Pistol-caliber carbines: fun gun, or practical addition to armory?

[23 Blast]

Having owned a number of these types of weapons, I wanted to know what your opinions are of these guns. As far as I can tell, the primary advantage of such a weapon was sharing ammo with one's primary handgun. In a minimalist's/survivalist's arsenal, this has very obvious advantages of simplifying ammo requirements or reloading requirements.

However, there doesn't seem to be a huge market for these things outside of the SASS genre and their attendant lever rifles. Even these seem mostly set up for CAS games and not necessarily being a serious tool in a serious situation (for example, I doubt that many LEO's are outfitted with PCCs just so they can use the ammo from their service pistols in a pinch.

[anthem]

You have a lot of acronyms.

I enjoy doubling up on my calibers. I would not have any issue using my lever in a serious situation. But I will admit, it can be a finicky little *****. But, you have to cycle it like you stole it and not be gentle.

[Ugly Hombre]

357 lever carbine is quite popular and somewhat hard to find for a reason. Shots fast, hits hard, low recoil, EZ to find ammo-and its cheap.

Suitable for home defense, hunting, car/ truck gun and not attacked and over regulated by the hoplophobes in govment. (Yet)

Ammo compatibility with a revolver is a big plus. The lever carbines I have shot have not been ammo sensitive.

IMO a serious tool that would be a good weapon for serious situations.

Civilian semiauto carbines are over regulated, and overpriced for the most part IMO. Rather have a good lever gun in 357 or 44. Fun and practical.

[ziconceo]

I have a 357mag lever action and a 9mm ar15 carbine. Both are extremely fun, accurate, hard hitting, and easy to make/find ammo for. The 9mm carbine can make it to 500yards easy which is more than enough for 99.9999999% of engagements

[23 Blast]

You have a lot of acronyms.

I enjoy doubling up on my calibers. I would not have any issue using my lever in a serious situation. But I will admit, it can be a finicky little *****. But, you have to cycle it like you stole it and not be gentle.

I know - TMFA (Too Many Acronyms) At my work, we once had a list compiled of all of our "commonly used acronyms." There were approximately 50 of them!

I'm just thinking that unless you're in a situation where you're going cross country and hoofing it on foot or horseback and carrying one long gun and one handgun, then a combo that shares the same ammo makes great sense especially when ammunition may be difficult to come by.

But it seems that in most circumstances where I'd have a choice between a pistol-caliber carbine and a carbine chambered in a more potent cartridge, I'd obviously pick the gun with longer range and hitting power, especially if we're talking about guns similar in weight and handling characteristics (i.e. I would pick a 30-30 over a .357/.44/.45, and a 5.56AR over a 9mm one).

[HarryN]

.357 mag and the extended versions make for pretty decent carbine length rifles, IMHO, but you are certainly correct about the reasoning.

I saw a youtube video from hickock45 where he had done some testing with .44mag in revolver and rifle. IIRC, he was having some trouble finding a single reload for the two because of slight differences in barrel bore.

.44 mag in a rifle can be fired all day by lots of people, but it is a handful in a revolver.

[spamsucker]

that's lots of info on lever guns. semi autos are another story. Don't forget about bolt actions though. I've had all of them at one time or another and apart from those carbines set up on 357 or 41 or 44 mag and that ilk they're just toys. A 9mm rifle is just a plinker in my book. Anything much bigger than a 22 beats up small game so they're no good there. They're all fun to plink with. For taking deer or bear though, a lever action in .44mag doesn't make me feel under equipped. As far as the PD role, they are pretty handy and easy to use. The M1 carbine isn't really much more than a PCC.

[Sutcliffe]

Both

I've got an 1892 Rossi carbine in .45 colt. It's lightweight, accurate, easy recoil and capable of 100 yard accuracy with no problem at all.

[MongooseV8]

45 Colt ftw

[tmh1]

... I would pick a 30-30 over a .357/.44/.45...

Sometimes this choice is not as "easy" as it first appears. A .357 is very easy for anyone to shoot out of a rifle, and this will lead to potentially improved accuracy over a 30-30 (which may cause some shooters to flinch). And it seems like the ballistics of a .357 out of a carbine or rifle-length barrel are actually very good. Check out this article:

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/05/chris-dumm/lever-action-ballistics-30-30-vs-357-magnum/

Do I have .357 HD rifles/carbines? You bet I do.

[javithewrench]

45/70!!! They do make a revolver as well.

[jchen76@gmail.com]

This would be fun in a free state


You could probably buy with a fake suppressor shroud. Uses 1911 magazines.

[Sutcliffe]

That DeLisle is absolutely drool worthy

On my list.

[CRTguns]

stuff like TNW, JRC, Thureon Ruger PC, Marlin Camp... yeah, very good... some more that others.

For the new choices, Thureon, totally. I got one a few months ago for soem magazine articles. thing shoots 2" at 100 yards. COmes in any of 5 calibers, and uses AR furniture.

TNW is caliber swap-able, and a little more compact that the thureon. And it's a takedown gun.

Back to the thureon..... if you live in America, and have a manufacturers license, and make a full auto post sample out of it... it runs at 1500 rpm.

[surefire232]

I am a 9mm fan boy and liked the idea of a rifle to match. As I became more interested in these rifles, I always assumed that a +P round would be ideal for the rifle.

Anyone agree or disagree?