Tag Archives: sbr

PSA “Blem” 10.5″ Upper Review

Just in time for Palmetto State Armory’s Memorial Day Sale, I was able to get my hands on one of their “Blem” complete uppers, so I figured I’d do a short review.

Regular price on these are $349.99 when they have “blemished” ones to sell, and in checking over the last few weeks they haven’t not been in stock. As is typical, after careful inspection I haven’t been able to find the “Blem” anywhere, so whether this is clever marketing on their part, or their QC is just that strict, I’ve always felt like I’ve gotten a good deal in buying their “Blem” items.

Note that with the current Memorial Day sale, these are currently going for $169.99 and free shipping. (Currently out of stock)
Non-blem versions are currently on sale for $179.99.

Palmetto has always been pretty quick about their shipping, and it showed up in a discreet cardboard outer box, with this one inside.
Opening that finds your upper ready to go.
As mentioned, I tried my best to find the “blemish” and came up blank.

Disclaimer – As this is a 10.5″ upper, current legal situation where it is, I’m using it on a registered SBR. Reviews for the product show a ton of folks using ’em for braced pistols, but I’m definitely not in the business of giving legal advice. Follow all relevant laws, etc. etc.

That out of the way, I was able to drop it right in place on my preferred lower which started it’s life as a Ruger AR-556. I simply swapped over the Bootleg Adjustable BCG and charging handle, and functionally, it was ready to go.

Except it wasn’t. Yet. While this upper has an A2 front sight, it’s got a flat top at the rear, so a sight was needed. There were a lot of ways I could go with this, but since I’ve already got a “modern” SBR, and I’ve got an affinity for retro ARs – I figured I’d lean that way with this one.

The “Mekut’zar” look is a good look.

So, detachable carry handle it is. Palmetto was out of stock on their detachable carry handle, so I went with this one from 80% Arms (also currently subject to a Memorial Day 20% off, code: MD20). To stick with the retro look, I also went with one of these slings, which will look familiar to readers of my XM177E2 review.

As I’m already running a 10.5″ Faxon Pencil’ed upper with modern optics, I figured it was time for another retro rifle.

And finally, to finish it out, while I wanted to leave the A2 birdcage for the aesthetic, I also wanted to be able to run my Rugged Razor 762, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to try out their lightweight M2 Brake mount.

So then, the big question – how does it shoot?

Pretty darned good. In setting the Bootleg BCG to Unsuppressed and going for it, I got through several magazines of both Winchester White Box .223 and IMI m855 with not a single issue. This was doing absolutely nothing aside from what was mentioned above, checking the bore for obstructions, and function testing it. I didn’t clean it. I didn’t lubricate it. I just attached the stuff right out of the box, checked it, and let ‘er rip.

Through a mix of luck, and I suppose some quality work on both Palmetto and 80% Arms parts, the irons were just a hair right of bullseye at 25y, and that’s good enough for me. Next up was running it suppressed. Rugged Razor attached, and BCG set to the same position I use with my Ruger (“3” or just one mark shy of full suppressed). Again ran another 6 mags, 3 of each ammunition I was testing, without failure. Ejection pattern was perfect, and minimal gas to face, and no noticeable POI shift.

For a total cost of $208.98 with the Carry Handle / Sight, this thing’s a steal, and ran flawlessly. If anyone’s looking for a great budget shorty upper for an SBR build, don’t sleep on this one while they’re on sale.

Specs:
Barrel Length 10.5″
Carbine Gas System
Nitride finish Barrel
4150V Chrome Moly Vanadium barrel steel
5.56 NATO Chamber
1 in 7″ Twist Rate
Chrome Lining – None
Barrel Extension:  M4
Handguard Type: PSA Classic Polymer
F-Marked Front Sight Post
Muzzle Thread:  1/2-28
Muzzle Device:  A2 Flash Hider 
Receiver Material: Forged 7075 T6
Overall Length:  18.5″

PSA AR-9 Hybrid, Part 2: SBR’ed

 

If you saw the previous review/build post here, you’d know there was something we’ve been waiting on.

Well, after only 239 days, our Form 1 (e-filed, trust) was approved.  So, $200, 7 Months, and 25 Days, we’ve got our official Federal Government A-OK to put a different shaped piece of aluminum and rubber on the back of our pistol.

Transition was easy once the necessities were out of the way – that is, engraving the trust name on the receiver, making that a new SBR was manufactured, where and by whom, to match the approved Form 1, and what is now on the NFA registry.

On that note, I have to give a shout out to John Kleiber of Class 3 Weapons in Houston, TX.  If you need some engraving done, or want to skip the process and just buy an SBR’ed lower or full SBR (or just about any other NFA item you can think up), give them a call.

Once that was out of the way, all that was left to do was swap the Pistol Buffer and End Plate for a standard AR Buffer, End Plate, and Castle Nut.  Went with a low cost DPMS buffer tube, as I’ve used these a few times before, matching castle nut, and a PSA End Plate with a QD point.

And, finally, the transcendent moment where you put a stock on there.

I initially went with what I had laying around because I hadn’t decided on anything special yet, so it got an old Windham marked standard AR stock.

After shooting with it once, and deciding I wanted something a bit more stable, and running across one in my local Academy Sports, I picked up the flavor-of-the-month MFT Minimalist I’ve been seeing on 9 out of 10 posts on r/nfa lately.

The hype is well deserved though, its stable, with a nice wide contact surface, and gave a perfect fit on my buffer tube with absolutely zero rattle, while also not being too tight to move freely when engaged.  I’ve heard some cases where people have issues with the Minimalist being a bit too night, but the fit with the DPMS tubed seemed perfect.

It’s noteworthy that PSA has come out with a different model of this lower that has slightly different lines that make it look a tad more like the AR from which it was derived, and has the Last Round Bolt Hold Open feature.  While I like the design a bit better aesthetically, and LRBHO is a great feature – this is primarily a range toy, and that would be one more moving part to fail.

PSA AR-9 Hybrid Review

I need to begin this one with an important note: The device seen attached to the pistol buffer tube is a Shockwave Technologies Blade Pistol Stabilizer, which includes an ATF letter indicating that installation of this device and proper use does constitute assembly of an NFA item.  More details on that later.

 

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In a masterstroke, PSA decided to make what they’ve termed a Hybrid BCG that allows use of either Colt SMG-style or Glock magazines with the same upper/BCG.  It’s ramped, so depending on the lower / hammer you’re using, it’ll be easier on your hammer pin, if that’s a concern.  Being PSA, one of the preeminent sources of AR Lowers and pretty much anything else you’d want for an AR build on the cheap while still being able to trust the craftsmanship, they’ve also introduced a few complete 9mm uppers in various common lengths with various popular handguard / rail configurations.

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While they’ve already had both uppers/lowers and complete rifles using their previous AR-9 BCG and dedicated lower for Colt SMG magazines, to coincide with release of this Hybrid BCG, they’ve introduced a dedicated Glock Magazine lower (which appears VERY similar to the popular Quarter Circle 10 GSF lower).  So if you were looking to build a pistol-caliber AR, and already have a good number of Glock 9mm magazines (and who doesn’t?), this can *significantly* cut down on the cost of kitting up for your new firearm.

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Granted, that Dedicated Glock Pistol Lower has been pretty difficult to catch in stock, but when you can catch it, it’s significantly cheaper than the comparable Quarter Circle 10 product, and both the pistol and rifle lowers come with PSA’s pistol buffer.

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While it would be tempting just to get what’s in stock, depending on your build plans, it would be easy to run afoul of the ATF’s “constructive intent” laws with regards to NFA items, in this case, having what you need on hand to construct an SBR.

In my case, I while I *do* plan on SBR’ing this pistol (and plan to do a write on up that process and in the involved costs), I wanted to start with a 7.5″ pistol build, which I’ll eventually build into an SBR by replacing the pistol buffer with a Mil-spec buffer tube and standard AR stock.  Just be wary of what other parts you have laying around, and don’t get tempted to play around with this topic.

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Back on topic- with the task of building a short 9mm AR pistol that can share magazines with my Glocks, and keep things relatively cheap, I decided on the following:

While not currently available, the total cost of this build at the last time the upper and lower were available would be:

  • Lower: $249
  • Upper: $349
  • Optic: $21.99
  • Handstop: $47.26
  • Sling: $23.99
  • Stabilizer: $51.28
  • Total as configured at last available prices: $742.52 (w/o shipping)

As far as the optic- I wanted to try something lightweight and cheap and see how it stands up to use on this 9mm.  I definitely wouldn’t recommend something not proven (i.e., not significantly pricier) on a firearm intended for self defense use, this will be a chance to review a lower-priced optic on what is, for the mean time, a range toy.  Once it’s SBR’ed, unless I’m *really* impressed with that optic, it’ll probably start wearing a Mepro or Aimpoint Micro.

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As far as quality of the PSA upper and lower, everything bolted together as intended, no rattle, and I’ve experienced 0 failures for the first 400 rounds of 124gr 9mm.  This thing is *so* fun to shoot infact, that I’m thinking of Suppressing it after it gets SBR’ed, at which point I’m not even sure anything else would make it to the pistol range with me unless I needed to practice for something specific, even as gimped as it is in not using that brace as a stock and just using it for cheekweld, it’s just that fun.

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That’s that for now, I’ll follow up when I get my Form 1 stamp and can properly finish this thing.  Also, stay tuned for individual reviews of the optic, Odin Handstop (I like it.), and the Stabilizer.

Update 6/21: Form 1 submitted, now we play the waiting game.
Update 2/15: Form 1 Approved after nearly 8 months.