by Tiger McKee For the past year or so I've been playing around with an AR pistol, and since I've seen a lot of talk about AR pistols lately I decided to share some of my experiences. It's been a learning curve, but I have to say that the time and effort has created - for me at least - a great PDW, or personal defense weapon. With an AR pistol you can have a short barrel, but no stock or ability for the weapon to accept a stock. Put a stock on it and you've got a short-barrel rifle, which requires license/paperwork from the BATF. And even though it is a "pistol" there are still strict guidelines that must be followed. (Note: It is up to you to know and comply with all federal/state/city laws, so do not take my word for any of this.) Gas impingement systems use a buffer group, but the receiver extension or tube can't be capable of accepting a stock. The biggest advantage of the AR pistol is length. The pistol length gives you a weapon that is ideal for vehicle defense, if you're forced to fight from inside the vehicle, or in the home, where things can get compressed due to the environment. For these type personal defense situations you need something that will stop the threat, which a rifle cartridge does much better than a pistol round, yet a package that's small enough to maneuver in tight quarters. It's not like you're going to be using it for surgical accuracy, although mine will fire a three-inch group from one hundred yards, or assaulting a house with it. With the AR pistol you've got more stopping power and increased accuracy over the handgun in a smaller and lighter package than the carbine. Another advantage over the AR pistol is magazine capacity. I run twenty round mags, keeping it lightweight and compact. That's more rounds than a handgun, not that I will need them but having 'em or being able to run a thirty-round mag is comforting. With the AR pistol you've got the ability to easily add a red-dot, which works out really well since you don't have a stock to get a cheek-weld on for a traditional sight picture. I use Aimpoint's "Micro" dot. On the handguard you can add a light that's bright enough to work well, regardless of how dark it is or how far you need to see. I'm running a Streamlight Pro Tac 2L, which is small but puts out 260 lumens of light on high. My AR pistol is a small, powerful, reliable and accurate weapon. In keeping with the PDW concept - short-range quick developing situations - my next mod will be to install a laser. I've never worked with lasers much, but I think this weapon will benefit from the ability to get hits from compromised positions. Once I've had time to work with the laser I'll post an update. In the past I always viewed the AR pistol as a handgun that was too big and bulky to shoot, or a rifle that was too small to operate. After spending some time with one I'm starting to change my mind. It ain't the answer to everything, but it may do everything you need in a few specific defensive applications. Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama. He is the author of "The Book of Two Guns," writes for several firearms/tactical publications, and is featured on GunTalk's DVD, "Fighting With The 1911 - http://shootrite.org/dvd/dvd.html Website: www.shootrite.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shootrite-Firearms-Academy/156608611038230?ref=ts