveness using 9 x 19 mm rather than .223 or 5.56 x 45 mm.
This gun in the photos looks like it has a pretty short barrel. Even then, a 9mm+p out of a typical AR length 16″ barrel has about 600 ft/lbs of energy (and about 450 ft/lbs for standard 9mm loads), vs. around 1150 ft/lbs of a .223 from a 16″ barrel. Out of the 10″+/- barrel in the display gun, 9mm energy would range from 400-550 ft/lbs, depending on normal pressure vs. +p. (Thanks BBTI).
Quite a difference.
I like someone’s idea above about making a .357 AR. That is right up there with the .223 in in the energy dept. from a 16″ barrel. Sure the BC is lower in the .357, but at home defense distance that doesn’t matter. That would be very intriguing.
FlamencoD,
That was my comment above about a semi-auto carbine with 30 round magazines in .357 Magnum.
That would be one heck of a home defense platform. You could go the “light and fast” route with 125 grain hollowpoints exiting the muzzle around 2,200 fps. Or you could go with stout 158 grain hollowpoints exiting the muzzle around 1,900 fps (which would impact at every bit of 1,800 fps after travelling 20 feet from the barrel).
I don’t know anyone who is going to shrug-off the impact of a .357 caliber, 158 grain hollowpoint bullet smacking them in the torso at 1,800 fps. Remember, a 150 grain bullet coming out of a .308 Winchester rifle would have the same velocity at 400 yards and no one discounts its stopping power at that range.
I think the 357 is problematic in the semi auto format , both the Sig and Glock have had problems with FTE and I think it’s just a tech. problem with pressures , kind of like the issues they always had with the 22 WMR and 17 hornet . These manufactures may try addressing the issues with the same systems if possible . The 357 would also be pretty hard on barrels if you were to throw 30 of those hot short fatties as quick as you could . I would bet companies like Hi-Point have tinkered around with it .
9mm rifles will be more common than .22 LR’s in the coming years. .22 LR has come and gone.
If the .22LR was “gone,” then there would be no shortage of .22LR ammo.
The .22LR guns have only “gone” as far as the back of the safe, until the food can be found.
Yep the .22LR comes to the range and it gone that-a-way at ~1200fps and at $0.10/shot is still 1/2 to 1/3 the price of the next non hand-loaded legacy cartridge available.
I bought CCI 22lr, 500 rounds, at Gander a couple of weeks ago at 8.5 cents/round. 22 isn’t that hard to find any more. The local Rural King had a pallet of Armscor 22LR sitting on the sales floor.
Can somebody build a carbine that doesn’t look like an AR? They all look like crap with the giant magwell.
Sig’s MPX looks better than the CZ Scorpion, but it’s twice the price.
Somebody needs to make an MP5 knock-off that isn’t labor intensive to build. They could make a fortune if priced under a thousand.
Sure GSG 522. Boom!
That’s a .22 LR. Might as well buy the Walther version.
Make it in 9mm!
Adub,
You could always go the Kel-Tec SUB-2000 route … they look pretty decent, are incredibly reliable, available in models that take standard Glock magazines, and they are affordable at something like $400.
You could also go with the MechTech carbine conversion kit for Glock handguns which replaces the factory slide and barrel.
…
The Beretta CX4 Storm 9mm carbine is a pretty good looking and good shooting alternative that hasn’t been mentioned here yet.
Botach had a bunch of these that they sold off with 5 magazines for only $599.00.
They don’t seem to be as readily available at the moment
Perhaps because Beretta is moving is factories out of Maryland to Tennessee.
Frankly, I can’t see paying hundreds more for a 9mm AR than for a Ruger or S&W 5.56 AR.
OT: The booth babe is wearing the worst color nail polish I have ever seen.
Mud color???
…
All decent suggestions, I just have trouble with buying an ugly gun. That’s what keeps me from considering a CZ Scorpion: they’re so blocky.
Citadel/Chiappa M1-9. 9mm M1 carbine, uses Beretta 92 mags. Advantage is that it won’t scare the antis. Disadvantage is that it wont scare the antis.
Looks interesting.
I don’t know why there are so few carbines in .45acp. A good AR-based PDW that used G21/Kriss mags would be something I could get excited about.
Check out JR carbines.
Their PDWS are AR-like, but generally conform to your needs down to the glock mags.
You should check out the DS-9 9mm carbines from Dark Storm Industries on Long Island,NY. Great looking rifles from $995 to $1295. They offer standard rifles and featureless rifles for the NY market and other restricted states. I just ordered the DS-9 MOE featureless in OD green and should have it in 6 weeks or so. They are back ordered for up to 8 weeks. There’s a great review at:
http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/gun-reviews/dark-storm-industries-ds-9-review/
I don’t work for DSI but I’m a happy customer. Their web address for the DS-9 rifles is:
http://www.dark-storm.com/dsi/ds-9-rifles/
these look exactly like quarter circle 10 lowers with a gibbz side charging upper. i would love to buy/build one but i want it in left handed left ejection and right side charging dammit. i’ve only seen one that a guy cobbled together himself after getting a left handed stag bolt and milling the lower to put the ejector on the other side.everyone else ive talked to has shot down the idea. any suggestions?
MSRP is different than what you might get at an actual guns store. Nobody pays MSRP if they can help it – it’ll probably sell for 900 or less when all’s said and done.
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