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.
So would you recommend your PSA AR-9 for a truck gun, SHTF gun? Or do you only see it as a range/plinking toy? I’ve been looking to build an AR-9 from scratch but as I add up the numbers it’s going to run minimum $1,200…. or I can get the PSA for under $600 and then just change out parts as I feel. What are your thoughts being that you own a PSA AR-9?
On one hand, there are features I’d like, such as LRBHO that you’re not going to get on the cheap from PSA – but those are also one more moving part, y’know? I originally built this as a range toy, but I’ve had enough rounds down the pipe that, with decent magazines (if I was to use it for SD, I’d probably only use OEM Glock mags), and a more durable optic, I wouldn’t mind putting my trust in it.
That said, it doesn’t feed hollow points very reliably – but if you don’t mind using RN, you’ll at the very least be getting better velocity than you would out of a handgun barrel. Aside from that ammunition quirk, it’s never given me a single failure feeding *any* round nose cartridge, from cheapo range reloads, to my go-to indoor range round, American Eagle Syntech. In a SHTF scenario, I’d be plenty happy to have this in the lineup.
The only other thing to consider if you’re thinking of using it as a ‘truck gun’ would be – in this configuration it’s an NFA item, not sure I’d want to go leaving it in my vehicle. I’d probably build it as a “Pistol” and leave a brace on it if I were to use it in that role.