For the past several months, I have been playing around a bit with a new 9mm carbine that is being distributed by American tactical Imports. The Just Right Carbine is a modern pistol-caliber semi-automatic carbine that is built in New York. Before this final version shown here, I have worked with two different earlier carbines while the weapon was in the early stages of production; the importer at that time was kind enough to send those to me to fire and give them my thoughts on the weapon. After getting the bugs worked out on those earlier carbines, which had some reliability issues, I received this production gun for review.

The JR Carbine is a blowback operated weapon, offered in chamberings of 9x19mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP. The one shown here is chambered for the 9mm cartridge, and uses standard 9mm Glock magazines. That is an excellent choice of magazine, as they are easy to find, inexpensive, and reliable. Just Right also states that the mag wells can be changed to use other brands of magazines, which is a good feature if you want to match the carbine to use the same magazines as your pistol. However, 9mm Glock magazines are inexpensive, and the JR Carbine can even use the thirty-three-round Glock 18 magazines.

The JR Carbine is uniquely ambidextrous in a couple of ways. The bolt handle can be easily switched from the right to the left side at will. Also, the ejection can be easily switched to eject the empty cases out of either side of the receiver. While I shoot from the left shoulder, and am accustomed to cases ejecting into my line-of-sight, the ejection selection is a good idea from a safety perspective, as in the event of a ruptured case with the blowback action. While on that subject, let’s deal with a question that is always asked, regarding the use of Plus P ammunition in the JR Carbine. Don’t do it. The blowback action is balanced to work with standard SAAMI spec ammunition, and Plus P and Plus P Plus ammo will start the bolt rearward before the pressure has dropped to a safe level, and could cause a case rupture, which can be harmful to both the shooter and the weapon. I knew better, but tried it anyway, and the picture shown reveals why Plus P is not for use in this weapon. That tough Starline case was right on the verge of rupture. Do not use Plus P ammo in the JR Carbine.

The Just Right Carbine is very well-balanced and easy to shoot. The 9mm 124 grain WCC NATO-spec ammunition used in the test gun clocked at just barely under 1300 feet-per-second ten feet from the muzzle, and recoil was very light. The JR Carbine shipped with one ten-round magazine, which could easily be emptied in about three seconds, and keeping all shots on a human silhouette target at ranges from three to twenty-five yards was as easy as it gets. From the bench, the JR proved to be very accurate with all ammo tested. Even rapid fire, it was just a delight to shoot, and the JR Carbine rewarded the shooter with easy hits.

The JR carbine has plenty of Picatinny rail for attachment of optics and accessories. The receiver is of flattop configuration with rail, and the carbine uses a quad-rail free-floating hand guard with seven inches of rail on each side, for a total of 35.5 inches of Picatinny rail. The JR Carbine uses a CAR-15 or M-4 style six-position telescopic buttstock. The overall length adjusts from 30.75 to 34.5 inches. The pistol grip is also a AR-style unit. The test gun weighed in at six pounds, nine ounces with the empty magazine in place. The 16.25 inch Mossberg barrel measures .750 inch in diameter at the muzzle, but starting three inches back, it has flattened sides forming a triangular cross section, which reduces weight without sacrificing stiffness. The AR-15 style trigger has a pull that released with four and one-quarter pounds of pressure after a bit of initial travel. The receiver and hand guard are made from an aluminum alloy. The manual safety is a standard AR-15 style unit.

For shooting, I mounted a Trijicon Reflex optical dot sight on the JR carbine’s top rail. The Reflex is my favorite sight of this type. It is very rugged and reliable. The Reflex uses both tritium and fiber-optic lighting for the dot, which adjusts to fit any lighting conditions. The Reflex is always “on”, and never needs batteries. It is easy to use with both eyes open, and has unlimited eye relief.

I fired the JR Carbine with several brands of ammunition, and had no issues at all with any of the ammo that meets SAAMI specs. The carbine proved to be very reliable, and very accurate, as stated above. For accuracy testing from the bench, I mounted my Leupold Mark 4 target scope for punching paper.

The Just Right Carbine makes a lot of sense for a defensive weapon for use for home defense or around the farm if needed for predator control. With high capacity magazines, the JR has plenty of firepower for multiple aggressors, and again, it is very easy to shoot for any size shooter. The JR carbine has negligible recoil and is very easy to control, as can be seen in the accompanying video.

None of the reliability problems were encountered with this latest production carbine, and they are available now.

Check out the Just Right carbine online at

For a closer look at the high quality Trijicon optics, go to www.trijicon.com.

Jeff Quinn