AR-15 pistols are an excellent choice for a close quarters home defense weapon, and quite arguably a better choice than a pistol caliber carbine, a shotgun, or a normal handgun for the purpose.

Why?

Simple: they offer you better stopping power than handgun rounds, are much more compact and easier to maneuver than a shotgun or a rifle, and they also offer you plenty of firepower with their twenty or thirty round magazines. Anyone who breaks into your home will quickly be sorry when you respond to them armed with an AR-15 pistol that you know how to use.

Besides being used for home defense, you could also use an AR-15 pistol as a vehicle defense weapon (where again its compact size would come in handy), a general personal defense weapon (PDW), an SHTF survival weapon, or just as a fun range toy.

There are a myriad of different AR-15 pistols on the market today from a variety of different manufacturers, but we’ve narrowed them down to our top five. We’re going to go over those five options now.

Here are our choices for the top five AR-15 pistols currently available on the market:

The Bravo Company RECCE-11 is an AR-15 pistol chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO round that comes ready to go with everything that you need right out of the box.

Both the upper and lower receivers are manufactured out of high grade aluminum and then coated in a hard coats anodized finish.

The barrel and chamber are both chrome lined in order to enhance longevity. The end of the barrel also comes with a flash suppressor to keep muzzle flash down when shooting.

Even though the barrel length measures just 11.5 inches, the RECCE-11 still comes with a carbine length gas system in order to boost reliability.

The Springfield Saint Victory Pistol is a pistol length version of Springfield’s Saint AR-15. This is a premium AR-15 pistol built for home defense.

The barrel length of the Saint Victor is just 7.5 inches, with an overall length of 26.5 inches and a weight of under six pounds. In other words, this is a very compact and lightweight rifle that is ready to use for personal defensive purposes.

The Saint Victor comes fitted with a muzzle brake to help reduce muzzle rise and keep your shots on target, another big advantage for defensive purposes. The trade off is that this will admittedly increase the overall noise of the weapon when firing.

If you’re looking for an AR-15 pistol that is ready for you to customize to your specifications right out of the box, you’ll want to give strong consideration to the AR-15 OEM pistol from Aero Precision.

This pistol has a 10.5 inch barrel that is built out of 4150 chrome moly vanadium steel with a military grade A2 flash hider. The lower receiver is built out of 7075 T6 forged aluminum.

Everything you need comes on this pistol with the exceptions of the hand guard, sights, or a stock, which you will need to purchase separately and then install yourself so the pistol can be ready to go exactly as you see fit.

Daniel Defense is one of the most well known AR-15 manufacturers in the United States, and their brand name is synonymous with quality.

The DDM4 MK18 pistol is a version of their MK18 SBR, which is wide use with special operations units and law enforcement forces all over the country.

The MK18 SBR is in turn a shortened version of the carbine length DDM4.

The MK18 is in service with the United States SOCOM forces, who tested several units thoroughly before choosing it as their AR-15 pistol of choice. Needless to say, with the MK18 you are getting a military grade firearm.

The MK18 comes with a rail system for adding lights, lasers, and pistol grips, and is coated in a black or FDE III hard coat anodized finish for excellent rust and corrosion resistant. It also has a 10.3 inch cold hammer forged barrel for superior accuracy.

Wilson Combat as a company is most well known for their 1911 pistols, but they have also branched out into other platforms as well, including the AR-15 platform.

The ARP, or AR Tactical Pistol, is an excellent choice for an AR-15 pistol that is built to the same level of quality that Wilson Combat is well known for.

The ARP utilizes a direct impingement gas system, which has been in use for more than half a century and is very proven.

The entire weapon is built using premium Wilson Combat components, including an NP3 bolt carrier group, a match grade barrel for enhanced accuracy, and Wilson Combat’s trademark Tactical Trigger Unit. The entire pistol is coated in Wilson Combat’s Armor Tuff finish, which is very rust and corrosion resistance. The Shockwave brace it comes with is very lightweight and helps to stabilize the pistol as well. It’s also adjustable for length.

As an added bonus, the ARP comes suppressor ready right out of the box.

Conclusion

Any one of the above five AR-15 pistols that we have covered here today will be an excellent choice for home defense and personal defense. Or just as a fun little gun to shoot at the range. Each of the above five AR-15 pistols are very reliable and come from very reputable manufacturers, and will provide you with a lifetime of solid use.