Ruger PC Carbine Accuracy

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twofewscrews

twofewscrews

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Today was a beautiful day in western NY so me and my buddy took my Ruger PC Carbine (model 19116) out to the range to have a little fun. He had shot it when I first got it but since then I have added an ambidextrous rotating safety from taccom, eagle eye sights from tandomkross, and a volquartsen target hammer. As near as I can tell the target hammer reduced the trigger pull from around 4.2lbs to 3.2lbs. We messed about for 100 rounds or so using the irons and my red dot at 25 yards. Then we threw a bipod and a cheap 3-9x scope on it and went out to 100 yards.

I honestly wasn't expecting much accuracy at 100 yards but I was pleasantly surprised with what we got. There were a couple groups at 100 yards that were right on top of each other. I'm not saying it was incredibly consistent, that we key holed every shot, but once the carbine was dialed in, we waited for the barrel to cool a little, and we took our time there were a few groups where each of us managed to put three out of five shots into a inch (shots touching or overlapping) and the next two shots within three inches. With five shot groups we were able to put most shots within a five inch square.

I wasn't expecting sub MOA accuracy or anything close from a 9mm carbine, and I'm not saying it was so accurate that it blew my socks off, but that it was way more accurate then I though a 9mm carbine would be at 100 yards with a cheap 3-9x scope.

For those of you with Ruger PC Carbines what have your experiences been with it at various distances?

I didn't take picture of the targets but I got a couple from last time shooting the iron sights from the bench at 25 and 50. The far left is 25 yards and the next two are 50.
IMG_20220805_142421.jpg IMG_20220805_142415.jpg IMG_20220730_104815.jpg
Not the best groups but nothing to laugh at either :)

For what it worth, I tell you that at 100 yards we were able to put three out of five shots into one of those little red dots and the next two within three inches of it. I really should have taken pictures :(
 
I'm very satisfied with my 9mm PCC's function and accuracy. With my old eyes and the firearms I mostly use,I place its effective usage as below..

Pistol 15yds
PCC (with RDS) 75yds with 50yds being optimum with all rounds in a 3" circle.
Mini-14 (iron sights) 100yds.
AR-15 ( Leupold 1.5-4 x 20) 100-200yds
CZ 527 (Leupold 1.5-4 X20) 250-300yds
 
This was at 25 yards the day I sighted in the Bushnell TRS-25. I started at target 3, then honed in using 1,2. The final 5-shot target is lower right. I zeroed about 1” high at 25 yards so I’m pretty spot-on for a B-27 X ring out to 65 yards or so with 124 gr loads.

290E28CF-267D-4512-9E27-D9CC9083C93A.jpeg 0898397B-B2AC-4047-8AA8-199E17137AAB.jpeg

I hope to get to shoot out at 100 and beyond soon, the indoor range distance limitations get old for carbines/rifles. You guys are keeping your shots on those smaller targets at 100, good job :thumbup:.

Stay safe.
 
haven't really gone to that level of accuracy testing. put a red dot on it, sighted it in well enough to hit 6" steel gongs at 25 yards and haven't had it out again for a while, this year anyway. Would like to move further out and test more, maybe this fall when it cools down a bit.
 
That orange circle on that 12" target is 3" in dia.
So if you get groups with all bullets inside the orange and not breaking into the black, you're getting about 2 1/2 Moa or less. That used to be the norm for just about all but the most expensive hunting rifles.
I'm getting about the same as you are with most factory target ammo in my PCC. Some SD loads and my 124gr xtp reloads get me down to 2moa. I don't think it would ever get to 1moa, but I really haven't spent any effort to tune it any further.
 
Everyone that shoots my PC carbine loves it! I have on my list to do some day working some 9mm hand loads for it and see what kind of accuracy is can wring out of it.

I wonder how many of your flyers are the PC Carbine and how many are due to the ammo? Compared to a rifle cartridge 9mm cases are a very small volume making minor variations in powder weight and case weight a much bigger affect on speed variances and accuracy. It seems like it would be fun to work up some 9mm rounds tuned to the PC carbine like you would a long range target round.
 
Hugger-4641 said:
So if you get groups with all bullets inside the orange and not breaking into the black, you're getting about 2 1/2 Moa or less.
Click to expand...

Those results are using Norma Envy 124gr FMJ,the box states 1345fps. They had it on sale around last Xmas for $16 a box if I remember correctly,with free shipping. I could kick myself for not scoring a lot more. I've not seen it listed on their site since,but I check regularly in hope.
 
MikeInOr said:
Everyone that shoots my PC carbine loves it! I have on my list to do some day working some 9mm hand loads for it and see what kind of accuracy is can wring out of it.
Click to expand...

Hugger-4641 said:
my 124gr xtp reloads get me down to 2moa. I don't think it would ever get to 1moa, but I really haven't spent any effort to tune it any further
Click to expand...
n't

As I understand it 115gr, 124gr, and 147gr out to about 50 yards function roughly the same. Past 50 yards the 115gr and 124gr lose velocity faster then 147gr resulting in the 147gr being more accurate past 50 yards. I tested em at 25 and 50 and found that the 147gr shot significantly lower then the 115gr and 124gr but grouped much better. I've been meaning to get more and see which weight works best at 100 yards but I just haven't had the time. I suspect the 147gr will be a more accurate at 100 yards then 124gr or 115gr.
 
twofewscrews said:
n't

As I understand it 115gr, 124gr, and 147gr out to about 50 yards function roughly the same. Past 50 yards the 115gr and 124gr lose velocity faster then 147gr resulting in the 147gr being more accurate past 50 yards. I tested em at 25 and 50 and found that the 147gr shot significantly lower then the 115gr and 124gr but grouped much better. I've been meaning to get more and see which weight works best at 100 yards but I just haven't had the time. I suspect the 147gr will be a more accurate at 100 yards then 124gr or 115gr.
Click to expand...
Those 147’s are pretty heavy for that tiny case, I’d like to see your results at 100. The 147’s shoot great in almost all of my 9mm handguns, but with the lower initial velocity and heavier bullet weight I wonder if they start dropping like a rainbow as yardages increase. (Not like any 9mm load is a laser beam, PCC velocity boost or not :).)

Stay safe.
 
The accuracy of mine is good and I am ok with it. Seems to like 124 grain the best. But it sure is a dirty gun and starts having issues after 50 to 100 rounds.
 
Riomouse911 said:
Those 147’s are pretty heavy for that tiny case, I’d like to see your results at 100. The 147’s shoot great in almost all of my 9mm handguns, but with the lower initial velocity and heavier bullet weight I wonder if they start dropping like a rainbow as yardages increase. (Not like any 9mm load is a laser beam, PCC velocity boost or not :).)

Stay safe.
Click to expand...

Rainbow is right. I had a 9 inch drop (rough estimate) after moving from 50 to 100 with 115gr fmj. I used I suspect that 147gr will have a similar drop, but perhaps where 115gr drops 9 inches, 147gr will drop 7 inches.

One night on the interwebs I found a chart that showed that 147gr retains its velocity/energy past 50 yards better then 115gr or 124gr . . . as per usual I didn't save it but its out there somewhere :(
 
Reeferman said:
The accuracy of mine is good and I am ok with it. Seems to like 124 grain the best. But it sure is a dirty gun and starts having issues after 50 to 100 rounds.
Click to expand...

After only 50 to 100 rounds you begin having issues? What kinds of issues (FTF or FTE)?

I've run around 1700 round through mine with only one FTF and one FTE and both were due to the ammo. I had one FTE with 124gr FMJ Winchester white box and one FTF with the Federal Sytec stuff. Since those two issues I've fed her all kinds of flavors, Remington, CCI, Federal, Fiocchi, and had no issues. Have you tried other flavors of ammo and had the same issue?

I've ran 450 rounds through it without cleaning and had no issues.
 
W.E.G. said:
My nephew has one of those rifles.

Can really deliver hits with 9mm and that thing at 100 yards and in. Plays hell on soup cans without burning up expensive rifle ammo.

The real glory of it is that it takes Glock mags.

Might be "legal" in places where AR15 type guns are forbidden. So there's that too.
Click to expand...

I'm in the great state of New York where rifles with scary features are verbotten. The PC Carbine has a NY state compliant model which is the closest I'll come to owning a modern sporting rifle until/unless I move. Great little gun.
 
twofewscrews said:
Phooey. Any gun that you enjoy makes sense and I enjoy the heck out of my PC Carbine :)
Click to expand...

The PC carbine weighs just under 7 lbs unloaded. All up with an optic and sling and we’re pushing 8 lbs. If I’m packing rifle weight, I want a rifle cartridge.

The Beretta is a much lighter, handier carbine. It is also shorter due to having the magazine in the grip.
 
Had one since July of '18 and I'm really happy with it. Seems to have preferences as to what ammo to use if you are seeking the best accuracy. Although it shoots just about any 9mm stuff well. It had a holographic sight on it for a couple years and that really helped the groups but its back to the original irons now and they work well enough for me at 9mm distances. Farthest distance it ever shot was my buddies 6 inch "100 yd." gong, which is actually 93 yards. We hit it consistently off a rest with the holo sight on it. Here's some of the better 30 yard paper plate targets from 2019 when it had the holo sight on it and I had it firmly rested..
.. IMG_4880.JPG .. IMG_4884.JPG .. IMG_6490.JPG .. Being a Glock owner it's also very nice to have the Glock magwell in it. The PC carbines are indeed heavier than they look. First time I was handed one at the LGS, that was my first comment. But I still purchased it on the spot and have no regrets. I like the analogy some gun writer made when they first came out, calling them a "10/22 on steroids". I have heard that sometimes the charging handle starts to loosen up after a few hundred rounds but haven't seen it yet on mine. My buddy is also a fan; here he is ringing his 93 yd. gong with it before I took the holo sight off. Perhaps I should remount it... Us old guys need all the sighting help we can get (grin).. IMG_7199.JPG .
 
I don’t have a ruger PC, but just to add some additional 9mm carbine data to the mix, I put the scope off of one of my other AR’s onto my AR9 to see what it would do at 100 yards. It shoots a 3” group at 100. At 50 it’s about 1” due to not getting blown around by the wind as much. I normally just have irons on it to plink steel. It’s a 10.5” Faxon barrel.

D86-D5-ADE-FF8-B-44-E2-94-AA-D2-FA87-EF31-DD.jpg
 
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twofewscrews said:
I had a 9 inch drop (rough estimate) after moving from 50 to 100 with 115gr fmj
Click to expand...
During my testing of various 115-124-100 gr FMJ/RN loads, I also experienced 8"-10" bullet drop at 100 yards depending on muzzle velocity (And why I ended up using lighter 100 gr bullet pushed to near 1500 fps and now faster with 95 gr bullet) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...n-9mm-40s-w-45acp.799231/page-4#post-10338994

Consistent muzzle velocities are definitely required to reduce "target scatter/vertical stringing" at farther distance of 100 yards for pistol velocity carbines and faster velocities produced by this particular lighter 100 gr bullet produced very consistent muzzle velocities for smaller vertical stringing/scatter at 100 yards compared to other loads (Below chrono data shows 13 - 16 fps spread, which is pretty good):
  • 100 gr RMR HM RN 4.5-4.7 gr Promo @ 1.050": 1478-1475-1480-1471-1467 fps (58 F - JR carbine)
  • 100 gr RMR HM RN 4.5-4.7 gr Promo @ 1.050": 1458-1450-1445-1442-1448 fps (71 F - JR carbine)
I have been averaging 1.5"-2" 10 shot groups at 50 yards with and around 3.5" at 100 yards with my 1:16 JR carbine and 1:10 PSA PCC - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?attachments/100-yard-rmr-100-gr-promo-4-5-4-7-jpg.221769/

1.5"-2" groups at 50 yards are consistent with various magazine testing with 1.25"-1.5" groups. Here's American Rifleman review with 25 yard accuracy testing - https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/just-right-carbine/

My plans to build a machine rest for 25-50-100 pistol/PCC/22LR testing for retirement will be resuming after a break due to aging parents medical issues and will be reporting my outcome starting with "Accurizing 22LR ..." thread - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...22lr-on-the-cheap.898035/page-2#post-12194385

index.php

index.php


Here's 1:10 PSA vs 1:16 Just Right comparison groups - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/9mm-pcc-handloads.894850/#post-12054942

index.php
 
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I love my PC Carbine and find it a very useful rifle. I can hit my steel silhouette at 100 yards pretty easily. For a long while I ran 124 grain bullets but then read these two articles and it got me thinking about using 147 grain bullets:

https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/self-defense-ammo-for-pistol-caliber-carbines/

https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/how-effective-is-pistol-ammo-at-100-yards/

About the same time I was able to purchase a couple of cases of Winchester 147 +P Ranger Q4463. It shot exceptionally well out of my Ruger and expanded in my very unscientific water jug experiment at 100 yards.

Currently that is what is in the Carbine and will be for some time to come.

I alway love to hear about other folks who like the Ruger PC Carbine. It is a bit heavy, but shoots well with little recoil and is very reliable.
 
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