alternative uppers for home defense??

[SmileDocHill]

My current thoughts are focused on getting a 9mm upper for my AR. I have always used my AR for long range due to it's obvious setup. Out of curiosity I took it to FNS last time with the 22 conversion and did surprisingly well manipulating it quickly and accurately even with the 6 foot 10 pound barrel.

This is mine but I roll with a red dot and an adjustable stock now. (24" HBAR Colt elite- not a room sweeper )

I've trained with my pistol a fair amount in this type of thing but never with my AR and I did SO much better with the AR I'm thinking I should consider an upper in 9mm that is actually designed for this type of thing. (9mm only because that is what all my handguns are also- standardization)
So the questions...
--Are 9 mm uppers reliable enough for home defense situations or are they historically more designed and intended for range fun alternatives to their rifle caliber counterparts?
--Would I be wiser to go with a High Point carbine in 9mm so that all the benefits of a PCR are there as well as the benefit of interchangeable mags with my handgun?

Don't feel you have to answer the questions directly. I'm well aware that I'm possibly not educated on the matter well enough to even be asking the right questions. So feel free to just speak into the subject matter in general.
Thanks,

 

[melensdad]

I would use a 5.56 carbine upper on top of any existing lower I had instead of installing a 9mm upper.

The 9mm will penetrate several more walls than the 5.56 but the 5.56 has more terminal energy on the human body than the 9mm.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Are you sure the Hipoint carbine mags are interchangeable? Thought they were proprietary?

Perhaps you were thinking KelTec, which are either Glock, Beretta 92/6, etc-compatible?

-J-

 

[Haikufunk]

I would recommend getting a 5.56 upper with a 14.5" barrel and a permanent 1.5" flash hider. You will be amazed with the balance and the way it handles. Also, if you are looking to use it for home defense I would also recommend changing the stock to a collapsable stock.

 

[LPMan59]

I would use a 5.56 carbine upper on top of any existing lower I had instead of installing a 9mm upper.

The 9mm will penetrate several more walls than the 5.56 but the 5.56 has more terminal energy on the human body than the 9mm.

QFT

with the right 5.56 ammo, the AR can be a superb choice for home defense. Obviously certain logistics must be taken into account. For example, if I had to sweep my house, my Glock would be much easier to maneuver. If I was holed up, an AR with a RDS would put a damper on someone's day.

ETA: perhaps going the NFA route would be an option? having a SBR would certainly make a rifle much more maneuverable.

 

[TREETOP]

I don't know about you guys, but having fired .223 indoors in the past I'd personally prefer 9mm in an AR platform for any situation that doesn't allow for the quick donning of ear protection.
I'd also recommend against using an NFA weapon as a home defense gun. Even in a clear-cut "good shoot", the weapon is often secured by law enforcement as evidence. Even if it's just for a short time, this could add major complications.

 

[JoshuaW]

Go with what you train with. If you train with your pistol, use your pistol. You say you have your AR setup for long range? You will want to get it set up for short range, then train like that. You will want to move through your house with the rifle so you are familiar with how you have to handle a rifle in your specific environment.

Now, I personally would go for the classic 556 in an AR carbine for home defense. It keeps it simple. You can use your existing mags, and you can use a fairly generic upper. You wont have any odd shaped 9mm mags to cram into your AR should you need to load or reload in a hurry.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I'd stay away from the hi-point option for HD. I'm not bashing hi-point like others will, but after owning a 995 carbine for a while, I came to the conclusion it was best left to range use.

Accurate as all get out, but a few issues with it ment I wasn't going to trust my life to it.

First was that it wasn't 100% reliable. Not even close. Probably count on 2 or 3 FTF with JHP ammo per 50 rouns.

Second was limited magazine capacity (10 rounds) and it wasn't super easy to manipulate and change mags.


A 9mm uppper for an AR can be a sweetheart, but if you go that way, make sure you find a load that will cycle it 100%.

 

[SmileDocHill]

Are you sure the Hipoint carbine mags are interchangeable? Thought they were proprietary?

Perhaps you were thinking KelTec, which are either Glock, Beretta 92/6, etc-compatible?

-J-

You are totally right, I was thinking the KelTec carbine that uses magazines from established common pistols. My pistols are M&P so until they make one that uses those mag.'s the idea is really not practical for me.

 

[SmileDocHill]

Go with what you train with. If you train with your pistol, use your pistol. You say you have your AR setup for long range? You will want to get it set up for short range, then train like that. You will want to move through your house with the rifle so you are familiar with how you have to handle a rifle in your specific environment.

Now, I personally would go for the classic 556 in an AR carbine for home defense. It keeps it simple. You can use your existing mags, and you can use a fairly generic upper. You wont have any odd shaped 9mm mags to cram into your AR should you need to load or reload in a hurry.

I agree with all this logic, one of my realizations, however, was that despite my limited training being with my pistol I was able to be 2x faster and 5x more accurate with my rifle at FNS and on top of that it wasn't even setup for CQC. Look at FNS results on 5-27-11, http://www.indyrange.org/media/FNS_Results_2011-05-27.pdf ( My initials are MH) I entered with my 9mm pistol and "22 rifle" (my AR with conversion). I've trained with my pistol like this a fair amount, I've almost never shot my rifle like this before, yet look at the differences. What isn't shown is that I don't think I missed putting a round on target more than 2x the entire night with the rifle. I wouldn't use my AR in it's current configuration at the house, the long barrel would be a nightmare in halls and corners, and the over penetration in my suburb would be hard to defend. All that to say, I think I'm silly not to consider training with a rifle more. I would need to first have a more practical rifle to use, hence this thread.
.

 

[SmileDocHill]

I would use a 5.56 carbine upper on top of any existing lower I had instead of installing a 9mm upper.

The 9mm will penetrate several more walls than the 5.56 but the 5.56 has more terminal energy on the human body than the 9mm.

The 9mm will be more of an over penetration issue than the 556 (assuming both are from a shorter barrel, just long enough to not be SBR/NFA)? I assumed 556 would be much more likely to over penetrate but I have nothing but assumptions to base that on.
I'm not worried about the stopping power of 9mm. If I'm OK using it from my pistol I'm definitely not worried about using it from a rifle barrel.

 

[jblomenberg16]

The 9mm will be more of an over penetration issue than the 556 (assuming both are from a shorter barrel, just long enough to not be SBR/NFA)? I assumed 556 would be much more likely to over penetrate but I have nothing but assumptions to base that on.
I'm not worried about the stopping power of 9mm. If I'm OK using it from my pistol I'm definitely not worried about using it from a rifle barrel.

I don't have links handy, but there is some good reading out there about pennetration of typical home walls by various calibers. Faster .224 projectiles, both FMJ and OTM style typically fragment and thus pennetrate fewer piece of drywall than heavier slower pistol slugs.

Here's one I did find with a real quick search, but doesn't have pictures.

http://www.olyarms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=26