Pistol Caliber Carbine

[FNSafari]

My whole life I've always wanted a Thompson and it would serve no practical purpose other than to go look at now and then. Maybe everything comes back to the good olde 556 for a reason. FWIW, I'm getting a 6.8 SPC platform together for next deer season

Just scrape up 20,000 to 30,000 $, depending on flavor, and one can be yours once you get BATF approval. They are kind of like sports cars...you keep them in the garage most of the time, but when you take them for a ride, they are pure delight.

 

[dantiff2]

Just scrape up 20,000 to 30,000 $, depending on flavor, and one can be yours once you get BATF approval. They are kind of like sports cars...you keep them in the garage most of the time, but when you take them for a ride, they are pure delight.

For anyone who has never held one, they are much heavier than one would expect!

 

[BlueWater]

Ruger PC9 9mm -- Had one of these for a couple of years. Chose it due to my generally carrying a 9mm sidearm. Exceptionally accurate, though heavy. If I were interested in having a plinking gun in 9mm, that'd be a good choice. But for carrying something around, IMO it's far too heavy for practical all-day carry.

Much prefer a lever-action in .357mag, myself, as it ends up far lighter, handier, with a more-powerful round. Good match for someone with a .357mag sidearm. Say, something like a Marlin 1894CP .357 lever-action, or the Winchester Trapper .357. (Or the Marlin 1894P .44mag, if wanting a shorty .44 rifle.)

 

[abishai]

I have a 9mm and a FN 5.7 Banshee they were good concealed truck options until
the ATF changed their minds on pistol braces. I like my Thompson, but it is huge and
heavy. The 9 bumps a little harder than expected , the 5.7 doesn't move at all.
They are fun to shoot, especially with a can.

 

[FNSafari]

For anyone who has never held one, they are much heavier than one would expect!

Try one with a 50 round, full, drum! Can't imagine what one with a full 100 round drum would be like.

 

[Doug Bogg]

Pistol Caliber Carbines are the equivalent of when you were a kid, plinking with a 22lr but now you're an adult ; ) HA HA They don't fill any sort of hunting role, unless you consider the survival aspect of having a rifle and sidearm with the same ammo. Which is nice, in my opinion. You won't be tremendously impressed with their ballistics or overwhelmed with their shear amount of power. But, they do leave you with a smile on your face and at my age, that's enough for me !! I sure wish my home range (St.Thomas) was setup like some others, that have steel PCC targets such as this range in Palmyra!

Palmyra Sportsmen's Assoc. - PA Steel League

Lots of insightful replies ... this is helping me understand I've already got too many recreations and enough equipment in this one to keep me busy. Out of curiosity, where did the idea of rifle and pistol in same chambering originate? Late 1800s with the idea of carrying a minimum of ammunition? But seems like the compromise includes the significant drawback of an underpowered long gun?

 

[Old Navy]

Lots of insightful replies ... this is helping me understand I've already got too many recreations and enough equipment in this one to keep me busy. Out of curiosity, where did the idea of rifle and pistol in same chambering originate? Late 1800s with the idea of carrying a minimum of ammunition? But seems like the compromise includes the significant drawback of an underpowered long gun?

Probably about the time the Winchester 73 came out.

 

[dantiff2]

Try one with a 50 round, full, drum! Can't imagine what one with a full 100 round drum would be like.

That’s what I held. I believe it was a fifty round. I was shocked at the weight!

 

[drop_point]

Interesting timing on this for me ... today I was polking around investigating AR9s and then took a look to see that AR45s are offered.

Other than the obvious plinking value of an AR9, are there practical advantages over 556?

Cost of ammo, being able to shoot steel at close range.

 

[MMH]

Doug Bogg said:
Other than the obvious plinking value of an AR9, are there practical advantages over 556?

That's what I'm asking myself!

1st Practical advantage: far cheaper to shoot.
2nd Practical advantage: shoot suppressed subs it is stupid quiet
3rd Practical advantage: Develop muscle memory for the AR15 (at least if you shoot a Sig MPX)

 

[CT10ring]

The only pistol caliber carbine I own is an old (add) Ruger in 44 Magnum. It’s a fun little gun. It carries like a 10/22. Not much capacity, tho. I bought it back when they were cheap. Now, they’re thru the roof.

just a cool lil rifle. My local (then); gunshop early 2000's in Connecticut had a few of them. Always thought they were neat but never bought one If I recall correctly, Sturm, Ruger and Co., gave employees 1 weapon per year. There were alot of nice Rugers in CT shops. Bought a few.

 

[skeeljc]

I built a 9mm PCC with a PSA upper and lower. Uses Colt SMG pattern mags. I am using a Blitzkrieg hydraulic buffer and a Hyperfire trigger. Currently using it for Steel Challenge running 115 grain plated bullets at 950 fps. I have a friend with a similar PCC that runs 124 gr bullets at 650 fps for steel.

 

[Cecil S.]

I built a 9mm PCC with a PSA upper and lower. Uses Colt SMG pattern mags. I am using a Blitzkrieg hydraulic buffer and a Hyperfire trigger. Currently using it for Steel Challenge running 115 grain plated bullets at 950 fps. I have a friend with a similar PCC that runs 124 gr bullets at 650 fps for steel.

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Very nice.

 

[Ray123]

I like pistol cartridges in carbines...ARs or levers, 9mm, 45 colt, 454...get alot more power ... if ya desire, with handloads, fun and way more accurate. I like the Glock mag Stern Adapter, that fits any AR 15 carbine...easy to load, uses same mags as your Glock pistol...and 115 gr bullets at 1720 fps with 9mm, over 700 ft/lbs of energy from 9mm with +p loads in AR carbine....short range deer caliber? 9mm would be a little light...but a 16" 454 levergun and 240 gr at 2300 fps would do the trick.

 

[mousegunner]

I bought one of the older Ruger carbines in .40 cause I have a lots of .40. It's a little heavy, recoil is not terrible, trigger sucks (it's also part of the stock), no high cap mags but still shoots good. Looking to put a red dot on it. Got it a great price from a forum member here.

I also a have a Marlin .357 carbine, shoots very nice though slow to load.

 

[RetiredArmy]

Ok, after reading all the responses, I'm in the mood to try one out. Who has one for sale? Looking for something in the line of a Ruger pc9, Freedom ordinance fx9, AR9,
or a lever gun in 357mag. Not looking to spend thousands to see if I like it.
Thanks Bill

 

[dantiff2]

Ok, after reading all the responses, I'm in the mood to try one out. Who has one for sale? Looking for something in the line of a Ruger pc9, Freedom ordinance fx9, AR9,
or a lever gun in 357mag. Not looking to spend thousands to see if I like it.
Thanks Bill

Get more than one ; ) Variety is the spice in life!!

 

[Beiruty]

2 x $200 stamps

 

[MMH]

Lots of insightful replies ... this is helping me understand I've already got too many recreations and enough equipment in this one to keep me busy. Out of curiosity, where did the idea of rifle and pistol in same chambering originate? Late 1800s with the idea of carrying a minimum of ammunition? But seems like the compromise includes the significant drawback of an underpowered long gun?

Depends on what you mean by underpowered. A 44-40 in a lever gun has plenty of power for man or deer out to 150 yards. With late 1800's technology, even a 'powerful' 45-70 would push a 300 gr. bullet at 1900 fps, and with the poor BC result in a bullet drop of 50" at 300 yards and 110" at 400. Unless one was hunting large game there was little benefit.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I've had a Kel-Tec Sub 2k and a Ruger PC carbine for several years, both in 40 S&W. Both are a hoot to shoot!
The Sub 2k is my favorite, mainly because of how compact it is and the ease to conceal it while carrying / transporting it in a custom laptop style case. It does have a few negatives - It's hard to get a good cheek weld if you want to use the open sights. This is solved easily by installing a red dot on an MCARBO optics mount that allows the optic to swing out of the way when folding the firearm in half.
It needs a "Good" recoil pad. There were none made when I looked for one, so I made one from a Kick-Ezz shotgun recoil pad and epoxied it to the butt of the rifle.
I also upgraded the trigger, feed ramp, and several other things with MCARBO parts, they are worth the extra cost over the factory parts.

The Ruger is heavy compared to the Sub 2k, and takes longer to break down / put together. It also isn't as compact when taken down. As with anything Ruger, the trigger sucks, so I upgraded it with a Volquartzen trigger pack. I also mounted a red dot on the Ruger.