9mm AR upper

[ebb]

Bought 9mm AR upper when it was at the height of the gun hoarding Jan. 2021. I needed it to complete a rifle I was in the process of building. I bought it from Veriforce Tactical in Scottsdale AR. I have been trying to get it to run and it has been giving me trouble. I called Veriforce and I thought I would not get anyone on the phone and when I got the answering machine I was hesitant to leave a message. I got some of my info on the recorder and it timed out before I was through. I got a call back in about 15 seconds and told JD (the owner) I was having problems but I was not sure it was the fault of his upper. I was mainly looking for advise as how to fix the gun. JD says send it to me and I have a shipping label in seconds. He gets the upper and after a few days we talk and he says Ive run 100 rounds of ammo through it on 3 different lowers and not one single hicup. I had previously told it him it would occasionally run on my PSA lower. We talked and he says 9s sometimes have trouble with the buffer tube, and I think thats the only thing that I have not tested on my lower. So I ask him to send me a spring a buffer and a tube that he would recommend for a 9. I said to JD let my pay for the shipping the ammo and the new parts. It arrived today and the invoice in the box shows he didn't charge for anything. I hope he billed it and just didn't ship it with the invoice cause he went way out of his way to help me when I was fresh out of ideas. I have never received this kind of service bill or not from anyone, and I highly recommend him to all.

 

[skeeljc]

Nice endorsement but I think guys would be more interested in what the actual problen was and exactly what the solution was.

Blowback 9mm's are a different breed. Most will destroy a standard AR-15 trigger in short order. There are so many buffer solutions out there it seems like Voodoo.

 

[riflewoman]

If you use a 223 buffer problems will happen because there isn’t enough weight. 9mms require a heavy buffer to slow them down.

 

[Bojo]

Thanks for the post Riflewoman , it’s always refreshing to here about companies who still offer real true customer service and support!!!!!

 

[ebb]

I have the parts he sent me i and heading to the shop to assemble it now, we will soon know.

 

[ebb]

The upper runs flawlessly. I tried it on my PSA lower and it runs perfect on that lower. With the other lower It will not eject when hand feed or from a magazine with only one cartridge in it. I don't think the bolt is going far enough back for the ejector to hit the case. It has a 4.8 oz buffer and a carbine spring. My PSA has a lightweight buffer and I tried it and it made no difference. When we compared the PSA lower to the other it looked like the curve on the top of the hammer stuck up higher on the other lower. My friend Carl told me a month ago he thought it was short stroking and I think he is right, I just don't know why. The post above i forgot to post when i went to the shop its time stamp should be 2 hours earlier

 

[ebb]

When I pull back on the charging handle i can feel resistance about 1/4 inch before the bolt gets far enough back to see the ejector. I colored the ejector with a sharpie and it is not dragging on the bolt. Someone told me that the buffer tower can be out of alignment and make the buffer and bolt rub on the buffer tube, so before i put the butt stock on the buffer tube I put a straight edge on the upper and it was perfectly parallel with the buffer tube.

 

[riflewoman]

If the problematic lower has a “noticed” hammer, it won’t run either.

 

[Rsadams]

Check out SPRINCO springs and buffers.... They have some nice stuff and are very helpful....

 

[ebb]

What is a "noticed" hammer????

 

[riflewoman]

Sorry… A “Notched” hammer. These were/are sometimes used in 223 rifles to prevent doubling.

 

[ebb]

I went to the website the upper came from and looked at the specs for a 9mm upper. It was way fancier than mine but it had in the specs "Bolt is ramped for use with a standard AR15 hammer." I don't know if this applies to my upper as I couldn't find my exact one but I will call Monday morning and make sure. My friend noticed and we measured that hammer in that lower is up higher above the frame than in the PSA gun. i have a bunch of hammers so we ground on the end a little and it seemed to be easier to pull the bolt back after grinding, but still jammed. Thanks everyone for all the help. This has been going on since January or February, it may kill me but I will figure this out before i kick.

 

[ebb]

I finally got the AR9 in question to run. In all my trying and tweeking I had shortened the ejector that came with the lower and it was always as long as the one in the PSA gun but the slot it rode in was deeper. One day in desperation I loosened the 2 set screws that hold it in place and moved it forward and it ran a couple of shots then I moved it even furth forward and it ran perfect. I decided it would eventually slip so I made a new ejector the right length and it works as it should.