The Palmetto State Armory officially released the AR-V on November 18, 2020, blending AR-15 ergonomics with the reliability and popularity of CZ Scorpion-pattern magazines. Origins and DevelopmentBefore the AR-V, Palmetto State Armory built traditional 9mm Pistol Caliber Carbines (PCCs) primarily utilizing Glock and Colt SMG magazines. Following the massive success of their AK-V (which also used Scorpion-style magazines), PSA set out to engineer an AR-style platform that avoided the known limitations of Glock-mag AR-9s-such as awkward last-round bolt hold-opens and severe magwell angles. PSA developed a proprietary lower receiver and specialized bolt featuring their "U9" integrated bolt catch interface. This solved the last-round bolt hold-open reliability issue that often plagued other Scorpion-mag lower conversions.