Questar's RRA 9mm upper/lower combo... I got one!

ghostie

ghostie

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Some of you guys may know me from the pistols section. Well... after a bit of an absence... I'm back into the long guns! :D

I've been talking about getting a 9mm AR for eons. Problem was, when I found one I liked, I didn't have the cash... and when I had the cash... I couldn't find one I liked.

These things are not all that easy to find at the best of times (which these certainly are not for firearms owners). There seem to be basically three types of 9mm ARs we see in Canada: RRA A2's and A4's, Bushmaster Carbon-15's, and Colt (which are all A2/carry handle, and I believe are mostly older models).

I did not want the fixed carry handle. I was also not completely sold on Carbon 15's (although I've heard they are lovely firearms)... so I got the RRA.

The one I picked up is a 16 incher upper with a flash hider, put on an RRA 5.56 marked lower reconfigured to 9mm by the lovely people at Questar (see their AR deals page). This appears to be the only 9mm AR that can come out of the U.S. now. The doors have closed big-time in the 18 months or so that I've been looking at buying an AR. My understanding is no more 5.56 marked, or 9mm marked lowers or firearms out of the U.S. (many people will correct me if I am wrong). I fully expected my lower would be .223 marked (I think that is what the invoice said), but I guess they had some more 5.56 in stock.

I got one of the C-Products 10 round mags. Yah they are very short (smaller than a SIG 239 mag! See photos below) but they hold 10 rounds. I want to pick up a variety of mags, even though they are hard to find... as everyone seems to horde them.

I had one of these Bushnell "ACOG" type red-dots kicking around. I put that on there for now.

For accessories, I need a sling, more mags, flip up front and rear sights, and ... I'm thinking probably an Eotech. Any other suggestions?

I got this for my girlfriend as much as for myself. She has really wanted one of these for quite awhile now - so hopefully she likes it. As I am typing this, she hasn't come home yet and seen it put together... she's just seen the upper which came a week earlier than the lower (I bought the upper right away when Questar got them in, as I thought they'd sell out right away, and these could well be the last 9mm ARs that make it into the country! :() The gun seems like it will be a lot of fun. I've shot a few of these at the range, but it is always different when it is your own. I'll have some video by the weekend.

Some pics:
AR9mm1-1.jpg

AR9mm2-1.jpg

AR9mm3.jpg

AR9mm4.jpg

AR9mm5.jpg

AR9mm6.jpg

AR9mm7.jpg

AR9mm13.jpg

AR9mm8.jpg

AR9mm9.jpg

AR9mm10.jpg

AR9mm11.jpg

AR9mm12.jpg

AR9mm14.jpg

AR9mm15.jpg

AR9mm16.jpg

AR9mm17.jpg
 
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id have gone with a shorter barrel, ever since i shot a 9mm ar at TSE they have been on my list

you really need to stop buying the exact same things im always looking at buying.
 
ya what heaven said, really ghostie.....

ive been looking at getting an AR for a little while, i wish i got one back when they were easier to get, think i will getting a 5.56 though. i like your acog though very slick. what do you think of the rock river fit and finish ? and altogether quality. ive sorta been looking at the bushmasters.

also what has been changed on the lower for the 9mm ? i can see from the pics, that theres a better feed ramp in the magwell. anything else ?
also is that a rra stock, or one of questars chinese versions ?
 
Last year I was going to order a 7 inch or 10.5 inch 9mm AR "pistol". These are gone now though. The only place you'll ever get one of these in Canada now is at an inflated price in the EE... and even then they seem to rarely come up (a 10.5 upper with mags came up last week... at $1,500-something - that's like the price of my whole gun - and it lasted a few hours).

The 16 inch AR feels a lot smaller in the hand than it looks in the pics. It should be a real nice accurate gun that feels good to shoot. I'm looking forward to it. When I am holding it, it is going to look pretty small in the videos (I'm about 6'3, 250).

The stock says "Rock River Arms" in a circle on it, so I guess it is original RRA.

What I bought for the lower was: "RRA LAR-15 (Configured for 9mm) - includes Hogue Grip, 9mm magwell adapter, both .223 & 9mm hammers, .223 and 9mm buffers, CAR spring, extension tube and 6 position adjustable stock... PLUS if purchased with RRA upper we'll include 1 x CP-LAR15-9MM Ten Round "Pistol" Magazine at no additional charge."

Price for this was $799.99 (it is on the Questar page for $50 more, which is the magazine). The upper cost $890.96, so that is $1,690.95 for a whole rifle (minus sights or scope).

I have the .223 hammer and buffer in a little plastic bag too. I could sell that (doubt I sould get what they are worth) or keep them and buy a .223 upper later.

The fit and finish look great. Haven't fired it yet, so I will have more to say later.
 
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I have a 9mm 10.5" RRA that I quite like to shoot, but I think there may be something wrong with the follower for the polymer magazine as it binds and jams up when loaded up to 10 rounds. How do those short 10 steel round magazines feed?
 
Ultra cool Ghostie!
I am working on something similar myself, hope you don't mind if I post a few pictures. I recently bought a RRA 9mm upper with 7 inch barrel and free float quad rail. Just today I ordered the RRA lower from Questar. I was going to order the same lower kit you did but decided to buy the cheaper 223 one they have and also purchased the 9mm hammer and buffer. My upper included the 9mm magwell adapter so now I am looking for the nicest mags I can find. If I can't find some larger ones pinned to 5 or 10 I'll order a 10 round shortie from Questar. I am also planning to throw an Eotech on it.

9mm-7inch-1.jpg

9mm-7inch-2.jpg

9mm-7inch-3.jpg
 
Nice looking 9mm AR Ghostie,

I am hoping to pick one up myself from Questar if I can get the funds together before Mark sells out.

Let us know how it shoots.:)
 
Just to confirm....

Can you pop a .223/5.56 upper on there (obviously removing the magwell block) using the 9mm hammer & buffer? Or do you have to remove the 9mm hammer & buffer and replace it with the .223 versions?

I believe you can not use a 9mm upper with a .223 hammer.

I have a 10.5" 9mm upper that I bought but it has been sitting around for ages, never used. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it, or sell it off and get a .22LR upper instead for the ultra cheap plinking.
 
Pretty much the same set-up that I have...except I have one of the 10.5 inch version. Have had it out once only. Experienced some feed problems with 10 rounds loaded but it is very fun to shoot!
 
Ghostie - any weekend update on the new 9mm?

I had the oddest experience ever today. Doorbell rang about 5 PM and it was Canada Post with a package - yes on a *Sunday*
It was a package from Questar - my 5.56 lower with 9mm hammer and buffer!

Mags are scheduled to arrive tomorrow according to tracking.

Here it is so far:

9mm-ar.jpg
 
Mine should be here this week also:dancingbanana:
I cant wait.I have wanted one for awhile now.
I am also looking for a shorter barel like a 10.5
 
Steve99 said:
Ghostie - any weekend update on the new 9mm?
Click to expand...

I wish I had an update for you, more pics, video, etc., but I don't. I've had the 9mm AR out to the range three times now (most recently today), but I don't think I have it set up properly. I gave it one more try on the recommendation of another 9mm AR user to give it a thorough cleaning and oiling to try and at least eliminate that as a potential problem. Not to bag on Questar, I've bought a few things from them and they are an excellent dealer, excellent people, but the reason why I bought the RRA 9mm upper and the RRA 5.56mm/9mm combo lower from them (which I asked that they ship to me in 9mm configuration, and I believe they did) was because I just wanted a "plug and play" set-up. I'm no gunsmith, nor am I an AR-15 expert. If doesn't work right off the bat, it quickly becomes a mystery which I am not equipped, nor do I have the desire to solve. I want to be completely clear about this though: Questar sold me parts which were exactly as described on their website and on the invoice. My problem was I wanted a completly set up functioning 9mm AR-15, which is a product which isn't really available new in this country anymore - so I bought the parts and hoped they would work well together right off the bat with no gunsmithing. So far.... no dice.

Myself and the guys at PoCo (like Colin, who also has a RRA 9mm AR) are trying to figure it out, but so far no luck. I will eventually take it to Joe Dlask, who is our AR-15 guru in this part of the world, but I so far haven't had time during the week - or on the weekend - the last couple of weeks, to get it over to him to properly diagose the difficulties. I've just been too busy with work. I prefer not to send it back to Questar either, but I suppose that could be a possibility down the road.

I don't really want to do the diagnosis here on CGN, but I wonder if some guys on here can give me their opinion on something:

What parts are different between a 5.56mm lower and a 9mm lower? Just the hammer and buffer, or more than that?

My 5.56mm-marked lower from Questar just has (as far as I know) the 5.56mm buffer and hammer swapped out and replaced with a 9mm hammer and buffer. The gun will not cycle more than a round or two in this configuration. Different ammo, cleaning, and oiling seem to have no effect on this. It chambers the first round fine, but then either just barely ejects the spent casing or (more commonly) the extractor will pull the spent casing back, but them slam it back forward again along with the next round in the mag. The number of rounds you load in the mag seems to have no effect on this either. It has been very frustrating so far. I'll either get this thing right (with a gunsmith's help) or I will be parting out the (essentially brand new) upper and lower in the next few weeks.
 
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