i hear that CMMG system is pretty good. it wouldnt surprise me if that type of design will be the future and common blowback we see everywhere will eventually be phased out. dont get me wrong, i freaking love my blowback ar9 and how soft it shoots, but hoooooooly crap does it get dirty. it doesnt help that im not the best with my cleaning regiment either. does your CMMG get dirty pretty quickly?
macon armory out of Georgia makes DI 45 upper kits with the same style BCG used in the CMMG system (the big difference being this is DI and the CMMG kit is a radial delayed blowback). so we will definitely be seeing more refined PCC bolt and gas systems and time goes on. isnt SHOT show next week? hell we may even see something then.
i have heard great things about the endo mags, although i like my PCC lowers to be glock fed as that is what i primarily shoot for my sidearm.
as for subsonic 9mm, the standard grain weight is usually always 147gr although i have seen some 124gr sub loads. i know subs can be finicky at times, so you just have to find out what works with you. you also have an 8" barrel, which will add a little velocity as most 9mm stuff isnt longer than 5" or 5.5". im sure if you google it, you can find 160/161 load data. its not too far off of 147 gr, so the powder charge will be less, but not by a whole lot.
You think the blowback AR9 runs smooth, wait until you try the RDB. Delayed blowback AND lighter reciprocating bolt group means a softer shoot and lighter weight weapon! And I'm not just thinking it's lighter with 8" less barrel either. I have a also Rock River AR9 which is a hefty gun, before I started changing things to shoot even smoother. Everything I've seen shows the CMMG to run cleaner too as the powder has more time to burn before the chamber is unlocked. The dwell doesn't seem significant, but it's enough. The RR AR9 has more than occasionally spit out brass that was scorched, though not as badly after adding the Wolf XP spring and Heavy Q.
The EndoMag has been running great, just make sure they send you the right version, it's different for CMMG RDB vs blowback designs. I'm not a Glock-guy, so the only thing I have that runs those is the KelTec Sub2000. I only picked it for those to get the 33rd capacity.
I've looked into AR45's, most specifically the Bazooka Bros that uses the grease gun mags. Then I keep remembering about that 2lb weight of a bolt group on the Colt SMG design (and my RR AR9), and can't imagine it being enough help on the 45ACP. A DI 45 sounds interesting, but 45 is already a pretty dirty round. Adding gas back into the BCG doesn't like something I want to clean on a regular basis. There's a reason I prefer piston guns, and it's because I don't have to spend so much time getting them clean!
As for SHOT show and the up and coming, I agree that PCC is an up and coming. When Ruger dropped the RC9 I was surprised, though not too much given the discontinued Marlin Camp Carbine it seems to be replacing. I think there's always going to be a PCC need, the difference is how refined the carbine will be. Obviously something purpose designed would be best, but there are lots of those which only come out ok because of the desired price point. The Beretta Cx4 Storm never did well, though it was a plastic thing with a horrible trigger. The KelTec is better, but gets even more so when you dump a bunch of M-Carbo parts into it. The short of it though is that pistol calibers are fun and cheap, but will never match the capability of a rifle round. I do find it slightly odd that the levers are coming back too as seen with the new Marlin 336 Dark Series. Although to be competitive the levers are really going to have to adapt to the newer more powerful rounds. The new .350 Legend seems like a pretty viable replacement for the .357Mag. Though they've heralded the .30-30 as dead how many times over now?
I've searched Google before for 161 load data and come up blank. I just removed the 9mm tag from it, I'm seeing much different results. Apparently it's supposed to be more for 38Spl/357Mag than 9mm. Good thing I have a set of dies, brass, and a rifle for those too!
