JP Enterprises is the gold standard when it comes to competition rifles. Take a look at the gun rack at a pro series 3-gun competition and you’ll see what I mean — if a competitor isn’t using a gun made by their sponsor, there’s a 90% chance they’re shooting a JP rifle. The reason is pretty obvious, since John Paul puts a TON of time and effort into making them “perfect” rifles, and having played around with some of his designs I completely agree about their quality. So when I heard that JP was putting out a 9mm AR-15 carbine, I was all over it . . .
We here at TTAG have covered our share of 9mm carbines in the past, and in general we’ve been pretty disappointed. For example, the JR Carbine that Tyler reviewed had so much potential but turned out to have one annoying quirk after another. Other designs have similar flaws, leading us to believe that a reliable and accurate 9mm carbine was the white unicorn of the firearms world. And then JP’s rifle showed up at my FFL.
The point at which other designs start to go off the rails is when they decide to ditch the AR-15 platform and build something else. Love it or hate it the AR-15 is a proven design that’s about as slimmed down as you can get a gun, so simply re-chambering it in another caliber is a no brainer. With a 9mm carbine, though, the issue is figuring out how you’re going to get the gun fed.
A standard AR-15 is designed for the longer 5.56x45mm cartridge, and so the magazine well is designed to take those large magazines. The 9x19mm cartridge of the pistol caliber carbine is less than half the length of the rifle’s designed cartridge, meaning that the designers need to put a plug of some sort in the magazine well to get the magazine to stay in place and not move around. With the GMR-12, JP didn’t even bother with a plug and re-engineered the lower receiver instead to take Glock magazines.
Since the Glock magazine uses a different locking mechanism as well as a different form factor from the standard AR-15 magazines, JP had to re-engineer everything from the magazine release to the internal design of the receiver itself. At the end of the day what his team of engineers came up with is one of the more ergonomic and logical magazine catch / release systems I’ve seen on a pistol caliber carbine. The downside is that this is primarily a gun for right handed shooters (as there’s no way to add an ambidextrous magazine release in this design), but for most Americans it will work just fine.
The reason for the Glock magazine compatibility, according to JP, is that this gun was designed to be marketed to law enforcement and military users. The MP5 is an aging platform, and JP’s rifle offers reliability upgrades as well as compatibility with existing gear (the duty Glock 17s) for most police departments. There exists a full auto version of this gun, but JP declined to send it out for review. Something about that pesky ATF . . .
The controls on the gun are almost identical to the standard AR-15, with one awesome exception. JP has a non-reciprocating side folding charging handle that he offers on some of his guns, and he slapped it on this one as well. The standard charging handle is present and functioning, but this also gives you the option to use the bigger and easier to grip latch in its place. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a big fan of that.
The gun seems well designed. It handles well, points well, and looks goddamn beautiful. But how well does it shoot?
While the full auto version might be marketed towards LEOs, the civilian version is being marketed as a cheaper option for competition shooters. It’s a valid use case, since most matches will allow you to run a pistol caliber carbine if you really want to and the guys in Trooper Division will love a new (lightweight) pistol caliber rifle to stick in their bag of tricks. And when you’re firing the gun, it’s an absolute dream. The trigger is light and crisp, as one would expect from a fine competition rifle. The operating controls feel positive and satisfying. And the recoil is almost nonexistent thanks to the low energy rounds and the muzzle brake on the gun.
Oh, and it shoots pretty well too.
That’s a 10 round group at 50 yards with standard American Eagle ammunition. JP claims that the rifle is accurate to about 3 MoA with good ammunition — I’m getting 2 MoA instead. Most of the rounds passed through that center hole with three close fliers. For a pistol caliber rifle, I’m actually pretty impressed.
The GMR-12 is a dandy rifle all by itself, but when you consider the price and the options it gets even better. You’d expect something by JP Enterprises to be astronomically expensive, but this gun clocks in at a modest $1,499. It’s not cheap, but considering the cost of a SCAR 16S or a Tavor SAR it’s not outside the price range of most people. And for the quality and the craftsmanship you get, I think it’s worth every penny.
If you don’t have that kind of change lying around, JP also offers the upper as a standalone drop-in replacement for your existing AR-15 for a mere $799. They also have a magazine well block and a new buffer available on their website so you can easily retrofit your existing gun for the delicious 9mm snacks.
Oh, and did I mention it just looks bad-ass? Yeah.
JP Enterprises GMR-12
Specifications:
Caliber: 9mm para
Barrel: 16 inches
Capacity: Standard GLOCK magazines
MSRP: $1,499
Ratings (Out of Five Stars):
All ratings are relative compared to the other weapons in the gun’s category.
Accuracy: * * * * *
For a pistol caliber carbine, I couldn’t ask for anything more. Well, I could, but I’d be a dick for doing so.
Ergonomics: * * * * *
The free floating handguards feel silky smooth and comfortable to hold onto. The grip is perfect, and the gun handles like a dream. The Ferrari of the pistol caliber carbines.
Ergonomics Firing: * * * * *
No recoil, a delightful trigger, and no muzzle rise. All it needs is a can to eliminate the noise and it’s perfect.
Customization: * * * * *
It’s an AR-15 in all the places that matter, and if you don’t want the special lower receiver then you can get just the upper and supply your own.
Overall Rating: * * * * 1/2
The only downfall is the price, which I think is a fair deal for the package. But knock about $200 off that sticker and it’s perfect.
In fairness to the British, it seems the police were not quite so panicked over the one round of ammunition. After being called twice and taking their sweet time to remove it, here’s what a spokesman for the police had to say,
“A bullet is not an explosive device and does not pose an immediate danger to the public unless loaded into a gun, which was not the case here.”
“The force control room receives in excess of 1,000 calls from the public every day, which range from threats to kill to armed robberies and assaults.”
“We have a limited amount of police officers to attend incidents and our resources have to be deployed to the most serious and urgent incidents.”
The most daring thing here was that the Worksop Guardian reported described the woman as ‘heavily pregnant’.
Doesn’t “No More Silence” imply they were silent to begin with? Near as I can tell they haven’t shut up….
I wholeheartedly agree with everything said in the article. I would add that the “manufactured talking points” are the progressives’ greatest weapon. Tune into any MSM broadcast after any major news event, gun related or not, and you can hear almost every reporter hitting the same talking points word for word, a lot of times in the same order. A lot of viewers/listeners get bombarded by the same message and take it as gospel, out of shear repetition.
This is the real hurdle that conservative thinkers have to overcome. Conservatives are, by nature, free thinkers. Even when we agree with one another we have a hard time simply repeating the message because we don’t like to follow. It makes it easier for progressives to marginalize our views because we sound like lone voices rather than a collective voice.
This is why I support the NRA and other conservative groups, even though I don’t agree with every action they take. It becomes harder to marginalize our opinions when we can show solidarity on even a single issue.
So it’s pretty much just a dedicated 9mm AR-style lower with a shmexy 9mm upper, right?
I’d be interested to see a side by side comparison between this rifle and someone’s AR with a 9mm upper and 9mm mag block in (and hammer etc).
Its actually better to get a bystander or other party to call 911, since everything you say will be recorded and used against you later if you have a (typical) whacky DA who wants to press charges against you. If theres no one around and no witnesses, well, take your time and think about your next move real carefully. Jumping on the phone to 911 when you are understandably hyped up after a shooting is a BIG MISTAKE.
Except, it’s been shown again and again to be true, whoever’s story they hear first gets more weight. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is.
Follow the google books link, and start reading at page 718 before making a decision on Stanley’s actions.
Here in hoplophobic Massachusetts, most of my physicians are pro-gun. But if one of my doctors wanted to lecture me about guns, I would first lecture them about their hands. Because it seems like their mitts are killing a lot more people than my guns.
Ralph, You’re right, most doctors fail to wash their hands after seeing a patient and thats not including the stupid things they do or fail to do for thier pattents.
When I was a kid I remember my moms doctor lecturing her about stopping smoking while he was smoking a pipe in his doctors office.
Well done.
Great review Nick.
I am really enjoying yours, Tylers, and others here in general, and note how you are finding your “voice” as a writer, so thanks to Robert for mentoring and platforming Nick and others of the newest generation here. I am learning a lot from them.
At one time I thought “one-caliber simplicity” would be a good start for the pistol to mid-range self-defense solution. I’ve been converted to “AR platform for home defense out to 100 yds kind of thinking”, but as you point out- there hasn’t been a good reliable high-quality product that matches the Glock standard.
A question- when you say 3MOA- do you mean that in the typical 100 yd range that I see most often online, or for 9mm caliber- (like .22LR) does that assume 50 yds is the typical effective range for tests?
I’m guessing the former, based on the 3-gun use, and if so, this looks like a real contender for self-defense especially if you live in a rural area, or envision some use past your backyard in the suburbs.
With respect to those pointing out lower prices, I would just say, you get what you pay for, obviously, and in the case of the Keltec, my problem is they are somewhat hard to find, require smithing out of state to get the bullet button to make them CA legal, and based on the manufacture tolerances/shooting performance of the SU-16 at least, I’d personally rather pay more, for something tighter and more accurate out to 100 yds.
I’m especially looking forward to how this takes off in the marketplace, especially if LEO buyers departments sign up anything like the Glock was adopted.
Last, thank you Nick especially for the reference to the competition world proof, as I’d never have known that, and the decisions by the majority of “the knowledgeable users in the real world” is a proof statement that is way more useful than internet forum opinions for a guy who takes the time to do his homework on a tool you depend upon for your life, and that of your family.
I honestly would have never thought to put a bi-pod on a 9mm carbine.
who purchased a gun in 2009 using a law enforcement discount and sold it to his elderly uncle
No, he did not “sell it to his uncle.” If Abramski bought the gun with his own money and gave it or sold it to his uncle through an FFL (or two, as he did in this case), the G would have no case. Instead, the uncle gave the money to Abramski who then bought a gun for his uncle.
What Abramski did by using money from a third party to buy a gun for the same third party was a classic straw purchase. EXCEPT — and this is the heart of Abramski’s defense — both Abramski and the uncle were fully qualified purchasers under federal and state law and both cleared background checks at their respective FFLs.
The G insists that lying in Abramski’s response to question 11a on the 4473 — which Abramski certainly did — is a crime in and of itself. I think that position is idiotic since the purpose of the 4473 is to clear purchasers and provide a record for government gun confiscation. Both of those ends were met in this case, since both Abramski’s purchase and the subsequent sale from Abramski to his uncle were done at FFLs with full recordkeeping.
However, two courts have already disagreed with me and there’s a good chance that a third will follow suit.
I’m guessing those Dr’s all live in CA, NY, and HI…
When is someone going to make a .357SIG Pistol Caliber Carbine?
Or 45 GAP? Or a Glock with a stock? Or a 50 BMG pistol?
Because a .45gap carbine would offer no benefit over a .45acp one, and those exist. Putting a stock on a glock equals a SBR, and those are a bear to get cleared for. In regards to the .50 bmg, well, sure, why not, although there is already a few .50 caliber pistol cartridges.
A .357SIG would make sense for a few reasons: it should be a more reliable feed than a .357 magnum revolver round, since the .357SIG is a bottleneck cartridge and it is rimless. That said, there may not be a huge benefit in ballistic benefits with a carbine for that cartridge, as the powder is fast burning with the SIG round. The round would be moving at a good clip and the longer barrel wouldn’t increase velocity that much more (in theory). The longer barrel, however, should impart better accuracy, especially when combined with longer sight picture, and in a shoulder mounted platform.
Never. Why? Because we want it. So…never.
I honestly don’t see the point. You’re launching a light pill at ever faster speeds.
OK, it’s heavier than the mouse-gun pills a 5.56 launches. That’s nice. Just about anything larger than .22 offers an improvement in that area.
But what are you seeking to accomplish? Flatter trajectories? You’re not going to get them, because the Bc’s for pistol bullets are so low. No matter how much velocity you start with, you’re going to lose it quickly as the pill goes downrange.
Again, this is very well trod-upon ballistic ground. You can go buy a M1 Carbine and get everything a hot-rodded 9mm (in whatever designation you choose – whether 9mm Luger, 9×21, 9×23, 9×25, .38 Super, .357 Sig, .357 Mag, etc, etc, etc) is going to offer you: High mag capacity, high velocity, light recoil, a light weapon, you name it.
The wheel being invented here was already quite round.
luckily the homeowner had already called the police himself to report the shooting
The first call doesn’t always “win.” But in situations that are ambiguous or lack obvious evidence, the first call often wins, and always wins if the other party makes no call at all before the cops catch up to him.
If I was defending myself, I would want to shoot first and call first — even if my attacker was in no condition to call anyone.
This is my first time visit at here and i am really happy to read all at alone place.
That reminds me, I made an appointment with my doctor the other day. We’re meeting at the shooting range next week…
I wonder what they say about riding motorcycles or maybe horseback riding (which is more dangerous). If it were up to some doctors- and many insurance companies- we’d have to sit around eating sprouts and occasionally working out on a treadmill (medium setting only!) our whole lives, because going out of the house kills…
That last photo. Man, talk about friend zone.
“Dandy”
“Shoots like a dream”
Jeff, is that you?
4 of 5 Rhode Island town leader face recall over concealed carry
Grab my neck, I pull my gun and give mag full of gut shoots.
Funny how they notice a hidden holster but not a kid walking in with a freaking weapon before they blow away other kids. Selective seeing?
Keep in mind if you say you have been shot you will have to wait for the SWAT team callout, perimeter security and the Fire/EMS hanging out 2 blocks out while you bleed.
You had better be able to take care of the GSW on your own in that situation.
Move to Utah, carry all you want.
i apologize as this comment is slightly off target but believe has merit.
I am recommending that we also boycott Smith & Wesson.
Why?
I bought the s&w 15-22 a few years ago. it is an acceptable training platform BUT S&W will not make extra magazines available. I have contactedbthem directly and they were kind enought to initialnrespond to my request for infonon available mags. Their reponse was in effect “out of stock item may be ordered and placed on backorder…”
My volley back to them…”so if one of my two magazines fails will you support/replace/ repair it?”… “and if you replace it then in fact you are NOT out of stock”… or ” if you ARE out of stock on this critical component, then why wouldn I buy the 15-22 at all knowing that support is not available?”
So far…no response
I am telling all of my friends. DO NOT BUY…. NO SUPPORT FROM S&W
I scanned all the comments (well enough I think) and I don’t see it mentioned anywhere what the guys were arrested for? Ugly tattoos? Squids smoking hand rolled cigarettes is illegal?
Nick, where are you guys? You’re leaning against a cannon of some sort?
I believe they’re at Best of the West, a range outside Austin.
RF, you are correct Sir, New Zealand is not quite this bad yet, Australia is lost as is the UK, I thank God that I can now call myself an American.
Welcome to the good old U.S. of A. Ross. Keep in mind that the United States has the worst government in the world, except for all the other countries. (paraphrase from Benjamin Franklin)
Please use your new found citizenship and freedom to to fight for liberty.
As a doctor (surgeon), I can tell you several things from my own observations:
1) My fellow physician friends and I are mostly all conservative, freedom-loving, second-amendment-recognizing folks…who often also enjoy firearms for recreation and self-defense.
2) A weirdly disproportionate number of pediatricians are liberals given the overall political bias in the medical field. Not sure why this is, though.
3) Since firearms injuries–including pediatric firearms injuries–are usually not treated by pediatricians but by surgeons, ER docs, and intensivists, I’m not sure why so much weight is given to what pediatricians think on the matter. You may as well poll pediatricians about what they think on the the state of the military or the effects of quantitative easing on the stock market.
When I was shopping for my S&W-M&P, I desired the melonite barrel w/5R rifling. S&W had already switched the Sport from the 5R melonite, to the standard twist and melonite. I bought the current model ‘T’ for $995. The “T” now has the Melonite 5R barrel, the Sport does not. It does have a Melonite barrel, but no 5R rifling, anymore.
I’ve found people who dis the Melonite process A: Need to do some research. B: They don’t own a Melonite barrel and C: Change hurts.
I think it’s clear now that gun control will not be successful on the federal level. The move has and will continue to be at the state level, where it has been extremely successful in being approved. These are generally blue/purple states, but demographic changes will impact more conservative states as well. There will be holdout red states, but nothing a little hard dealing with much need highway and infrastructure money can’t handle.
Combine this with another horrific mass shooting (only a matter of time) and public support will be back at Newtown levels or higher.
If you deny all of this, you are denying reality.
So where are the images and text from the knife buyback event…”The kitchen knife, same deadly weapon used by Jeffery Dahmer to slay and dismember dozens of people”?
Or pressure cookers….gas cans…baseball bats…pointy sticks…etc, etc.
When can we have a defective human buyback?
I don’t live in NY so you’ll have to excuse me.
Is NY Daily News a newspaper that people actually read? It seems an awful lot like The Sun or Enquirer. Is that what passes for news in NY?
Why is this happening at churches, the last bastion of unabashed conservatism?
Oh, I forgot. New York….where common sense went to die.
I’m not sure this fool would even qualify as one of the prohibition industry’s useful idiots. Idiot, definitely, but useless even to his own side. Someone should ask him what it’s like living on the floating isle of Laputa.
I’ve been reading the NYDN since I was a kid. Their decline from newspaper to trash can liner has been steady. Sad…
I am in and surrounded by Fs and would have to drive over 800 miles just to get to a D.
Can somebody with more skill than I have adjust this so instead of gun deaths it’s for gun homicides? I’m curious if the numbers change dramatically.
BUT NANCY GRACE SAID HES A PSYCHO KILLER! AND WOMAN BEATER!
Are you telling me Nancy Grace was wrong?!?!?1one11
“Scheibe,” took a couple times reading it to be sure it didn’t say Scheiße. Though the latter is oddly fitting given the situation she created.
Joe,
W.C. Fields once said that “All women are insane. Its just a question as to what degree.”
I’m so glad that Congress is protecting us from imaginary weapons that only exist in books and movies.
I don’t know what to tell you Robert. Government officials want to kill our children. Meanwhile their children get security details and private schooling.
Good for Grassley. A good man (even if he also has been in DC too long).
I need to remember to call his office tomorrow and ask if Chuck can find time to go bitchslap that POS Chuckie
Like, I want to plaster this across CNN and yell
“THIS IS WHAT WE’RE PAYING 5.1 BILLION DOLLARS FOR THIS YEAR.”
Very attractive rifle. I’d love to own one. Too bad I’m all cashed out these days.
Very attractive lady too of course 🙂 Boy does that look like a fun afternoon. Shooting JP with KJW. Woo wee.
Someone should auction off ‘a day at the range with KJW’ for charity some day (hint hint). Bet you wouldn’t have any trouble getting a large bid to donate to a worthy cause. And pretty sure the sponsors would line up in droves.
I like this gun quite a bit, but referring to it as the carbine that claims the fabled “white unicorn” isn’t correct in my opinion. For a paltry average sum of $250, you can get a very accutate, very reliable 9mm carbime that just plain eats any brand of ammo you feed it and still is on target. The High-Point 995TS.
Yeah yeah, I know. “High-Point?!?!?!?!?!? I wouldn’t even pick one of those things up in a store, much less shoot one!”
If you’ve never shot one, you’d be AMAZED at it’s accuracy and reliability.
I’ve put thousands of rounds though one, have seen others that have done the same, all with zero reliability issues. It is just a, plainly put, good gun. No matter the price of it.
Yes’ it is ugly. Yes it is cheap. Yes the High Point pistols are…….errrr…..questionable?? lol
But the High Point carbines are utterly reliable, very accurate. AND VERY AFFORDABLE!
Was a great writeup on a gun that has now been replaced by the GMR13. But, and a really big but, I could have lived without the “Goddamn” you wrote and that actually did nothing to make the story better. It could have been replaced with all sorts of different words.
I hate to pop your accuracy bubble, but the picture you have posted has ten shot on a target with one inch squares. In order to have a true 2MOA group at the 50 yards all ten of those shots would have to fit inside one of those one inch squares with the farthes shots of your group measured center to center from each other. As seen in the picture you do have a tight group but your flyers are what took your “2MOA” group and actually measured out at 50 yards to be a 4MOA group. As nice as that tight group is you can’t call it a true 2MOA.