Recently I have been toying with the idea of a pistol caliber carbine, I have been looking at the CX4 Beretta that uses the 92 magazines. I think it would be enjoyable to shoot and may be able to double as a home defense tool.


The other rifle I am looking at is the Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle while not pistol caliber it also looks fun. Haven't bought anything yet just looking for now

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Stan

I use my lever-action pistol (revolver) caliber carbines as plinkers, and in the case of the .45 Colt Winchester Trapper, for hunting. In a HD situation I could keep up a helluva racket with one of my Marlin .357 carbines or the .45. I would say they are very viable for HD.

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Georgia On My Mind

I love my Kel Tec 2000 9mm carbine (uses Glock 17 mags) . They also make one that takes Berretta 92 mags.

Light handy and folds in half.

I want to second the Marlin lever carbines. No worries on mags, better pistol ammo than most mag fed carbine’s have, and they make great companions to your revolvers. I’m eventually going to get a stainless Marlin .357 but right now I have a Winnie in .357 that is just too pretty to take out and risk messing up. I’m such a putz for not wanting to scuff up pretty guns.

The winchester 92 clones do it for me. I have a puma in 357 and a browning 92 in .44 mag.

I've got two of the Rossi 92's and they are very fast, accurate and also very affordable.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

I have a 92 clone in 357 and a Win 94 in 44. They are both fun to shoot, but the 44 kicks like a mule. I shot my M-1 carbine for the first time in a while yesterday and it was great fun.

Call this herisy if you will, but a Hi point carbine in 9 m/m or .45 ACP is the perfect plinker! Not expensive, reliable, good customer support, down-side, heavy, ugly as a mud fence!

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Old paratrooper in NC

My goal is a lever rifle that eats 38 special for plinking and 357 mag for more pointed needed.......

I'm moving to wheel pistols and lever or bolt rifles as they just work.

B2

I too REALLY like the looks of that gunsite scout rifle (308). Just plain sexy!!

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

I will add the my .357 92 gets fed .38's 99% of the time. Hardly any recoil even with the heaviest .357 loads- never a hiccup- unless short stroked by people unfamiliar with lever action rifles.

I've a 20" blue round barrel and a 16" stainless both in .357.
The 16" holds 9 rounds in the tube and the 20" holds 12- add one more in the chamber and if you need more than 10 or 13 rounds of .357, you're in real trouble!

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Lost it all in a boat accident

The wife has a Marlin Camp 9 and is vicious with it out to 75 yds. or so. Bullfrogs and turtles are in the pot if she sees 'em.

Besides which, if engaging multiple zombies, you can replenish rounds from a belt or pocket without bringing the gun down from your shoulder. With a little practice. My 1894 Marlins both feed .38 semi-wadcutters and .357 semi-wadcutters without a problem, so far. I haven't had the opportunity to run hundreds of rounds through them yet, just dozens. The 94 Winchester AE has run hundreds of 255 grain swc rounds over the years. I put a set of Skinner sights on one of the Marlins, but the Winchester factory sights work well. I consider these guns 50 yard rifles, maybe 100 with a good rest. They are absolutely fun to shoot, especially if one cut his teeth on a 39A.

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Georgia On My Mind

Not exactly what you are considering, but it is a carbine chambered in a handgun cartridge. I'd feel well armed with it whether plinking or defending. I am still amazed at the fast handling and accuracy of my Marlin 44 Mag.

I have a Ruger PC9, cool little rifle, uses Ruger pistol mags.

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

+1 for the Cowboy Assault Rifle. Mine is a Marlin 1894 in 44 magnum. It's fast, accurate, light and easy to reload or top-up witout taking it off line.

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AL
Pax Per Potens

Here's 1 vote for the M-1 .30 cal carbine, the 'baby Garand' of WW2. It is light and handy, and accommodates a variety of magazines from 5 to 30 round. The cartridge is a potent little thing, putting a 110 grain slug out the muzzle at about 1990 fps. It has virtually no recoil, being gas operated, and a nice little bark when you pull the trigger. For HD, you can put 10 rounds into a home invader before he can hit the floor, and for plinking, it will make a plastic pop bottle of water explode.

Be prepared to load your own, as the ammo is starting to reach collector status, and isn't as cheap as shooting 22 RF like it used to be. For that matter, 22 RF isn't as cheap to shoot as it used to be.

I have the Marlin M1894s in 357 and 44Mag, the Marlin Camp Carbines in 9MM and 45ACP. The 9MM takes the S&W M659 magazines, the 45 M1911
magazines.
Regarding the lever actions, make sure yours operates smoothly with ammunition you choose. On this and other boards I have seen members mention feeding and operation problems with Marlins, in some cases a little breaking in is all that is needed, in others some very careful stoning is needed to ensure smooth operation.
I will repeat what the real "experts" have said, reloads for practice, but factory ammo for the "Real Thing".

AR15 in 9mm. Loads of fun and cheap to shoot.

I love my 1894c (.357). It's always been a bit tough to load and on bad arthritis days it's very difficult or impossible. Not much I can do about the RA but can the stiff loading gate be corrected?

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

I also love my Marlin 1894c in .357, but use it mostly for dispatching cans and milk jugs. I hope 9 rounds of 00 buck (4 in the Remington 870 tube, 5 on the stock) will suffice for home defense, but I can see how 9 rounds of .357 could be useful.

With my cast bullet load of 12.5gr of 2400, it's a joy to shoot.

Don

It probably would be, especially if you handload for it. But that box magazine looks at little...

Years ago I bought a Lightweight Model 70 in .308, whittled the barrel down, and made up some special bases to mount a scout scope on the barrel using Warne QD rings. It was a fun little rifle, but loud with factory-level .308 ammunition.

I eventually changed over to using #311041 cast bullets and a small charge of Nr. 2400 powder (no filer), producing around 1600 FPS. I shot this load for long time out of the rifle with no real leading/cleaning problems. It was always very accurate - and cheap.

I can also be added to the list of long-standing admirers of the M1 Carbine, and these days I have finally started to admit to some fondness of the M4 Carbine, too. Admittedly neither is a pistol caliber. I have nothing against pistol caliber carbines, but will admit I was amazed at how hard they can kick! (Browning 92 reissue in 44 Magnum )

Here in Indiana, quite a few pistol caliber carbines are deer-legal, so there is quite an interest in them. I rather like the little Ruger 44 Magnum bolt action, but am not a deer hunter.

What was the reason for the carbine?Think about urban warfare.Think about trench warfare.Think about the Calvary.Think about the Huns bow.
Of course a carbine makes a good HD weapon.Compact,powerful enough and handy.

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Dum vivo cano

My Rossi lever action .357.. next up a lever action .44..
pretty much would cover it all.. Plinking.. Hunting.. Defending..
Of course.. the Colt 6940 would fit in there someplace..

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

A 16" AR15 loaded with frangible ammo is a fine HD weapon.

An M1 Carbine is also ideal, it was in fact designed as a personal defense weapon for "non Infantry" personnel like truck drivers who needed more than a pistol, but something more portable than an M1 Garand. I have an M1 Carbine and I wouldn't hesitate to use it as a "zombie carbine". With 30 round M2 mags it's a formidable close range weapon that can still reach out and touch to 200 yards.

I got a chance to handle a Ruger Gunsite Scout rifle at Sprague's gunshop in Yuma last week, and was more impressed with it than I'd expected to be, it's odd, but satisfactory in fit, finish, feel, balance, &tc., and, its chambered for a does-all cartridge. An alternative to the lever guns and pistol-caliber semi-autos is the Ruger K77/44, a bolt gun offered in stainless/synthetic style, chambered in .44 mag, and equipped with a not-very-QD rotary magazine. It's BB gun weight and short barrel lend it to HD duty. Mine's mission is as an adjunct to sidearms for bear defense in camp. I'm hoping it doesn't see much use...

A friend of mine has a Ruger 99/44 Deerfield which looks very like an M1 Carbine but in .44 Magnum.
Only a four shot Magazine but easy to switch.
I confess I am warming to the idea.

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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus

Here's an IMI Timberwolf .357 pump and a Highway Patrolman



Ruger pc9 and p95 9mm use same mag

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God spelled backwards is dog.

I got this Beretta CX4 in 40 S&W.



It is easy to shoot, 17 round mags, and a 180 JHP at 1316 FPS will work just fine on things that go bump in the night. Mine is my poor mans MP5 on steroids.
Simple power factor calculations are impressive.
AR-15 55gr X 3000 FPS = 165,000 PF
40 S&W 180gr X 1300 = 234,000 PF

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren

I have an M1 carbine and a Marlin 1894FG in .41 Magnum. My wife bought me the carbine so it's a sentimental favorite. The .41 Marlin is a sweet shooter and would also work well as a home defense gun.

I had a Rossi .357 lever which didn't much like to feed .38 Specials. No issues with the Marlin 1894 though. I put XS peep sights on it and they work real well for me.

My buddy Rick would love to find a marlin in 41 to go with his ruger single action. I have more places and time to fire the CX carbine, the Scout Rifle would need to be shot at an outdoor range and I don't have regular acess to one of those.

I will probably order something this weekend.

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Stan

I've carried a M1 carbine with me in my patrol car for over 15 years. I have found it to be a fine patrol long gun and an excellent home defense firearm. With 110 grain soft nosed hollow points it has a record as a proven one shot stopper, and I've taken several whitetails with mine plus I've disposed of a couple of bovine.




I've recently transitioned to a Ruger PC4 police carbine in .40 S&W for duty carry. Very handy little carbine, plenty accurate and uses the same ammo as my Glock 23. While the M1 carbine exhibits very little recoil with it's gas operated short-stroke piston, the PC4 is blowback operated and surprising does provide a little punch to the shoulder. Nothing significant, but definitely noticable, but it is still a fast shooting with great ergonomics.




And for those who think a revolver/lever gun combo is the way to go, I couldn't agree more. At home, my .357 lever guns and revolvers are my go to guns more times than not. The .38's are great for dealing with critters and coyotes around the place and I've taken a number of whitetails with my lever guns using .357 magnum rounds.

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- Change it back -

I'm rather partial too the M1 Carbine as well. I have found the Winchester 110gr. "hollow soft points"(Their wording) to be very effective on varmints.
On my "want" list is a Win. 94 Trapper in 30/30! I like short rifles! Dale

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"Long live the S&W 3rd. Gen.!"

The old "thutty thutty" is a nice round and often overlooked in this new world of plastic pistols and rifles. One of my "needs" is a Magnum Research BFR 30/30 revolver.

I have an older Winchester carbine from the 60's in 30/30 and it has some punch, and it can reach out and touch to 300 yards. Roughly the equivalent of a 7.62x39 with a lot more class It has enough power for almost any realistic job you would need a rifle for, it won't kick the heck out of you and very accurate.

Just a side note, and I didn't read all the posts here so forgive me if this has previously covered.

When you shoot a magnum out of a 1894, you pick up some velocity. This means that if you get 1200fps out of a .44 in a 6" barrel, you'll get an additional 3 to 4 hundred fps, depending on the load/powder.

So, if you subtract the 200 fps a flat nosed bullet looses at 100 yards, you're still 100 to 200 fps faster at 100 yards than a magnum is at the muzzle.

That's quite a gain in horsepower.

I also have the Ruger PC4 with ghost ring sights and the Ruger P94 pistol that share the same mags. Both have been dandy plinkers with the not so expensive .40 cal ammo.
They'd make a good combo HD or vehicle guns I'd think but don't believe are in current production, the carbine at least.

Ruger stopped making the PC carbine, but I did see one at the Gun show yesterday for around 500. I called Shooters and they are telling me it is a 4 to 5 month wait on the Scout rifle.

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Stan

Here is my Ruger PC9 9mm carbine. Rated for +P+ ammo. Keep it loaded with Ranger 127gr +P+ ammo. Had a Kel-Tec SUB2000 and it jammed. Got rid of it. This Ruger puts the Kel-Tec to shame.

Attached Images

Ruger PC9 Rifle.jpg (43.7 KB, 174 views)

Ruger has a habit of coming out with super-neat guns......and then dropping them

Those Scout Rifles are selling like hotcakes......in a year I bet Ruger drops them.

I like the Scout Rifle, the fact that it's not available in 30-06 has made me just want to look for an older M77 instead. I may still have to get a Scout Rifle though.....

Here's another way to go:


It's a Mag-Tech "non-gun"; upper action for a 1911 frame. Not exactly something that I'd stake my life on, but it's a hoot to shoot and it was not expensive (~$250). Here's some results at 50 yds:

It makes a strange "twanging" resonant sound from the stock when fired. However, for the more serious, zombie applications, I too would stick with the M1 carbine:

Max,
don't mean to steal the thread, but yes, the M-1 is a great little carbine!

M1 Carbine here too.

I've been gone a while, so I'm late on this. Doesn't look like anyone mentioned it but there are reasons that pistol caliber carbines aren't such a good choice. Oddly, the biggest one is over penetration. Ever notice that LE doesn't make much use of 9mm subguns any more and now you see M4 carbines? One reason for this was that it became apparent that 9mm rounds at subgun (or carbine velocities) had a tendency to shoot through more walls and objects than did a 5.56mm even with FMJ ammo.

The M1 carbines suffer, these days, from having ammunition that is relatively expensive and often hard to find. Ammunition other than FMJ tends to be particularly expensive and seems to possibly only be made in seasonal runs.

Muzzle blast/noise/concussion can make firing a relatively short 5.56mm rifle quite unpleasant indoors. The FAL carbine with a 14.5" bbl and a flash hider permanently attached that I once had was even more "interesting". It's a good idea to keep hearing protection handy if you opt to go this route.

Lever actions tend to present a few seperate problems. One is leaving the magazines loaded with the rounds under pressure and pushing into each other. Anecdotes exist of this leading to various issues over time. Certainly they weren't really designed for it in the way something like a Pmag with cover in place was. They also can be a bit of a problem used at weird angles, prone, etc. in terms of manipulating the action. In ye olden days this is why the U.S. Cav never warmed up to Winchester lever actions in real life (as opposed to the movies).

Saw a program on cable demonstrating a Kris as a modern submachine gun where the Thompson and the "grease gun" were used in the past. I like the vector changing weights in this gun. It is stable in full auto where the others had barrel rise.
The Kris is in 45cal. The military likes a 200+grain load. My question is about grain load in a 40s&w carbine. You get the most velocity and gain in fps in a 135gr load from a 4inch barrel to a 16inch barrel. The optimum length was around a 15 in barrel according to ballistics by the inch. To be legal you are at 16 1/2. I am looking for a combination of velocity, trajectory (flat as possible), and power at the target. The 135gr load has all of these. You have other factors to consider. Over/under penetration and fragmenting loosing the jacket during expansion. From the charts I was looking at on BB" the 135gr and the 165gr loads seem to gain the most out of a longer barrel. The 180gr would be closer to the 200+gr mark the military likes in the 45cal. If you had to clear a room or stop a mob home invasion what grain load would you choose? (Don't want to hear shotgun unless you have a 20 round hammer)

Carbines are Da Bomb for just fun shooting.

update: Oh, and close in defense, too.

I don't know why it wouldn't work, especially with a good light and or laser. Cheap shooting also.
I see you're an Imjin scout, me too. 71'- 72'

Carbines are good for plinking and for self defense.

Next to a 12 Gauge Pump Shotgun, Lever Action Carbines are probably the next best thing........

Low recoil, higher velocity of pistol caliber rounds from a Carbine.

High capacity tubular magazines.

Easy to control and shoot accurately.

Reliable - at least most I've handled and shot.

They use inexpensive (relatively speaking of course) pistol ammo.

Certainly can't be called an "Assault Weapon" by the Media ( at least not yet ).

AND...... is so much fun to shoot you will find yourself shooting it a lot at the Range and will become very proficient with it - GOOD for a SD weapon.

A few years back I picked up a new Henry carbine in 22lr for the new grandson. He's going to be 4yo mid summer. It's a fine piece of machinery.
It has me wanting the longer barrels in 22wmr & 22lr.
My lever wish list is,

Henry 20"barreled lever in 22lr golden boy.
Henry 20"barreled lever in 22wmr golden boy.

Marlin 357/38 special lever.
Marlin 44mag cowboy lever.
Marlin 45/70 cowboy lever.