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Posted: 9/17/2026 6:05:18 PM EDT
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I have an Anderson Mfg AR-15. It shoots fine. I have a RDS and shoot it out to 100 yards with 5.56 ammo. I installed a Rise trigger. I clean it every 100 rounds. Other than that I know next to nothing about the platform. I would like to add the option of a 9 mm PCC upper (16"). My reading tells me there are a number of manufacturers with prices from inexpensive to expensive. I am unsure about the magazines. Glock and Colt seem to be most common, although CMMG has a proprietary magazine, and I thought I saw one that uses P320 mags (I have one of those so that would save me a few bucks). If I understand it, I'd need a magazine adapter (except for the CMMG upper with their mags). Also I believe the buffer might need to be replaced or modified. Is there anything else? Am I thinking correctly that the 9 mm upper will just drop in, and that I can switch back to 5.56 if I want? |
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Have you wandered over to blowback9 yet? https://blowback9.wordpress.com/ If not, spend an evening in there and it should answer most of your questions honestly. ETA How could i forget C3 Junkie, he has a lot of good info as well https://c3junkie.com/?page_id=164 |
| Thanks for the links. Blowback9 is already scaring me and I'm only a half a dozen links into his articles. Throughout life I've learned the "how hard can this be" lesson more than a few times. When you're ignorant it's always easy, until something breaks, jams, whatever, whether its a late Sunday home repair plumbing job and the water is off (and HD is about to close and wife is offering to help .... ), or any other DIY job. Being retired I have nothing but time to learn (when not at the range or off-roading), so maybe by the time I am done with these two links I'll just decide to buy one. At least that way if there's a problem a manufacturer will fix it (hopefully). |
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Originally Posted By ROMAD-556: Have you wandered over to blowback9 yet? https://blowback9.wordpress.com/ If not, spend an evening in there and it should answer most of your questions honestly. ETA How could i forget C3 Junkie, he has a lot of good info as well https://c3junkie.com/?page_id=164 To clarify, blowback9 specializes in straight blowback setups. I (c3junkie.com) specialize in delayed blowback setups... these days, it is the CMMG RDB setup. Some of the key points I have mentioned in my picture below. With straight blowback, you can't do a straight upper swap like you can with the CMMG RDB setup. Let me know if you have any questions.  |
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Since I live in CA, I’m limited to 10rds. So, I went with Glock mags. I’m using a Stern Defense adapter, and it seems to work well. It’s more expensive than the Sylvan. If you go with Endomags, you don’t need an adapter. I’ve got one, and it seems to work. Though I have my doubts about the longevity of its built in plastic ejector. Mine is bundled with a standard AR15 upper in .223 so I can go back easily. I’m using a 8oz 9mm buffer. So, it’s a simple matter to replace the upper, adapter, and buffer. |
Call me at the shop....be glad to give you thegood, the bad, and the ugly......Macon Armory, number is on the website.........I built my first 9mm conversion in 1974 and ran on an SP1 lower with a sten mag. I pretty much do nothing but pistol caliber  the first step is to decide what mag/lower you want.....from there it's not that hard..... , just gotta pick the right lower and as I don't make lowers, I'm pretty honest about what works and what don't....and if you choose right youcan pop in an adapter and run your 9mm on the same lower youuse for 5.56.....it can be changed over in under a minute......and same can be said for 45 ACP
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I recently put a 4.5" 9mm upper ($200 from Delta) on my 7.62x39 lower that has a Law folder and Grey Market Super safety. Put a Tromix 9mm buffer ($90) in it and run Exomags with the ejector ($35ea for a 40rd mag)in it. So far it's great, rate of fire around 600, faster with a can. |
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