PC9 or Marlin Camp 9?

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honkeoki

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I want to get a pistol-caliber carbine and I have a line on a Marlin camp 9 in great shape for $300. Purpose will be primarily range gun + SD for my wife-to-be.

I've never fired a PC9, so I'm asking those of you who know about such things which is a better gun.

Marlin pros: I have a S&W 5904 for mag interchanging. It's about $150 cheaper than the best price I've seen on a PC9.

Ruger pros: Still in production. May be possible to change a PC9 into a 40 caliber or vice versa?

Both, I'm sure, are great guns. Which should I buy?

Thanks again for all your help!
 
I don't know about the Marlin, but since the PC9 takes Ruger 9mm mags, that opens the possibility to 15, 20 and 30 round mags. If you own or plan to own a Ruger pistol, commonality of magazines would be a bonus.

If you own a Glock, Beretta,SIG or S&W autopistol, you might also consider the Kel-Tec Sub 2000. I think they are as ugly as sin, but they seem to be reliable, and they have a loyal following. Street price in the low $300s

If it's a choice between the Ruger and Marlin, as long as the Ruger does everything you want it to, I say get the Ruger
 
I have a PC9 that I purchased off a member of this board. I picked it up for around $300 as well. It is heavy, so recoil is negligible, not that 9 creates a lot anyway. It accepts all of those wonderful (and cheap!) ruger 9mm pistol mags. I have several 30's and 15's. Great stuff and a lot of firepower. The sights on this carbine are very nice as well. I admit, I don't have any experiene with the marlin other than gunshop fondling, but they seem nice. I know the trigger on my ruger is wierd, in fact, it's a very long pull, but nice when you get used to it. Kinda heavy but very predictable. The rifle is also rediculously accurate. If you shop around you might find a nicely priced one. FWIW.
 
hmm, you know, i've owned several of the little 9mm carbines over the years as fun guns. The marlin's are nice little guns. But you know what--just get one of the Hipoint 9mm carbines--if you look around you can get one for $150-$170 brand new. They don't look like much, but every one I have woned or fired was utterly reliable, they are as accurate or more so than any of the others I have tried, and at the price and with the style you don't worry about them. I believe Gun tests did a test of several of them including the ruger and maybe the beretta storm and they actually rated the Hipoint he best of the bunch--totally reliable with all ammo and more accurate than the others at a fraction of the price. Not fancy, and I'm not a fan of the handguns, but the carbines are little worl horses.
 
I have a Marlin Camp 9 and I really like it. Have not shot the Ruger but my dad had one of the old Ruger .44mag carbines. I never really liked it. It was not accurate and it kicked worse than a 12ga pump! I know that doesn't have anything to so with the new Rugers but it made me decide to go with the Marlin over the Ruger just because of the past shooting I did with another Ruger rifle.

I love Ruger revovlers but their rifles and shotguns never seemed to measure up to others IMHO. Their auto pistols are good but not SIG or Beretta good. They are not SIG or Berretta priced either though. They ARE as reliable as a SIG or Beretta however.

Anyway, I like the Camp 9 and it takes S&W hi-caps which are a little easier to find than Ruger hi-caps around here but both are easy to find. Mine also shoots the Danish sub-machine ammo that won't work in any of my semi-auto pistols. The Danish ammo is like $34 for 864 rds and had a steel BB at the nose and a plastic bullet. It is fun because it is so cheap. I can run through 300rds in an afternoon and not care about the cost. At close range, the ammo is somewhat accurate but out of a pistol or at longer ranges and it is worthless. Close range speed shooting is fun and it is cheap. If you want to practice for a home defense situation with your Marlin, it is perfect. The Marlin actually makes a pretty good HD gun. I would pick it over one of my SGs because it can hold 15-30rds instead of 4-5 in the shotgun.

I had a Hi-Point carbine but I never even shot it before I sold it. I bought it used and it felt so cheap and crappy that I didn't bother. Now that I hear people say they are accurate and reliable, I wish I had given it a chance. It may have been fun if I tried it out. The Marlin or Ruger will make you value it more. I wouldn't have cared if the guy I sold the Hi-Point to smashed it on the ground as soon as he paid me but if I sold my Marlina and someone did that, I would feel that is was a shame.
 
I just noticed that the last post was my 1000th!

Also, "jobu07" did his 1000th on this thread!
 
Have owned the Marlin carbine. Currently own a Ruger PC9 and Keltec Sub2000. Not only would I say the Ruger is better it is worth the cost over the Marlin.

But I am not so sure it is worth the cost over the Keltec. But for your wife the Keltec is pretty stiff to cock the bolt on. While the Ruger is a piece of cake. So I still would say go with the PC9. Was designed for use in patrol cars. So it is rugged.
 
I just noticed that the last post was my 1000th!

Also, "jobu07" did his 1000th on this thread!
Click to expand...

Hey, you're right Albanian! Well, we need to welcome ourselves into the "1,000" club. Lets say we each go get a case of ammo, blast through that, and a case of beer and do the same! ;) It's for the children you know.
 
Pros for the Marlin: Nice feeling, accurate, Garand-style safety, take S&W 59xx mags which are common. Reliable. Probably OK to shoot with +P ammo if you put in a heavier Wolff recoil spring. Uses same scope base as Marlin 336 leverguns. Choate makes a folding stock for it.

Con for the Marlin: Discontinued.

Pros for the Ruger: Built like a tank, reliable, rated for +P ammo out of the box, takes common Ruger pistol mags. Available with a factory ghost ring sight.

Cons: Crossbolt safety not ambidextrous like the Marlin's. Heavier than a Marlin.

FWIW, I have a Camp 45 with a red dot sight which is extremely reliable (except with one Chip McCormick mag :banghead: ) and accurate as heck out to 50 yards. I think you'd be happy with either the Ruger or Marlin.
 
"Hey, you're right Albanian! Well, we need to welcome ourselves into the "1,000" club. Lets say we each go get a case of ammo, blast through that, and a case of beer and do the same! It's for the children you know."

A shoot a case of ammo and drink a case of beer? Well, as long as long as it is in that order, I think we will be safe! :D

Tell you what, I just bought two new handguns to celebrate. I just paid for a Kahr P-9 and a Springfield Armory XD-9 in SS. I was looking for an excuse to justify these purchases so it looks like now I got one! "I had to buy a couple of new guns honey, it was my 1000th post on THR and I had to celebrate". I think that sounds pretty reasonable to me. :)
 
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