Pistol-caliber carbines are one of those categories where marketing outruns reality, so when a reviewer actually runs one hard on camera, I pay attention. The video above is a first-shots review of the CMMG Dissent MkGs, the 16-inch 9mm carbine, and it’s worth your time. To be clear on attribution: CMMG sent the gun to the video’s creator, not to me, and the range work is all his. What I can add is a working gunsmith’s read on what he found. I’m Lance Rankin, owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas.
What the Dissent is
The Dissent is CMMG’s premium PCC, and it’s a real departure from a parts-bin 9mm AR. Side charging handle instead of the usual AR rear charger. Competition-style controls with a 45-degree ambi safety. A folding, retracting stock with adjustable length of pull that looks a bit SCAR-inspired. Full M-LOK handguard, included muzzle brake, and it feeds from Glock magazines, which are cheap and everywhere. The heart of it is CMMG’s radial delayed blowback action, which is the feature that separates their guns from the straight-blowback crowd.
What the review found
The short version: about 300 rounds, mixed ammo, standard Glock mags, zero malfunctions. The reviewer’s standout observations line up with what I know of CMMG’s radial system:
- Recoil is the headline. Straight-blowback 9mm carbines slap harder than people expect because of the heavy bolt. The radial delayed system spreads that impulse out, and the reviewer compares the result to an MP5’s roller-delayed feel. On a 16-inch gun with a brake, he calls the recoil almost ridiculous, in a good way.
- The trigger surprised him. Light, fast reset, and he rates it against the JP5 and a competition MPX, which is serious company for a factory trigger. He even calls it almost too light at first, which is an honest note you don’t hear often.
- Fit quibbles. The stock felt long to him even fully retracted, so shorter shooters should shoulder one first. The gun carries some weight forward, 6.6 pounds total with mass out on the rail and brake, which he noticed on unsupported precision shots.
- Accuracy held up at 75 yards, which is a sensible test distance for a 9mm carbine, and his drill times came easily for a first outing.
My take from the shop side
Two things in that review deserve underlining from someone who wrenches on these guns. First, reliable Glock-mag ARs are harder to build than the spec sheet suggests; feed geometry and mag catch placement trip up a lot of manufacturers. CMMG has been doing Glock-mag guns longer than most, and 300 clean rounds in a review matches what I’ve seen of their track record. Second, the 16-inch barrel isn’t about ballistics, it’s about paperwork. You get a bit more velocity, sure, but mostly you get a folding, shootable carbine with no NFA process at all.
The honest trade-off is price. A Banshee runs $1,000 to $1,200; the Dissent is around $2,200. That’s JP5 and MPX territory, and the review frames it exactly that way: this is a competitor to those guns, not an upgrade path from a budget PCC. If you want a fun trainer that shares mags with your Glock, a Banshee or similar does that for half the money. If you want the nicest-shooting bufferless 9mm you can buy, the Dissent belongs on the short list.
Would I stock one? Yes, and I’d also tell half the people asking about it that a good AR in 5.56 still does more for the same money; my home defense AR-15 setup post explains why. But as a range gun and competition rig, this thing looks like a genuine contender. If you want help ordering one, or deciding between it and an MPX, email [email protected] or call 817-393-4000.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
