CMMG’s 9mm Mk9, an ideal PDW–Gun Review

David Higginbotham Pistols

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CMMG Mk9 PDW

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The Mk9 is a compact gun that adds a twist to conversations about practical pistol caliber carbines.

The CMMG Mk9 PDW is one of those guns often defined by what it is not. It is not a modern sporting rifle, exactly. It isn’t a 5.56. It is not a traditional AR pistol (if such a thing exists). But if you’re looking for something larger, faster, and more stable than a full-sized pistol, the Mk9 may be for you. If you are looking for something smaller and less powerful than an AR carbine, the Mk9 is an ideal choice. Not quite a carbine, more than a pistol: the Mk9 shines.

By the numbers

•    Caliber: 9mm
•    Barrel: 8.5″ medium weight profile
•    Muzzle: A2 comp., threaded 1/2-36(9mm)
•    Hand Guard: CMMG RKM7 KeyMod hand guard
•    furniture: Magpul MOE pistol grip
•    Receivers: Forged 7075-T6 AL M4 type upper, AR15 type lower
•    Trigger: Single stage mil-spec style trigger
•    Weight: 5.3 lbs (unloaded)
•    Length: 25”

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With a good single-point sling, the CMMG Mk9 becomes very maneuverable.

This Mk9 is a 9mm, but the pistol is available in 300 Blackout, and .22LR. Much of the specifications are easy to see in the photos. The one piece that deserves a bit of ink is the magazine. It is designed to hold 32 rounds, and the spring tension is seriously tight. It help to load on something solid as you’ll need to use a bit of bump-force to get some of the rounds seated, especially as the count rises.

The trigger on the Mk9 breaks at about 6 pounds. Just under. As it is described as a mil-spec style trigger, this seems appropriate. It has a touch of mil-spec style creep, too, but that doesn’t keep it from being functional. The break is sufficient for a pistol meant for close, fast, adrenaline-fueled use.

How do you hold the Mk9?

The CMMG Mk9 PDW is appropriately named. It is a great personal defense weapon. That it is a pistol seems almost like a formality. The CMMG Mk9 PDW is almost too big to be taken seriously as a pistol. I’m not talking about the legal definition; I’m referring to how it handles. You can hold it with one hand, like a pistol, but it isn’t balanced well for such a grip. You can cram two hands on the actual grip and hold it like you would a compact pistol, but that, too, leaves a lot of weight hanging out in front of the gun.

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Holding the pistol with two hands and the sling is harder than it looks, as it stretches out the elastic of the sling.

When you move your support hand up to the mag well or to the handguard, the balance problem goes away, but the pistol still requires some stability to perform reliably. If you hold like this while moving, finding the target is much more complicated than it would be with a light pistol or an actual carbine.

Adding a sling to the equation will stabilize the back end and help a bit, though I’d recommend using one with some elastic to give you a bit more flexibility. The Mk9 comes with a sling plate, which could be swapped out for a QD plate. The key-mod slots on the handguard can be used as QD slots if you want a two point, or you could just add a sling loop on handguard if you don’t want to monkey with the buffer tube. Key-mod seems to be the in-thing right now, as does QD. It would make sense to have a QD mount on the pistol from the factory, but it is easy to swap out.

Perhaps the easiest way to hold the pistol is with the buffer tube back in your shoulder. While it crunches you up on the compact gun, the stance is surprisingly functional thanks to the Mk9’s low recoil. There is no muzzle rise, and virtually no recoil, so nothing is going to bop you in the teeth. We put on an Aimpoint PRO, and mounted it a bit farther forward than we would on an AR with a longer length of pull, and it worked incredibly well.

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With a Sig arm brace, the CMMG becomes even more functional.

If you want to take it to the next level of performance, slip on a Sig arm brace. The buffer tube on the CMMG is fluted on the far end and knurled closer to the receiver. The Sig brace slides on with a bit of effort, and is a bitch to pull back off, but once it is on there, the potential is really endless. And that is where the PDW distinction becomes much more relevant.

The CMMG Mk9 PDW is incredibly light. It isn’t a burden to carry, at all, so long as you’re engaging in really open carry. And it is small. The compact package, while big for a pistol, is more in line with typical short-barreled rifles. And it isn’t overpowered. Many who criticize SBRs say that you lose too much of the 5.56’s power when you cut down the barrel. With the Mk9, you are adding power to our typical expectations of the 9mm. A115 grain bullet will leave a Beretta 92 FS (which has a 4.85 inch barrel) above 1,100 FPS. The 8.5 inch barrel adds 1,000 FPS to that, maybe more. It is a modest increase, but still an increase.

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There’s no recoil to make this shooting position painful, though it does feel cramped.

Shooting the Mk9

I’ve covered the various handholds that make this gun a challenge. From here on out, you can assume I’m bracing the CMMG pretty well before I pull the trigger. If there were some law that mandated a pistol grip on the Mk9, my practical evaluation of the platform wouldn’t be positive. Yet I can hold the gun however I want, and the Mk9 comes alive when you give the back end some support.

We shot the Mk9 at distances ranging form 7 to 100 yards. The 9mm shoots relatively flat. When engaging a 12 inch plate at both distances, I was able to use the same zero from the Aimpoint. No hold over necessary. That makes this a really versatile pistol. Beyond 100, you may need to begin to compensate slightly.

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Holding it out like you would a rifle is a bit awkward.

Accuracy was better than you could expect from any full-sized 9mm pistol. At pistol distances, the gun shoots consistently. We had no problem connecting with 2 inch targets. And the light recoil means fast split times. Double taps are incredibly easy, and the point of impact only moves a couple of inches. A lighter trigger would make it even better.

Problems

We’re committed to reviewing guns honestly at GunsAmerica, and do our best to fairly document any issues we have with guns. When we first shot the CMMG, we had some strange jams. The rounds were coming off of the magazine and jamming into the top of the chamber. It happened once or twice a magazine and was a royal pain in the ass to clear, as the next round would be pining the errant round and the magazine into the gun. I was using Fort Mill 115 grain ball ammo for the initial review and that was what was jamming. The Fort Mill didn’t jam in any of the other 9mms I had. I could get other ammo to run reliably in the CMMG, but didn’t have enough of anything else on hand to test for reliability. The Fort Mill would jam into the chamber so hard that it would knock the bullet slightly to one side and bend the case.

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We did experience some strange jams. After swapping out the feed ramp, the problem vanished.

I shoot a lot of guns, and I’ve never had this issue with anything. I called CMMG and they worked me through it. Their first thought was that it had something to do with the feed ramp. They sent out a new one and I made the switch.

I’m not convinced that the feed ramp was at fault. At the end of the review, I’m convinced it had something to do with this particular ammo in this particular gun. After isolating the Fort Mill, and swapping out the feed ramp, I was able to get the Mk9 to run magazine after magazine of everything. JHP, +P, steel case—the Mk9 didn’t care. And here’s the important part. When I called CMMG to ask about the problem, they immediately went into action. They were vigilant about following up with the fix, too. They provided excellent customer service and the pistol ended up functioning exactly as I’d thought it would. Can’t beat that.

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There’s no gas system on the Mk9, so the guard doesn’t heat up much at all.

Conclusions

All told, our experience with the CMMG couldn’t have been better unless we’d been able to magically anticipate the Fort Mill hang-ups. Once we had that cleared up, the Mk9 ran flawlessly. On a single point, with a nice pistol at your side (or a shotgun on the other side) the Mk9 becomes part of a great working combination. While it doubles up on much of the CQB work of a carbine, it does it in a more controlled manner than a typical 5.56. The 9mm may not offer the same terminal ballistics, but it isn’t as susceptible to over-penetration, either.

The more I get into these guns, the more I am convinced that the compact AR platform is the optimal choice for personal defense. In .300 AAC, and silenced, the platform would offer even more possibilities. Take some time and check out what CMMG is doing. You’ll like what you see.  MSRP on the Mk9 is $1,099.95. Considering the cost of some of the more functional 9mm pistols on the market, that’s pretty good.  And you won’t have to worry about holsters.

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The CMMG Mk9 PDW has an actual feed ramp for guiding troublesome rounds into the chamber.

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The CMMG is fast. There’s no muzzle rise, as this photo illustrates.

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You can stabilize the back end with a sling, but it still won’t offer as much support as a stock.

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CMMG is using Magpul grips and trigger guards.

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With the optic out a bit further than normal, you can tuck the buffer tube into your shoulder like a stock.

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The whole package is light enough that it can be held one handed. Barely.

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The magazine is easy to insert and to pull, and it is built like a tank.

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The key-mod handguard fits well in the hand and weighs nothing.

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The Mk9 has a fat deflector that kicks shells out perpendicular to the receiver.

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The Mk9 has a forward assist in the event that you do need some extra leverage to get the bolt home.

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Many of the features are typical to CMMG’s line of MSRs.

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The mag well is beveled and mags move in and out easily.

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From this side, the Mk9 looks like a typical MSR.

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The Mk9 comes with an ambidextrous sling mount.

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The buffer tube fits tightly in the Sig brace, but it is long enough to shoulder without it.

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  • mike o May 16, 2019, 7:54 am

    will the cmmg mk9 take glock 19 mags?

  • Tony M December 26, 2017, 5:51 pm

    I had the same issue right out of the box with ammo “jamming” double feeds, FTE, spent rounds dropping into the trigger well, mags falling out . It took over 7 e-mails & 5 phone calls to CMMG to respond. I was finally able to send it back for repairs. After 3 weeks, CMMG told me the Upper was milled too shallow & did not have enough clearance. The mag release button was cut too short & the combination of a shallow upper & small mag release button, it caused the mags to keep falling out of the well. Another week later the pistol was returned. Since then, I’ve put over 1200 rounds through it, brass, steel, aluminum, no jams, no FTF or FTE. It was frustrating at first & getting CMMG to respond was a pain. However, once I threatened to file a complaint & dispute the charge on my credit card, they were quick to respond & correct the issue. As much as I now like the pistol & how good it shoots, I doubt I would buy from CMMG again.

  • EricX July 28, 2014, 5:01 am

    (Fasten your seatbelt folks, epic EricX rant inbound)
    I’m cracking up at all these detractors of the CMMG 9mm.
    Have you ever owned one or fired one?
    I have a CMMG 11.5″ upper (w/5.5 XM15 FH) sitting on a RRA lower with a Hahn 9mm conversion block. I use a mix of converted UZI mags, CProducts, Metalform, an original Colt and even a bunch of ProMag plastics (which, btw, function 100%… seems they got these right!).
    That being said, this rifle has fired everything from cheap crap-ass corroded Guatemalan surplus to DRT frangible to Winchester white box to Wolf poly to USGI +P+ to notoriously overpowered Hirtenberger to ill-sized Glock-fired brass reloads… the ONLY hiccups it has ever had in well over 8000+ rounds were some bad primers with the Guat crap and some badly sized reloads (fired through unsupported chamber Glock 17 & 19). And this includes a 2500+ round, no-cleaning marathon using USGI Mk254 with 4 shooters!
    I DARE any of you Hi Point (lol!) or Camp-9 owners to claim as such! I double dare you!
    I have used this for plinking and in competition as well as loaned it out for the same and no issues whatsoever aside from bad ammo have ever happened. I put it on par with my UZI Model-B as well as a HK94/MP5 I used to own.
    I would trust my life completely with this carbine should the need ever arise!
    Now, for the detractors…
    OK… seems CMMG had issues with their mag well/feed ramps. I wouldn’t know about this since mine was built on a mil-spec receiver using a top-shelf magwell adapter. BUT, it seems like CMMG fixed this early in the carbine development to mimic the Colt ramps like I have with the Hahn. What I hear on ARFCOM is this was only on the first production run of the dedicated 9mm lower issue and was promptly corrected by CMMG.
    Now, for those “bett’ur dan dat” comments…
    A Hi-Point 995… really? REALLY? Have you ever fired a REAL 9mm carbine before? I’ve fired plenty and I’ve felt airsoft guns more solid than that Hi-Point crap! Tell me, have you ever fired more than 100 rounds without a jam in that screwed together nylon and pot metal piece of crap? If so, I’m sure there’s a Yugo still on the road somewhere… same odds! Tell me, aside from reliability issues, what’s your magazine capacity? Since a 9mm is way less powerful than a rifle, you need volume to be more effective… at least in a self-defense situation. What’s a Hi-Point offer… 10 or 15 round single stack mags? Fine if you are in NJ, Mass or Kali but I prefer the 20, 30 and 32 round doublestacks. Kinda makes up for the 9mm’s lack of power ya know. Tell me, have you ever actually hit anything with the Hi-Point? A buddy of mine HAD one… got better accuracy out of a Chinese Daisy Red Rider reissue! My CMMG upper shoots just a hair over 3″ @ 100m… not bad for an 11.5″ barrel firing a pistol cartridge.
    I’m sure the Hi-Point is the envy of the trailer park but the real world uses proven designs and CMMG’s reproduction of the Colt 9mm SMG is pretty damn proven!
    Now for the Camp-9… true, your rifle is as intimidating as a 90-year-old grandmother but have you ever heard the term “ergonomics”? I can’t shoot that “grandma’s stock” design due to a wrist injury. A Pistol grip allows me proper straight-line alignment in my wrist. Now, in a .22 or 9mm it’s not bad but in .308 up to 12 gauge it is. As for other ergonomic issues, I can load/reload and clear malfunctions (as if there were any) while keeping my strong hand on the trigger and in total control of the weapon (bolt release, mag release and selector all controlled from strong hand… reloading and charging from the left)… just like the proven M16/M4 platform… because it IS an M16/M4 platform. I’m sure your “granny-ergonomics” might be favored by Fudd’s but I have 12-years military and 6+ as a security contractor… I am NOT a Fudd!~
    I can also shorten my carbine (via M4 collapsible stock) for CQB use within my home should I hear that bump in the night… got that kinda compactness int he grandma platform?
    Oh yea, how about those magazines? Yea, you DO get to use reliable S&W M659/5900 magazines and the great news is Mec-gar makes a 17-round anti-friction mag that is 100% reliable (at least in my experience in my 5906) but tell me, ever got one of those “extended” 30-rounders? Ever made it 30-rounds without a malfunction? Well, ALL the mags I have for my Colt SMG platform will!
    So let’s look at the two naysayers and detractors and compare their preferences to CMMG’s rendition of this proven Colt SMG design…
    #1- ERGONOMICS- CMMG uses the Colt M16/M4 design and ergonomics… all controls are manipulated by the strong hand which never leaves the pistol grip (including the bolt release if you add the Magpul or like extended bolt release [EBR])… weak hand replaces magazines and operates the charging handle if needed (oh yea, extended, ambidextrous and even side-slide style charging handles available for the Colt platform). You can get a variety of stocks (from fixed to adjustable length of pull collapsible with more gadgets and options than James Bond dreamed of), forearms and rails (too many to list) as well as pistol grips (with storage and size options) to fit your hand. This is the apex of the tactical rifle in a sub-caliber offering.
    Hi-Point has this cheesy proprietary soft nylon grip screwed together and oooohhh a 1″ adjustable length of pull buttpad!!! It’s long and damn ugly… unless you’re a Star Wars fan. Luckily it has a left-side charging handle… which comes in handy with all the malfunctions!
    Marlin has the ergonomics of a stock Ruger 10/22… which may be ok for some 70-year old coot that thinks the 1903 Springfield is still a viable tactical weapon. Reloading requires you flipping it all around just to load a magazine and reload… no thanks! I like my “eyes on target” M16/M4 system… it’s saved my bacon on several occasions! Oh, the Camp-9 DOES have a decent bullpup conversion… requires a good bit of trigger modification but it’s out there.
    #2- CLEANING- The CMMG breaks apart like the M16/M4 (because it IS a m16/M4) which has been mastered by people that barely got a GED or had the “prison or Army” enlistment option. Push one pin, break open, pull bolt carrier out (here’s where the 9mm and 5.56 differ), remove firing pin retainer pin, remove firing pin & spring (note, no bolt removal), clean with CLP, wipe, reassemble. So easy a caveman could do it.
    Hi-Point… my buddy never figured how to take his down… it was a piece of crap… he just sprayed brake cleaner in it, worked the action, resprayed then sprayed CLP in it. Oh, the brake cleaner deformed the crap-assed nylon so…
    Just shoot a Hi-Point until it needs cleaning… spray with brake cleaner and lube… fire a few hundred rounds more… repeat… fore 30 more rounds… throw gun in lake!
    Camp-9… ever cleaned that piece of crap? Seriously… unscrew 2 screws (tool needed there) to remove action from stock, push 2 tiny pins completely out (don’t drop em!) to remove trigger assembly, remove that bolt guide thing (oh, don’t let that little spring fly away!!!), pull bolt out… clean… no, you don’t want to take it down any further because it takes a gunsmith degree to reassemble from there. Really, want to compare a Camp-9 to a Colt SMG platform in this?
    #3- RELIABILITY – The CMMG is a reproduction of the Colt SMG… I have yet to have a malfunction in mine that wasn’t due to bad surplus primers or badly sized reloads. Even the cheap ProMag and CProducts magazines feed reliably! Colt, Metalform, CProducts and even half of the cheap ProMag magazines will hold the bolt on the last shot… modified Uzi won’t but hey, I had dozens of them laying around and they feed 100% so…
    I have gone a full 1K of Wolf without cleaning and ran a 2500+ round USGI marathon through it without a cleaning… NO ISSUES! Let’s see a Camp-9 or Hi-Point do that!
    I’ve even run some weak “-P” reloads through it 100% reliable by using a standard M4 buffer.
    Hi-Point… the 995 my buddy had could NOT fire a full 15 round mag without some sort of feeding or ejection issue. Guess when you make your rifle out of pot metal, you should expect as much. Oh, never fire +P+ in a Hi-Point… it WILL crack the pot metal bolt!
    Camp-9 was 100% reliable with factory S&W mags (and I imagine so with Mec-gar mags) but all aftermarket mags were crap and feed as such. Also, you have to keep it clean… fire clean ammo or take the tedious task to clean that obsolete monstrosity and you might get 1000 rounds in a session or 500 rounds spaced out. NOT the most reliable.
    #4- MAINTENANCE – All CMMG parts are “Colt SMG spec”… right now there are 3 manufacturers of spare parts for this system… how many for Hi-Point or Marlin? Not to mention all the Colt-spec parts are Mil-Spec in quality so… yea, I don’t think a pot metal Hi-Point even makes it in the gate! Oh, good luck finding Marlin parts. Yea, they’re out there but not as affordable or plentiful as the Colt SMG platform. Keep Brownell’s on speed-dial, OK?
    #5- ACCURACY – As mentioned, mine shoots just under 3″ groups at 100m… not bad for an 11.5″ barrel using a pistol cartridge. I DID use a Vortex SPARC with the 2x magnifier but I have the same on a Romanian AKM and it shoots 4″ groups. The Hi-Point has better accuracy if you throw the gun at them. My buddies could barely (and by barely I mean 50% of the time) hit a 2L soda bottle at 50 yards. Yea, fire it until it jams then throw it at the aggressor… yea, that’s why several gov’t agencies took the Hi-Point over the Colt SMG… yea, that’s why. The Marlin I got to shoot did have good accuracy… about the same as the CMMG/Colt but I’ll take the ergonomics and reliability of the later any day!
    So in summary… (directed at the critics) REALLY PEOPLE? CMMG took a proven design (the Colt 9mm SMG) and reproduced it in both pistol and carbine variants so we could shoot something other than 5.56 and the masses aren’t jumping up saying THANK YOU? Yes, they had issues with the first production of their dedicated lower but let me tell you from someone who paid $300 freakin dollars for a magwell adapter, this lower is a welcome addition to the AR15 heritage! While it is dedicated to one popular magazine type (Colt SMG) it is a proven and reliable design and should be able to use .40 & .357SIG uppers and mags as well. Being limited to that magazine might not allow a Glock or unmodified UZI magwell conversion, but it does allow you to chose between surprisingly reliable $12 Promag and CProduct 30-rounders to proven but overpriced $40 Metalform and $50 Colt mags.
    This is the quintessential American 9mm carbine and I’m glad CMMG has chosen to do a full production on it.

    BTW, I am in no way associated with CMMG… I am a veteran, former security contractor, part-time gunsmith and current college student working on my 2nd Bachelors. I do own one of CMMG’s uppers and several of their manufactured small parts purchased as a retail customer and I have bitched at them for years to make a US-made G3 and AK last-shot-hold follower.
    And if gunsamerica.com would like to hire me as a writer… well… contact me, LOL! 😉

    PS- I get 1275+/-fps from my 11.5” using +P. Same ammo from my SIG P226 I get 1140+/-fps with the same load. I know it was a typo but just to let others know the increase in velocity.

    • Kyuu August 3, 2014, 10:18 pm

      I don’t have any issue with this gun, but your views on the Hi-Point carbine are completely ignorant. I’ve shot around 1000 rounds through mine with zero issues and not a single cleaning. Not a single FTE, FTF, or any other malfunction. This includes Wolf steel-case, which is actually the majority of what I shoot. I haven’t used any “cheap Guat crap”, but then I wouldn’t even know where to get cheap Guat crap or why I’d want it.

      Yeah, it’s only got a 10 round mag (15 if you find a 3rd-party extended mag and don’t live in a capacity-restricted area). Sure, it limits your fire power. But then, I can’t imagine what self-defense scenario you are expecting to get into where you need 30+ rounds to take out the bad-guy. You don’t need to dump a full mag of 9mm into someone to take them down. Especially not with good shot placement and any halfway decent HP round.

      My experience with the HP carbine is that it’s accurate at any reasonable distance you can expect out of 9mm given its ballistics, which I think of as 100yds and under.

      I don’t particularly care if you don’t like the HP. Of course the furniture isn’t as nice as a $1000 gun. Use something else if that bugs you. But kindly refrain from spreading FUD (“pot metal”, really?) that doesn’t jive with the experiences of a large number of owners of the rifle. Every review I’ve seen has ended with the reviewer being impressed with it. Everyone who’s taken mine for a spin has been impressed, especially when they find out the price.

    • DonUSMC September 14, 2014, 10:52 am

      As an owner of numerous military grade firearms (primarily 5.56, .308, 9mm, 12 guage semis and .45 caliber) I can spot quality. I am also a retired LtCol. I agree with the majority of your assessment. I own the 8.5″ pistol with a Sig Brace and a Bushnell TRS-25 on top. Sure, the milling and BCG do not match the fit and finish of my BCM builds. But, it is still good. The stock trigger is very good and cleanly/consistently broke at 5.5 lbs. I was planning to ugrade to a 3 gun trigger but decided against it since I am routinely getting 12 inch, 3 shot groups, standing, at 25 yards in ~1.2 seconds utilizing my timer. Not too shabby! I do shoot competitively though. This pistol is faster and more accurate from 15-100 yards than any of my pistols since it is essentially a SBR when utilizing the Sig brace. It really is apples/oranges to compare it to a Hi-Point. I would not spend my $ on one and I have shot my friends a few times. 3 combat tours have convinced me to stay away from plastic firearms.

  • Ronnie Vance July 22, 2014, 11:40 am

    This thing is a joke. I will take my Camp 9 over this any day. Also the Camp P looks harmless until you are looking down the barrel. The only reason for this thing, (if there is one at all), is to say “Look how Macho I am! Maybe in a .50 Beowolf.
    rv

  • Tony Simon July 22, 2014, 11:01 am

    I think the FPS added to the 9mm round coming out of an 8 inch barrel is an additional 100 feet per second over the same round coming out of a 4 inch barrel. There had to have been a typo that added an extra zero or there is a new 9mm +P+++ round that I don’t know about.

    • usmcvet April 3, 2016, 9:41 am

      I agree. No way it added 1,000 FPS.

  • Jim July 22, 2014, 10:57 am

    “And here’s the important part. When I called CMMG to ask about the problem, they immediately went into action. They were vigilant about following up with the fix, too. They provided excellent customer service and the pistol ended up functioning exactly as I’d thought it would. Can’t beat that.”

    Probably helped the fact that you are a popular magazine editor doing a review on their gun.

  • Sorv July 22, 2014, 9:01 am

    I think the forward assist is non-functional and will be of absolutely no help.

    • S. Culver July 22, 2014, 12:21 pm

      I own the CMMG 9mm carbine. The forward bolt assist is non-functioning in the 9mm carbine.

      Nice enough rifle but I wish I received the same level of customer service from CMMG. My rifle did not come with a manual. Two attempts with CMMG to get a manual ended up with nothing! The seller also attempted to get a manual and also nothing. Most companies will provide a manual for free even if you don’t own their product.

      Steve

      • USPatriotOne July 22, 2014, 1:21 pm

        If you want spend a small amount and get a high quality 9mm Carbine…Hi-Point 995 TS 9mm (also comes .40 and .45ACP). I have put over a 1,200 rounds through mine and not a single jam, and this Carbine is dead on at 150 to 200 yards, and for $269 it can’t be beat.

        • KBSacto July 22, 2014, 3:21 pm

          Beretta makes the CX4 that almost doubles the price of the Hi Point. Taurus also makes the CT9. Online reviews of the Beretta say it is pretty reliable. Unfortunately for us Californian’s, we’re out of luck on both of them. Another option for Glock fans is the MecTech carbine upper. It attaches to the grip frame of most Glocks (but not all). It runs about $600 and for the 9mm, you can use the 34 round mag from Glock. I also have an AR15 pistol in .223/556 that looks nearly identical to the CMMG. It is amazing to shoot and feel the firepower up close, and my 9 year old nephew handles it with ease.

    • usmcvet April 3, 2016, 9:44 am

      The FA will not work. 9mm BCG’s don’t have the cuts in them for the FA to work.

  • Spoon July 22, 2014, 4:44 am

    Oops? David, I think you must have a “grand” typo snafu. In your article, the following: “With the Mk9, you are adding power to our typical expectations of the 9mm. A115 grain bullet will leave a Beretta 92 FS (which has a 4.85 inch barrel) above 1,100 FPS. The 8.5 inch barrel adds 1,000 FPS to that, maybe more. It is a modest increase, but still an increase.”

    A one thousand fps gain? I want all my firearms to gain that kind of performance with the same load they’re fed!

    I enjoyed the other info, but curious about the specific dimensions of Ft. Mill 9mm reman rounds versus a couple of others Mfgs’ fodder you ran through in testing. Probably take a QC bench in a good machine shop/plant to be precise by calipers and a mic should tell if there’s a discernable difference. Just a passing…’Well I wonder’ sort of thought. I’ve got one 9mm pistol that has a minimum diameter chamber and I have to run a batch of my reloads through the Lee Makarov FC die to take ’em down a hair when I take it out for sunlight, regardless of what projectile is installed in a case. It’s a house mouse and has no problems with factory loads.

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