Rifle: PSA 16" 9mm 1/10 Keymod Classic Rifle - SKU: 516446755
This is the 16" barreled, direct blow back operated, glock magazine feed, 9mm AR15 wo/last round hold open. Run of the mill AR15 13.5" free float forend, handle, trigger & stock No sights were included, but one cheap hi-cap magazine. I'm hoping to try out factory glock mags ($20 for G17 or G19 on sale), Glock hi-cap mags (usually $40 each), Magpul mags, & the factory mag.
The intent of this rifle is for my wife to shoot to replace her beloved hi-point 9mm carbine. Range report below the drama. :-)
Cost: About $553.18 on a labor day sale. (add FFL for about $573.18 + optic or sights + a few spare mags)
Ordering & Shipping: Ordered on 9/3/2017, Shipped on 9/7/2017, Arrived 9/11/2017 signature required to my FFL of choice. The web site is fairly easy to use. My FFL was already in PSA's system so no extra work there. Not the fastest to ship out, but not the slowest either.
Initial Inspection: I hit the FFL about 5 minutes before closing so I opened the box and saw everything was included that should be. The gun, gun lock, and a mag. But wait that's not all, there was a bonus sticker too. I took it home and got ready to give it an initial cleaning just to find a bunch of brass on the bottom of the bolt carrier. (like 100+ rounds worth) HOLY CARP they sent me a used rifle! So I sent PSA an email since it was past 10pm at this point. Wait for it, you'll love the response:
You read it here, they want to give me a $30 credit for sending me a used rifle. What a pile of dog squeeze! And just for the record, I double checked to make sure I hadn't bought a refurbished gun. None the less I'm seriously unhappy with the response from PSA to say the least. More on that later if they ever reply again. Hopefully I don't have to deal with the "lifetime warranty".
Range Report:
As promised, the part you really care about. DOES THIS THING SHOOT? Well I'd say for its intended purpose YES! I was able to shot three different types of ammo at 25 and 50 yards before running out of time. All three mags I had ran perfectly. (Glock 17, 32, Magpul, & the cheap see thru mag that came with it) See below for the bi-pod shooting. Now how does it really work? Off hand with just a red dot at 25 yards it was easy to knock down all six 6" plates in rapid fire multiple time with just an occasional miss. Recoil is very mild but sometimes I'd just drop the sight below the target because I'm just not that good with a carbine. Super fun to load up the 30 round stick and shoot 6 - 6" plates, the 6- 5" squares behind, and then the 6 - 4" triangles behind them...all that with 11 rounds left over. Half a box of ammo gone in about a half a minute! I did notice that a decent amount of gas blow back would come out from under the charge handle, nothing crazy but enough to make sure you wear eye protection. I had no failure to feed and no failure to eject. I really like the over sized mag release button. The only "problem" I had during the whole test was one of the 147g rounds didn't feed all the way into the chamber so when the hammer feel the back of the case ruptured sending maybe three times the amount of blow back. At this point I don't know if the chamber was getting dirty enough or if the round itself might have been sized wrong. Nothing serious, just note worthy if you plan on shooting 147 grain bullets. SUPER FUN to shoot with out any of the embarrassment of it being a hi-point! :-) As of right now the only thing I really want to change is the trigger, nothing wrong with the stock military style trigger...but the whole package can only get better with a Velocity or Timney, HiperFire, or other quality drop in trigger. That is my story, I'm sticking to it.
Ammo....................25 yards..50 yards
Remington UMC....115g...0.727"....1.250"
American Eagle...124g...1.146"....1.583"
Remington UMC....147g...2.201"....2.660"
Notes: Center to Center groups add .30" for outside to outside.
Shot with a Cabela's 1-6power scope. 1x at 25 yards and 6x at 50 yards
off a rail mounted bi-pod up front.
CLOSER INSPECTION:
If you are the super anal type then the fit and finish of this rifle might not be for you. I know PSA has had several version of this carbine already so maybe I got a mixed bad? As you can see the fit at the rear has nearly a 1/16th inch gap just under then charge handle and the upper and lower lines simply don't look like they came from the same company. Honestly that is just being picky and if my wife sees it...oh my, I might just have to build one from a matched Areo or Spartan upper/lower set. How will I ever get by till my wife is happy? I think the only draw back to having this AR9 is that I'd really like to build one in 45acp or 40cal just to try it out.
This is the 16" barreled, direct blow back operated, glock magazine feed, 9mm AR15 wo/last round hold open. Run of the mill AR15 13.5" free float forend, handle, trigger & stock No sights were included, but one cheap hi-cap magazine. I'm hoping to try out factory glock mags ($20 for G17 or G19 on sale), Glock hi-cap mags (usually $40 each), Magpul mags, & the factory mag.
The intent of this rifle is for my wife to shoot to replace her beloved hi-point 9mm carbine. Range report below the drama. :-)
Cost: About $553.18 on a labor day sale. (add FFL for about $573.18 + optic or sights + a few spare mags)
Ordering & Shipping: Ordered on 9/3/2017, Shipped on 9/7/2017, Arrived 9/11/2017 signature required to my FFL of choice. The web site is fairly easy to use. My FFL was already in PSA's system so no extra work there. Not the fastest to ship out, but not the slowest either.
Initial Inspection: I hit the FFL about 5 minutes before closing so I opened the box and saw everything was included that should be. The gun, gun lock, and a mag. But wait that's not all, there was a bonus sticker too. I took it home and got ready to give it an initial cleaning just to find a bunch of brass on the bottom of the bolt carrier. (like 100+ rounds worth) HOLY CARP they sent me a used rifle! So I sent PSA an email since it was past 10pm at this point. Wait for it, you'll love the response:
Hello,
As you have already transferred this item into your name, we cannot accept it for an exchange. It states in our Terms and Conditions :
A. Firearms, Ammunition, and Clothing:
All sales of firearms, loaded ammunition and clothing are FINAL, and returns are NOT ACCEPTED.
Once a firearm is transferred to a customer's name, Palmetto State Armory will not accept a return or exchange under any circumstance.
If you have a functional issue with the device, you are still under your PSA limited lifetime warranty.
For the testing blemishes on your device, I can offer you a thirty dollar blemish credit refund. Would you prefer this on your purchasing card, or on a PSA gift card?
Best Regards,
Dylan D.
Palmetto State Armory Customer Service
(803) 724-6950
Customer.Service@palmettostatearmory.com
As you have already transferred this item into your name, we cannot accept it for an exchange. It states in our Terms and Conditions :
A. Firearms, Ammunition, and Clothing:
All sales of firearms, loaded ammunition and clothing are FINAL, and returns are NOT ACCEPTED.
Once a firearm is transferred to a customer's name, Palmetto State Armory will not accept a return or exchange under any circumstance.
If you have a functional issue with the device, you are still under your PSA limited lifetime warranty.
For the testing blemishes on your device, I can offer you a thirty dollar blemish credit refund. Would you prefer this on your purchasing card, or on a PSA gift card?
Best Regards,
Dylan D.
Palmetto State Armory Customer Service
(803) 724-6950
Customer.Service@palmettostatearmory.com
You read it here, they want to give me a $30 credit for sending me a used rifle. What a pile of dog squeeze! And just for the record, I double checked to make sure I hadn't bought a refurbished gun. None the less I'm seriously unhappy with the response from PSA to say the least. More on that later if they ever reply again. Hopefully I don't have to deal with the "lifetime warranty".
Range Report:
As promised, the part you really care about. DOES THIS THING SHOOT? Well I'd say for its intended purpose YES! I was able to shot three different types of ammo at 25 and 50 yards before running out of time. All three mags I had ran perfectly. (Glock 17, 32, Magpul, & the cheap see thru mag that came with it) See below for the bi-pod shooting. Now how does it really work? Off hand with just a red dot at 25 yards it was easy to knock down all six 6" plates in rapid fire multiple time with just an occasional miss. Recoil is very mild but sometimes I'd just drop the sight below the target because I'm just not that good with a carbine. Super fun to load up the 30 round stick and shoot 6 - 6" plates, the 6- 5" squares behind, and then the 6 - 4" triangles behind them...all that with 11 rounds left over. Half a box of ammo gone in about a half a minute! I did notice that a decent amount of gas blow back would come out from under the charge handle, nothing crazy but enough to make sure you wear eye protection. I had no failure to feed and no failure to eject. I really like the over sized mag release button. The only "problem" I had during the whole test was one of the 147g rounds didn't feed all the way into the chamber so when the hammer feel the back of the case ruptured sending maybe three times the amount of blow back. At this point I don't know if the chamber was getting dirty enough or if the round itself might have been sized wrong. Nothing serious, just note worthy if you plan on shooting 147 grain bullets. SUPER FUN to shoot with out any of the embarrassment of it being a hi-point! :-) As of right now the only thing I really want to change is the trigger, nothing wrong with the stock military style trigger...but the whole package can only get better with a Velocity or Timney, HiperFire, or other quality drop in trigger. That is my story, I'm sticking to it.
Ammo....................25 yards..50 yards
Remington UMC....115g...0.727"....1.250"
American Eagle...124g...1.146"....1.583"
Remington UMC....147g...2.201"....2.660"
Notes: Center to Center groups add .30" for outside to outside.
Shot with a Cabela's 1-6power scope. 1x at 25 yards and 6x at 50 yards
off a rail mounted bi-pod up front.
CLOSER INSPECTION:
If you are the super anal type then the fit and finish of this rifle might not be for you. I know PSA has had several version of this carbine already so maybe I got a mixed bad? As you can see the fit at the rear has nearly a 1/16th inch gap just under then charge handle and the upper and lower lines simply don't look like they came from the same company. Honestly that is just being picky and if my wife sees it...oh my, I might just have to build one from a matched Areo or Spartan upper/lower set. How will I ever get by till my wife is happy? I think the only draw back to having this AR9 is that I'd really like to build one in 45acp or 40cal just to try it out.
