Handgun-Caliber Carbines

A rifle chambered for a handgun cartridge is scarcely a new idea. The success of the legendary Colt Single Action Army/Winchester Model 1873 .44-40 combo perhaps owed more to the problem of logistics and supply on the frontier than any actual ballistic enhancement of the black powder .44-40 load from the Winchester. But there still was a ballistic disadvantage in firing the same load from the shorter-barreled revolver, plus the rifle had a longer sight radius and a greater cartridge capacity. Then, of course, it's just plain easier to shoot accurately with a shoulder-stocked longarm than it is with any revolver.

Today we have a number of rifles (carbines, mostly) that are chambered for handgun rounds. There are autoloaders, such as the Ruger Deerfield and PC Carbine. There are lever actions such as the Marlin 1894, Winchester Model 94 and Ruger 96/44 (not to mention a plethora of Italian-made repros for the Cowboy Action market). Finally, there's even a bolt-action--the Ruger 77/44. Such handgun-caliber carbines are generally employed for hunting and recreational plinking. Some of them--notably the Ruger PC Carbine in 9mm and .40 S&W--are used by law enforcement and civilians alike. Both of these applications require moderate power combined with controllability and relatively low penetration. Although a conventional rifle caliber--such as a .308--certainly has the power, it could be dangerously over-penetrative for some situations.

Ruger's PC9 (top) is a 9mm autoloading carbine designed for law-enforcement and recreational target shooting. Ruger's semi-auto Deerfield (center) and Marlin's lever-action 1894 (bottom) are both chambered for the.44 Magnum. Either would make a fine short-range deer rifle.

Calibers used in today's "handgun carbines" include the .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .44-40 .357 Magnum, .40 S&W and 9mm Parabellum. The 9mm and the .40 are probably the best choices for law enforcement--they're common to a large variety of service-type auto pistols. Old-timers such as the .44-40 and .45 Colt are relegated to lever actions and are best suited to Cowboy Action shooting--although they would also obviously be adequate for defensive purposes. The .357 Magnum is a lot of fun in a lever-action plinker (particularly when loaded with .38 Specials) and small-game carbines, but for big-game hunting (read brush-range deer, black bear and wild hogs), a .44 Magnum is really the only viable choice.

The Ruger Deerfield is an updated variation of the Ruger Model 44 carbine, originally introduced in 1961. The Deerfield's two major improvements over its predecessor are in its improved gas system and that it employs Ruger's reliable detachable rotary magazine. It's a nifty, very handy little brush-country deer rifle. A test sample produced three-shot, 3/4-inch groups at 50 yards using the excellent folding aperture sight. A nice feature of the Ruger is that its gas system soaks up quite a bit of .44 Magnum recoil (an unavoidable fact of life when you're dealing with carbines in the 6 1/2-pound weight class). You can, of course, put a scope on any Ruger using its integral scope bases, but a scope does interfere with the trim lines and handling qualities of these little .44 Magnum sporters. Another solution is a good receiver sight that'll allow accurate shot placement out to the limits of the .44 Magnum cartridge. Incidentally, an excellent deer load for any .44 Magnum Carbine would be Speer's 270-grain JSP, Black Hills' 300-grain JHP and Winchester's 250-grain Partition Gold JHP. We've shot them all in several .44 Magnum carbines and have been very impressed, but extra-heavy (300 grain-plus) bulleted cartridges don't always fit into rotary magazines.

The advantages of the pistol-caliber Ruger PC9 Carbine are many. It handles and operates pretty much like Ruger's highly successful 10/22. It accepts standard Ruger P-series pistol magazines. And its 16 1/4-inch barrel offers a significant ballistic upgrade over a pistol. Several of the +P 9mm loads will gain as much as 150 fps muzzle velocity from the longer tube, yet even these loads will generate minimal recoil when fired from the Ruger Carbine. Of course, it's not necessary to use premium high-performance ammo. You can do a lot of casual practice and plinking using relatively inexpensive FMJ ammo.

Ammo commonality between rifle and pistol isn't as big a plus as it was back in the 1870s. But there is definitely a place for a lightweight, light-recoilling carbine that'll handle today's most popular pistol and revolver cartridges.