An interesting offshoot of the AR-pattern rifle in the past few years has been a movement toward pistol variants of the design–no small feat when it comes to downsizing a full-size .223 Rem. rifle and its operating system.
One of the more interesting offerings on the market today is from Olympic Arms, a company with a long history of innovation in its AR line. The pistol is the OA-93, and it features a 6 1/2-inch barrel and a radically shortened gas system, making for an extremely small and handy 5.56×45 mm/.223 Rem. pistol. In addition to the shortened barrel, Olympic Arms developed a novel way to further reduce the size of the OA-93. The company incorporated the OA-93’s recoil assembly into its flat-top upper receiver rather than having a standard buffer tube assembly extend from the rear of the lower receiver.
Although an admittedly specialized offshoot of the AR pattern design, pistols such as the OA-93 are part of a new trend in the AR market combining abundant power and impressive compactness. MSRP: $1,202.50. www.olyarms.com
