.30 Carbine Power Question

[HoosierQ]

Folks tend to say that the .30 Carbine is on par with a .357 magnum. Is that from barrels of the the same length? Or is the .30 Carbine out of a carbine the same as a .357 out of a handgun? Neither?

The reason I ask is I just have to think that the M1 Carbine would be a great all around SD, plinker, truck gun...you name it. Well, so too would be a .357 magnum lever gun.

So where does the .30 carbine relate to .357 out of carbine length barrels?

Thanks.

QB

 

[longdayjake]

well it beats the velocity of .357 by a little bit, but it is considerably smaller in diameter. The .30 carbine is a great penetrator because of its higher initial velocity and smaller diameter, but it is also a much lighter bullet. The .357 has a much larger variety of loads and bullets that you can use, but the .30 carbine is still a pretty sweet truck gun. It will shoot anything you need it to. For me it would come down to cost and availability. Right now .30 carbine is rare and I guess .357 is too. .30 carbine will probably be more affordable though. That and its shot mostly from semi auto rifles with detatchable mags. That would make it the winner in my book.

 

[kanook]

if you reload, the 357 will do things the 30 carbine would only dream about. and if you don't reload, I think the 357 with a 180grain bullet might be a better stopper than the 30 carbine 110grain

 

[dscottw88]

When people speak about the power of the carbine in comparison to the .357 I always figured that it was based on a Carbine with a 18" barrel, and a .357 out of a revolver.

 

[Im283]

you mean there is still .30 carbine ammo out there somewhere?

 

[TEDDY]

ammo

there is and will be. of course you could reload and get jacket 120 gr bullets.
I load about 20 different cart.and 3 more coming.

 

[kyle1974]

IM283... there is a truckload of it at gander mountain in my town...

 

[Ned Kelly]

All the .30 needs is a heavier bullet load. Not sure how do that though considering the demensions needed to fit in a magazine.

The trajectory would be even more of a rainbow one , but the bullet weight would substantially increase the stopping power.

 

[Gordon]

I think Speer just came out with a 110 grain Gold Dot bonded at 2000 fps out of a carbine. Thing about a carbine, being a semi auto, you can stitch things if need be maintaining your sight picture.

 

[Eric F]

The thinking on the m1 carbine is that it is a rifle round. So most people think it should preform like a rifle. As in 223 308 30-30 7.62x39 ect. Thats all fine and dandy but it is an intermediate at best round. It still packs a punch out to 200 yards but realistically 150 yards is about all the off hand accuracey will allow. And lets face it, for a sd weapon when was the last time any one in the US was attakced at those ranges? Malvo in DC is the last I can remember and you couldnt even see him so it was too late any way. I know I wouldnt want to get hit by a 30 carbine and you can sure keep some heads down while waiting for back up, ie. police. In a sd situation most of the time its going to be under 100 yards, I think we can all agree on that. Sure there are better things but the m1 carbine should not be ruled out.

 

[nelson133]

The .30 carbine got a bad rep with fmj loads. That .30 110 grain bullet at 1900 fps doesn't do much stopping. With expandable bullets the situation is much different.
The big advantage to the M-1 is magazine capacity and reload speed. Slapping in a loaded magazine is much faster than pushing cartridges down a tube. for the math challenged, 30 is much more than 9 or 10.
If you hand load, the .357 is a better cartridge, if you don't it is still a better cartridge. If you go with the lever action, I would stay away from the lighter hollow points as they will be travelling faster than designed and may not hold together well enough for adequate penetration.
Of course you could get a .44 or .45 lever rifle and really leave the M-1 in the dust in terms of power,

 

[pmeisel]

Good plinker, decent varmint gun within its range, in a convenient package. If I lived in a place where I could use a "truck gun" a lot it would be an OK choice....

 

[hank327]

The M1 Carbine is significantly more powerful than the 357 when the 357 is fired out of a handgun. (4 or 6 inch barrel). Here is a neat old WWII Army training film that shows what the M1 Carbine (among other issue weapons) can do. The part about the Carbine is very near the beginning, just after the 1911.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a7d_1240819390

 

[JImbothefiveth]

The carbine would be semi-auto and have higher capacity, so I'd probably use that.

 

[Snowdog]

Hank, thanks for that link! I hadn't seen that video and it was quite a delight to say the least!
The .30 Carbine through both sides of a steel helmet at 100 yards, though not surprising, was sure fun to see.

 

[Ned Kelly]

It's an intermediate cartridge in my book.

Not really a pistol but not really a rifle cartridge.

It has more momentum than a .223. Not too far behind it on Kinetic energy either.

I kinda like to think the USA had the assault rifle idea down before the Germans. Their gun wasnt as futuristic looking though.

 

[yokel]

That .30 110 grain bullet at 1900 fps doesn't do much stopping.

Indeed, I shoot myself and others with 110 GR. FMJ all day long with no adverse effect whatsoever.

Totally harmless, really!

Go ahead and try it yourself.

 

[Eric F]

I wonder how it stacks up to 300 wisper,fireball,and seems like TC has a shoet 30 too. I will have to do some looking later.

 

[HoosierQ]

Clearly a lot of fans of the M1 Carbine here...and of the .357 as well. Right now, in Indiana, it is a lot easier to find an M1 Carbine than a .357 lever gun (or any pistol caliber Marlin anyway). Indiana just started allowing deer hunting with pistol caliber rifles so gun shops cannot keep them on the shelves and charge crazy prices for them.

There is a shop here in town that had a set of three (.357, .44, .45) in stainless laminated that they would only sell as a set for, $3,000!!! Nuts.

So someday, the distrubutors will catch up and all of those .357 Marlins that they send out to the Rockies where they probably can't hardly give them away will end up here.

At any rate, thanks for the M1 Carbine endorsements. CMP here I come.

PS. I'll someday probably just get a .357 Marlin too.

 

[mljdeckard]

My M-1 Carbine would be my go to truck gun, except it's a family heirloom, and I don't want it to get seized by a cop somewhere who doesn't know the law, and spend months trying to get it back, if ever. Here's the funny part, my SKS is now my truck gun, I used to say, "because it's easily replaced if it get snagged by a cop", but that's not even really true anymore.

My 870 loaded with #4 buck is my primary, the M-1 is my backup and my wife's primary. I keep two magazines of 110 gr hollow points in a pouch on the butt. I have said many times that it is the perfect compromise for people like me who think that handguns are backup, but high-velocity rifle cartridges can be too much if you're not careful about your load.

 

[benzy2]

Last I checked velocities and energies the 30 carbine from a carbine is about equal to the .357mag in a pistol. Push the .357 in a carbine/rifle length barrel, especially loaded for rifle length barrels, and it is a fairly lopsided towards the .357mag. Thats not to take a thing away from the 30 carbine. It gets a bit of an unfair rep from a lot of guys. I wouldn't want shot from any of them, pistol or rifle barreled.

 

[Reid73]

An M1 carbine makes a fun, if somewhat expensive, plinker.

It will serve quite adequately for most self-defence purposes. Indeed, that's the whole design concept: a compact, defensive firearm that is more accurate in non-expert hands than a handgun would be. Arguably a full-stocked, short-barrelled shotgun would be a better choice, but that's up to you.

If by "truck gun" you mean a firearm that can be carried around in a truck, the carbine's suitability for that purpose depends upon what you intend to use it for when you take it out of the truck for actual shooting.

 

[greyling22]

hoosier, it took cmp 3 months to get me mine, and I still don't have the ammo I ordered. hope you're not in a hurry.

 

[amd6547]

It only took 45 minutes for me...45 minutes to North atore from my driveway!

 

[Wesson Smith]

That was an awesome video! Thanks, Hank.