Click the READ MORE below to read the article on the Thureon Defense 9mm Carbine. This includes both the article and the link to the video.
Thureon Defense Carbine
by Jessie Indracusin
Introduction
I have had a lot of questions about “affordable tactical carbines”. I have had some critism on the website about the average cost of most of the tactical firearms we show on the website. So I decided to start adding in some inexpensive fine guns to shoot. These guns are not really well suited for direct comparison with some other weapons we cover. So in a nut shell, please don’t ask me to compare this to a converted H&K UMP 45 that runs over $3000 all dressed up. The most direct competitors to this gun are Keltec Sub 2000 (which I am not recommending, just telling you about what some people are looking for at this price range), Beretta Cx4 Carbine and Vector Arms 9mm Uzi Variants.
Review
The Thureon Defense SA 9mm Carbine is a gun designed for the casual shooter who is looking to add an interesting low cost carbine to their collection. Weapons under this $700.00 price range tend to be un-reliable and made in foreign countries (and most of the time, not countries that take a lot of pride in their cheap exports). Andy Huebschmann has delivered an excellent priced option for people looking for exactly this.
Andy wanted to provide a full 9mm AR for the price of what a lot of 9mm conversions costs. Is this as good as a 9mm conversion for an AR that you already have? Not exactly. If you have an AR already and want to do a 9mm conversion, there are some significant advantages to doing that over 
this option. The main being that you can train with the exact same equipment and layout that you have with your 5.56/.223 AR, just using cheaper 9mm ammunition. However, if your goal from the beginning is to get a 9mm Carbine and you don’t have an AR already or have a desire to get a 5.56/.223 Rifle, this is an excellent option.
The lower is a typical AR system along with the telescope rear allows all standard butt stocks to be attached. Safety switches have the positions of any standard AR with a 90 degree rotation to move from Safe to fire. The similiarities end there.
The magazines are a modified Colt 9mm 32-round magazines. The gun is a solid design, no real rattle to the gun when you shake it around. The parts all sit tight and match up well. There are no un-finished, rough edges on this gun. Even though everything fits very well, nothing is difficult to remove or dis-assemble on the gun.
Everything required to disassemble for a normal cleaning, does not require any tools. This is a personal preference of mine that no special tools are needed to do normal maintenance.
Issues/Design Complaints
First off, I would like to say these complaints are alll rather minor.
1) The biggest complaint is the factory sights. The weapon does have a standard accessory rail on top of the gun. The picatinny rail on the top of the gun allows you to attach some better sights to the gun. The issue with the sights is how small the rear sight is and how large the front peg sight is. When you are trying to shoot beyond 15 yards, the sights get in the way of having this gun reach it’s full potential. I was tempted to attach an Eotech 516 to the gun, which fits perfect on the gun, but decided against it based on the typical market this gun is geared towards. I was concerned
that not many people would invest in a $400 optic on a $700 gun.
2) My next issue with the gun is the magazine choice. I would have preferred this to be a Glock-18 magazine since these are much easier to come by and are made better than these older metal Colt 9mm magazines. When you look at the video and see the video bit about the magazines, these issues are not encountered on Glock magazines.
3) Minor complaint on the magazine well. This partly to do with the magazine and a little to do with the magazine well. If the bottom portion of the magazine well were polished, it would allow the magazine to slide better into the gun with no friction. This is, a very minor problem and I would say more of a personal preference.
This gun performs very well and meets up well to the exceptations one can have for a gun of this price. This gun retails for $659.99 and can be purchased directly from Thureon Defense. There is a .45 caliber version in the works that we will look at reviewing in the future when it comes out. Thureon Defense 2118 Wisconsin Avenue PO Box 173 New Holstein, WI 53061 920-898-5859 PRICE: FEATURES/DESIGN: INNOVATION: DURABILITY: RELIABILITY: ACCURACY: OVERALL: Accuracy based on NOT using the iron sights on the gun and instead using some form of a third party optic. Using the provided sites, I would rate it at a 3.Conclusions
Review
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