Like a lot of people, I've been thinking about getting into a pistol caliber carbine. However, also like a lot of people, I'm currently paying almost 6 bucks a gallon for gas and I don't have a whole lot of money to dedicate to a build.
I took a cruise around the internet and I ran into a good number of desirable options like the Stribog or the Scorpion. The problem is, those options would both cost a good amount of money. So while tempting, I decided that buying something like that outright probably wasn't the most cost effective solution.
So with that option ruled out, what am I going to do? After rummaging around my closet, my safe, and doing some more digging, I came up with a more cost effective solution. This is the Foxtrot Mike FM9 upper. It's a complete upper, so it comes with a bolt carrier group, a handguard, and a muzzle device.
Now I know what you're thinking....this is just an upper, how is this a feasible solution? That's the good part of my plan. I'm going to take this upper and drop it onto an existing AR pistol lower that I already have. Why does this make sense? Because I can take a lower that that is currently not doing anything and repurpose it into a pistol caliber carbine (or more accurately in this case, a pistol caliber pistol).
AR lowers have become more and more readily available in recent years. We now live in a world where you can get a milspec lower receiver for notably less than a hundred dollars, and completed lowers for less than one hundred and fifty. So even if you don't have a completed lower laying around like me, you can get your hands on one easily, for a very reasonable price.
Of course I can't just drop this onto a lower and call it done. For it to be a useful tool, it's going to need a few things; namely, an optic and a light. This thing won't be much good to me if I cant see my target, and can't properly aim at that target. To that end, I've picked out some budget-friendly accessories.
Our optic will be a Vortex Strikefire 3, which is a rugged red dot optic with a 30mm tube body. These are rugged, proven systems that can be had for much less than their 275-dollar MSRP; I got this one for 180 dollars. Our lighting setup will be pretty basic: a Streamlight Polytac LED held in place by a UTG MLok light mount. This gives me a decent amount of illumination in an affordable package that is still compact enough to fit on the very limited rail space that the FM9 has. This setup can be had for right around 50 dollars.
The FM9 upper with these simple accessories combine into a very light and compact package that drops onto an AR lower and turns it into a pistol caliber carbine (or pistol caliber pistol) for less than 500 dollars.
So that's an overview of the budget PCC project. Stay tuned for the next episode, which will be a complete review of the Foxtrot Mike FM9 upper that is the heart of this build. If you're interested in checking out the upper for yourself, check it out at Brownells. That's all I have for you this time.
Until next time, stay safe!