Went to local Gun show this weekend. Got in some exercise and looked over a few vintage guns and spoke with some friends. One llocal dealer (largest in area and biggest vendor at show) had at least a half dozen Ruger 9mm PC Carbines. Priced at $499. First time I have seen one and handled. Was impressed with it especially the heft and solid feel. Wasn't expecting that with polymer stock. Didn't buy one or anything else that I couldn't live without but had a good time anyway.

I teach firearms at a fancy resort in CO. where we do shotgun, pistol and rifle classes for our guests. We recently started a pistol caliber carbine class to go along with the other ones. We have purchased a Kel etc .9mm, two AR-15 carbines and a High Point as well as the PC Carbine. All of us like the Ruger the best out of the bunch. It is solid, performs well and is accurate. Don't think you can beat it for the money.

9 mm carbines are pretty popular around here. Mainly because shooters find them cheep to shoot and they go "BANG" louder than a .22. They are also allowed on most indoor ranges where rifle calibers are not. IMHO, with a few high priced exceptions, the Ruger PC carbine seems to be better built ( and thought out) than most 9 mm Carbines on the market today. ( i.e If I had use for one that is the one I would buy) The problem is that the Hi-Point 995 Carbine sells for nearly 1/2 the price and that's where allot of shooters aim.

p.s. Good way to spend the day!

__________________
Dave

I got mine a while back at a local gunshow. The dealer has been doing biz with me for at least 20yrs. His posted prices are good but if he feels like it he'll come down a bit more. I paid $499. plus sales tax.

I shot it in a local speed steel match today and the gun was problem free. I tried one of the clear plastic ETS magazines and the gun puked. It accepted all genuine Glock mags with no hiccups.

We have experimented with various factory ammo and find the 147 gr. ammo a little too mild to move the bolt full-cycle every time. I settled on Winchester 124 gr NATO and the guns runs fast and accurate.

The gun comes with 3, 3/4" spacers which allow each shooter to find his/her best LOP. I have long arms and used all three spacers. I mounted a C-More railway on it and had a great time.

I have seen some internet sellers are a little lower than $499.

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

Guy at the club has one, I was impressed. Looked better in person then the pics I’ve seen of it. He had a muzzle flash hider on it, Larry

A Patrol Carbine in a Pistol Caliber that looks Potentially Capable of Poppin' Caps and Providing Comfort and Personal Contentment for folk in those states who's legislators are Politically Correct.

__________________
On the whistle draw and fire 6

I just received my PC, after a long wait period.

Very impressed with the quality, and ingenuity in design. It is HEAVY, but that is probably necessary, to counteract the 9mm pressures.

Ghost ring sight, is very useable. I can't wait to take it to the range.

__________________
NRA Instructor

Interesting to see comments about the Ruger - but Iowegan's comment about 147-grainers reminded me of an incident from years ago. Long story made short - I was firing factory 147's out of my Marlin Camp Rifle. The recoil felt light and lots of flash and smoke after the first round or so. One of the bullets had stopped about two inches from the muzzle and I prolly had three or four backed up behind it. Marlin was great about it and fixed it for free, but I sold it right afterwards. It's been over 20 years ago but I remember the 147-g ammo was factory. I haven't bought any since!!

To keep this post kinda-sorta on-topic, I picked up the original PC9 carbine (in Germany, of all places) a few years later. It is rock-solid but pretty heavy, I don't take it out much. I also picked up the .40 version overseas and learned, the hard way, to not run Blazer aluminum cased ammo thru it.

I also have a Marlin camp 9 carbine and the Ruger PC4. Definitely avoid the aluminum cased ammo in those blowback guns. I , even have pistols to match. Cannot beat the idea of sharing ammo and sharing magazines. Very convenient. The new Ruger PCC 9mm looks very well made. Everbody should buy one, so Ruger will invest money in making them in 40,45,357SIG, 10mm!

__________________
S&W BG380, S&W 915 9mm

I was really impressed with it. I really like the KelTec sub 2000, but if this was around a few years ago I would have gotten one.

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I'd only seen pictures of the Ruger PC carbine, and was unimpressed. I finally got to handle one at a gun show this last weekend. My impression was same as VaTom's. Didn't expect it to have such a heavy, solid feel. I have a Marlin Camp 9, but may invest in one of the Ruger PC carbines one of these days. The PC carbine I handled was priced at $479.00. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the inflated Marlin Camp 9 prices moderate due to the Ruger PC availability.

BTW, reference the 147 grain bullets in a carbine. Speer doesn't recommend loading 147s for carbine use. In fact, they do not recommend 147s in barrels over 10" at all, in order to avoid the issue GeoJelly experienced.....

__________________
NRA Life, COTEP 640

To further the discussion of 147 gr factory 9mm ammo, I have only tried Federal. I bought 147 gr ammo to feed my S&W M&P pistol since people seemed to get better accuracy with heavier bullets. Running that Federal 147 gr in the Ruger carbine resulted in ejected brass covered with black smudge. The smudge is most likely due to brass not expanding enough to get tight to chamber walls. I've seen the same thing happen in revolvers with extremely mild loads.

I have an S&W Model 929 revolver that I can use up the 147s in.

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

Good information! Luckliy 147 ammo is pretty hard to come by in my area and I've been shooting nothing but 115 grains in my carbine with a few 124 for home defense. I havent seen but a few boxes of 147 for sale and it was usually more $, so I keept buying the cheap 115 WWB, Blazer Brass, and Remingtons,

__________________
S&W BG380, S&W 915 9mm

I bought the new Ruger PC9 carbine, I shot a box of Blazer brass ammo thru it, no problems but accuracy not very good, although seems to get better each time out. I now have a 3x9 scope on it, shooting the cheap 100 pk. Federal 115 gr aluminum cased ammo, at 100 yds. got a 3 inch group this morning, no problems whatsoever with the ammo, not bad for a pistol bullet at that range, next will try ammo from my Remington Bucket O Bullets. Having a Ruger is a better selling point than a used Hi Point some day, just my way of thinking.

BUT wouldn't mind seeing a head to head review between it & a Berreta storm. PLEASE tell me the PC doesn't stand for, more POLLITICALLY CORRECT than the mini 14"s/ranch rifles.

IIRC PC =Police Carbine

I would have to ask how much of that has to do with SAAMI specs being so far down on power compared with CIP. The folk at BBTI did not report any issues with 147 gr ammo in longer barrels. BBTI - Ballistics by the Inch :: 9mm Luger Results

I have shot 147gr from my Hi-Point carbine and it worked just fine. Best accuracy was obtained using Speer GD 124gr +P. I was making 2" groups at 50 yards with help from a red dot sight, and that ammo left the muzzle with a satisfying crack.

__________________
Release the Kraken

Around here they started at $699. Went to $599. Now $499. I'm in @ $350, probably next Spring. Joe

__________________
Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

The PC9 is a bit of a conundrum IMO,
Why Ruger chose to build a politically correct 9mm rifle rather than a 9mm AR15 carbine from their existing AR platform is a mystery,
Perhaps due to leftist pressure that blame AR platforms for criminal behavior ?

It amazes me that S&W hasnt offered a9mm carbine version of their AR15 sporter II yet...priced in the $499 range they would sell like hotcakes.
I have had my feelers out for a Colt 9mm carbine for a while but in the current $1000 range not so tempting when a PSA 9mm AR carbine can be had for around half of that.

My only 9mm carbine is an AR by Oly Arms (now a defunct company) I picked up used at a show about 10 years ago. Came with several mags, which appear to be modified Sten mags. A few years ago (during the high-cap mag madness) I ordered several more mags from Oly Arms, and what came were a different design, plastic, but work OK.

It gobbles everything I've tried - 90, 100, 115, 124, 147 gr ammo, steel or aluminum cased, FMJ or different JHP designs.
Curious as to why aluminum cased stuff is problematic in other carbines?

Would like to put an optic on it, but it has the old-school carry handle, so mounting up there is far from ideal.

__________________
Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

I'm liking it and like the poster above, I'm in at $350. Pure genius with the magazine well change overs. I would hope that some enterprising after market manufacturer would make a well that would accept S&W 9mm mags.

__________________
Forum consigliere

I've had a PSA AR-9 for a while and just bought a Ruger PC 9. The Ruger is a bargain. As many here and elsewhere have noted, it feels like a quality gun. It has less tendency to give me a snoot full of combustion gasses than the AR. The Ruger factory trigger is very good and far better than any AR factory trigger. The Ruger is easier to take down and clean. My PC 9 has 370 rounds through it, the bolt and receiver are still pretty clean. The AR-9 gets far dirtier with fewer rounds. I got over the looks of the Ruger once I shot it. The bolt face is a separate piece (easily removable) so a 45 auto version is likely in the near future.

LVSteve, Yes, I would guess Speer's concern is because of the rather mild ballistics of most 147 grain factory and reloaded ammo. Speer does suggest that if loading for a carbine, choose from loads developing the highest handgun velocities.

CorBon used to load a 9mm 147+P JHP. Don't think I got around to chronographing it in a carbine, but it averaged nearly 1200 FPS in my Browning GP pistol with 5.9" barrel. I have no doubt that old CorBon load would have cleared the muzzle of a carbine length barrel just fine

__________________
NRA Life, COTEP 640

I like the rest of you have been reading about them, watching vids etc. Saw one in person today and well, bought it. Threaded barrel, take down, Glock mag well, nice weight and feel.

Point Blank has a "Ruger Days" deal going on. Backpack, hat and sticker too. Reg. price $529. Sale $489 I had a $100 gift card from Christmas... The rest is history. Nice carbine.

Range..... not soon enough. I wish I could walk out the back door and shoot like some can here, but I'd get arrested!

__________________
RIP Shipmate

I bought one two weeks ago and been out with it twice and all I can say is it is incredibly accurate!
The two circled are the best five shot, 50 yard groups with 124 gr. plated RN bullets with five grains of Unique, benchrested of course!
One of the best parts was the gun shot dead nuts on (with my style of aiming) right out of the box with no sight adjustments needed. (maybe later though)
After I got off paper I got to some 'real' shooting (offhand kneeling) and started to pick out random targets (rocks, pine cones and any tree rodents that would stay still!)
I was impressed with how flat it shot at 100 + yards and holdover was minimal. While at 50 yards I use the '6 O'clock' POI, at 100 + I only had to bring the front blade up to slightly cover the target to be back on. I was getting a 100+ yard hits on 4-5" rocks and pinecones about one out of three shots.
Also it consistently throws the brass a little forward and puts it in a neat approx 15" circle at about 6 feet away.
The sights took a little getting used to because they are so close together, and with a relatively short sight plane, but are very clear and worked well for me - but I am used to receiver peeps anyway with my Winchesters.
I believe I will be able to hit 100 + yard clays with it the way it is.
I have few to no complaints about it. It is a 'robust' carbine and that took a little getting used to but balances well. As such recoil is about like my Henry shooting light .357 Mag ammo.

Attached Images

img001.jpg (28.1 KB, 20 views)

I just picked one up to practice quick target acquisitions/transitions and get used to it. Maybe one day use it in IDPA. I really love it, it is very accurate and lots of fun to shoot. It's also great to introduce kids to the idea of rifle shooting. I use my light handholds in it. I was surprised that with factory ammo it does pack serious punch. That barrel length makes a difference. Highly accurate even with the iron sights and no FTF in a few hundred rounds. Fun!

Monday I ordered one from Grabagun. $454 plus $7.99 ship. Nobody had one locally. Shopped around and Amazon had Bushnell TRS-25 red dot's on sale for $48! Got one of them coming too.
I really liked the PC9 when Ruger released it and figured I'd end up owning one. I still think the Glock mag insert is a stroke of genius. The thing was I didn't have a need for it.
Well, the guy running the bowling pin matches has been mixing them up with steel challenge and creating some fun matches. A couple months ago he had a PCC match and me not owning a PCC (well... Marlin 1894 in 44 mag!) didn't shoot it. He called the match on the 29th a PCC event and rather than sit it out I called Grabagun.
Wife is thrillled...

My LGS got one in a couple months ago. I've got three pistol caliber carbines, if you count my Marlin lever action. If I was in the market for another, I'd get this one. Nice rifle . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I've had a Beretta Storm for over a decade..... great little PCC 15-30rd factory mags available....... offhand; fast, fist size groups, at 50 yds.

The PC seemed heavy to me......for a 9mm.... but it is a blow back design.

Mini-14 can look Politically correct...... mine has a Hogue gillie green stock, Weaver 1-3x20 scope and generally a 10 rd "almost flush fit" magazine..... pretty much looks like a 10/22