Companion Carbines

[Ivan the Butcher]

I like having a sidearm and a companion long gun. My first was a Marlin 1984C in 357mag that went along nicely with my Model 28-2 4" about 1982. I followed that with two Marlins in 44 mags and a series of Model 29's The Marlin 336 was made in 44mag for one year and the 1894 in 44 mag came out the same year, I had one of each, I have also had a Rossi and a Browning Model 92 in 44 mag. All 4 carbines were far more recoil than the resulting bullet performance was worth!

My first 45Colt was and still is a Rossi 92 I picked up around 1985. The gun is unbelievably accurate! I picked up a number of import 92's, but no 92 has ever matched up to the Rossi's and the even older El Tigras out of S.America! The couple of Navy Arms imports were absolute junk!
I still have a Marlin 1894 CB Cowboy special in 45 Colt, one of the more expensive lever PCC's but I could easily hit 6 inch plates at 200 yards with the Iron Sights. (these have Ballard cut refiling, as opposed to the earlier "Micro Refiling")

An unusual lever gun I stumbled across was a used repro 1873 in 44 Special. It has an action job and is "Semi Short Stroked", which means I just kind of think where I want to send bullets and they hit there. (all the Henry, 1966, 1873 and 1976 actions are particular about overall cartridge length!)

My expierance with semi-auto PCC is limited to Marlin Camp 45 (uses 1911 mags) and about 5 Marlin Camp 9 carbines (my dad and brother both had these too) The Camp 9 uses the older S&W Model 59 and Model 69 mags. I liked the ease of handling but found 9mm to just not have a long enough reach for pests, that the 45 did.

So, with staying in pistol/revolver cartridges, what are PCC's doing to make the world a better place?

Ivan

 

[waffles]

They can be fun to plink with, and I suppose provide longer practical range than a handguns. I had keltec and Ruger PCCs, and they both were fine for plinking with cheap ammo, but I no longer have them as I didn't really have a use case for them.

For practical purposes, I look at how far the submachine gun has fallen in favor of shorter rifle caliber carbines, and then I look at PCCs as (generally) less compact than subguns and without the giggle switch.

What are they doing to make the world a better place? They're fun on the range, especially if you have a system that's not delayed blowback. If space isn't a concern or if compatibility with sidearm magazines is a a concern, they certainly will be better for defensive uses than a handgun, even if there are better options out there for the size. They're not really for me (except eventually an MP5 clone) but I can get why people like them. I'd also note they made a bunch more sense when I was buying 9mm at $140/k for cheap brass.

 

[biku324]

I am very pleased with a 41 Henry lever as a complement to my 41s and a Ruger 77/357 to complement my 357s.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Can't speak for the whole world, but the 24" Rossi 92 in .357, paired with a 4" 686Plus, makes my world a better place. Both arms make good use of maximum power cartridges without inflicting punishment.

 

[AJ]

We shot what could be called a companion carbine at the range yesterday. It was a Calico carbine in 9MM. We used the 50 round magazine yesterday on both of my friends carbines. He has the 100 round magazines, but says they take to long to load. Also the extend farther back so it is more difficult to get a good check weld.

 

[Jessie]

My 4" 629 and a Ruger carbine make fine company in the woods.
And the recoil is nothing to think about with that semiauto.

 

[petepeterson]

and a Ruger 77/357 to complement my 357s.

I always thought that would be a cool little rifle to have...

I have a Camp 9 that is a companion to my 3rd Gens
A Rossi 92 that matches up with several 38/357s
And a 9mm AR, just because.

 

[TXBryan]

Love the .32-20, or .32 WCF, if you prefer. I have S&W revolvers marked with either designation (also have a few Colts that chamber this round). Serendipity stepped in with a great "companion" long gun several years ago.

I was very fortunate to acquire a Remington Model 25 slide-action rifle chambered in .32 WCF manufactured in May 1923. It's in near mint condition with original bluing and wood finish. It's a take-down holding 10 cartridges and is perfectly capable of using any of the handloads we put through our revolvers.

The combination of any of our .32-20 revolvers and this fine Remington makes a fun "walkin' around the ranch" pairing.

 

[kraynky]

My typical road trip finds me packing the Beretta CX4 9 carbine and the 92FS, because they use the same mag and ammo.

I really like my Marlin 1894's in .357 and 44 magnums, with same caliber N frames. However, in the back on my head I am always thinking about which combination is the easiest to replace, should I have to use either.

So the Berettas have seen more of this country than my Marlins and S&W's. I do like the idea of "Companion Carbines", and still hope to find that 32-20 revolver I need. Oh, and the 32 H&R magnum lever gun to companion with the 631.

The 45 colt combo goes to the woods the most often.

 

[Muss Muggins]

I am a huge fan of this philosophy. At the moment, I own the KelTec PMR/CMR30 .22 WMR duo, a Marlin 1804CS in .38/.357 mag with various revolver companions, an ATI AR-15 in 9m which uses Glock mags, including my EDC Glock 26, and a couple Mossberg .410 shoguns and a Governor.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I like my original Ruger PC9 and P-89 combo. They take the same mags (10, 15 and 20 round readily available), and the PC9 has a low number of naughty features- fixed stock, no pistol grip, no bayonet lug, no flashhider, no barrel shroud. Not that I dislike those features, but it's not bad to have a few things in the arsenal without them.

 

[mikerjf]

Probably not what you're thinking, but I have a 357 insert for a break-open single shot 12ga that sometimes goes with the Model 60... lots of fun to offset the non-tacticalness.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Ruger 77/357...... nice utility rifle at the cabin in Penn's Woods 158gr soft paired with my 60-10 micro 686.

Winchester Trapper .357........ a classic

Beretta CX4 9mm paired with a Beretta 92 Centurion..... same mags..... 15-30rds factory or Mec-gar..... actually shorter (29") with it's 16" barrel than a AR with stock collapsed 32" due to the mag in the grip........ so urban PDW/ SHTF ......
Fast 4-5rd fist size group are easy out to 50yd.... 9mm GTG to 70-80 IMO .

 

[Fishinfool]

I have always been a fan of my S&W / Ruger .44 mag and Marlin 1894 combos.

Another nice pistol carbine is the 9mm Beretta CX4 Storm. Looks futuristic, but handles and points great, takes any model 92 magazines, and is reliable, and keeps a magazine full on a paper plate at 100 yards. Fun to shoot. I mounted a SIG Romeo 5 red dot and a Streamlight combat light to it. Perfect companion to my 92 fs.

I have a Hy Point 9mm carbine, but apparently have the only unreliable one made. Never could get a full magazine thru it. The Beretta is a much nicer gun.

Larry

 

[Fishinfool]

Or, if you want to turn your handgun into a carbine, so to speak, this little MCK conversion chassis is pretty neat. My Glock 26 snaps right in place, and it's fun to shoot.

Larry

 

[rockquarry]

I guess in the old west, a carbine and handgun that used the same cartridge was a good idea. I question the utility of such a combination these days, at least for my purposes. That's not any sort of criticism toward those who find the practice useful.

I have a '94 AE Winchester Trapper .45 Colt with a 16" barrel that I bought new thirty years ago. With a 260 grain Lyman #454424 loaded moderately to about 850 fps from a 6" S&W 25-5 and around 1100 from the carbine, bullet drop from the latter is about 5"-6" at 100 yards when sighted a couple of inches high at 50 yards. That's probably not much flatter shooting than the revolver, but it's much easier to hit something at 100 yards with the carbine, probably the maximum realistic range of this gun.

 

[canoeguy]

One of the best companion carbines to the .357 revolver is the Ruger 77/357, light weight at 5.5 pounds, reliable, detachable magazine, and can be easily scoped if desired. I've had one for about seven years now, and have several .357 revolvers to accompany it in the field.

An older pic with an Old Model Ruger .357 and GP-100. I still have the GP-100:



A New Model Stainless Blackhawk fills the Single Action duties with the 77/357 now:





50 yard accuracy with jacketed 158 grain hand loads, fired from the prone position:



I will keep the rifle with iron sights only for now, might put a scope on it as my eyes age. Right now I enjoy the light weight and trim package of the rifle with no scope.....

 

[jimmyj]

I have a Marlin M1894 and a Rossi M92, both in .44 Magnum.
The recoil of both rifles is more than I expected.
Does these rifles have noticable recoil or am I just "Wimppy"?

 

[Echo40]

Personally, I've never quite understood the concept of a companion carbine. I mean, I get the rationality that you only have to carry a single type of ammo, but the problem is that they're both feeding from the same pool, cannibalizing each other, and you're sort of losing the advantage of having a long gun on you if the only increase in power/accuracy you're gaining is due to a longer barrel.

The way I see it is, if you can pack a long gun, and especially see yourself needing a long gun a long gun, then it makes more sense to carry a long gun chambered in an actual rifle cartridge with superior ballistics and accuracy compared to a pistol caliber carbine.

It's one thing if you're an outdoorsman carrying a big bore handgun and carbine, but for an average civilian to carry a 9mm Pistol on his person and a 9mm Carbine in his vehicle, I dunno...

Also, for the record, I don't consider the CAA Micro Conversion Kit to be a carbine. That's it's own animal with its own unique strengths and weaknesses that I could actually see using.

Anyway, that's just my opinion.

 

[pawncop]

I have four.

Ruger Blackhawk/IBM .30 caliber

Ruger Carbine/Model 29 44 magnum

Savage Model 24V/any number of .357 magnum revolvers

Rossi Rio Bravo/any number of .22 long rifle revolvers and self loading pistols.