Pistol-caliber carbine for home defence.

[MachIVshooter]

They aren't even close to a rifle, they are generally shorter, much lighter, less recoil, less noise, and less power of course, than a rifle.

There are numerous 5.56mm carbines that are just as short and light and with similar recoil, albeit much louder.

My PLR-16 is half the weight and only 2/3 the length of your average semi-auto pistol caliber carbine, yet offers substatially better terminal ballistics coupled with the lower probability of structure exiting inherent in most 5.56mm rounds. Only problem is noise.

Methinks the detractors are people that don't own one.

Got a Cx4 9mm and a Marlin Camp 45. They are fun to play with, but about my last choice for HD. I prefer handguns for portability/concealability. If the threat is serious enough to justify more firepower, I will grab the 870, PLR-16 or AR-10.

A pitsol caliber carbine beats the heck out of a non-firearms weapon for HD, but IMO there are too many drawbacks when compared to handguns or rifles.
As I've sadi before, sometimes compromises leave you with the worst of each.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Yeah, didn't we just do this like 5 days ago?

Oh well,I will repost my answer to that thread.

First rule of a gunfight, bring a gun.

Why WOULDN'T a pistol caliber carbine be good enough. The question itself seems odd to me.

I have a 9mm CX4 Storm. My wife loves it, even my 11 year old boy could shoot an intruder with it if it came to that last chance defense, he's run hundreds of rounds through the thing.

 

[MCgunner]

I guess some myths never die.

Where's the myth? You don't think a .223 can penetrate dry wall? You don't think you're liable for innocents you hit? I know you are in deep do do in Texas for "collateral damage".

If I used a .223, I'd definitely use a varmint load with an explosive bullet, ie one that shatters on impact with a ground hog. Might not be ideal for self defense, but I doubt it'd penetrate any worse than a .357 revolver round in wood, might not even make it through the BG. FMJ is sure not the way to go and I wouldn't go with a large caliber rifle round either.

If I lived in an apartment, I'd use frangibles in a revolver.

 

[Spencer]

Where's the myth? You don't think a .223 can penetrate dry wall? You don't think you're liable for innocents you hit? I know you are in deep do do in Texas for "collateral damage".

If I used a .223, I'd definitely use a varmint load with an explosive bullet, ie one that shatters on impact with a ground hog. Might not be ideal for self defense, but I doubt it'd penetrate any worse than a .357 revolver round in wood, might not even make it through the BG. FMJ is sure not the way to go and I wouldn't go with a large caliber rifle round either.

If I lived in an apartment, I'd use frangibles in a revolver.

Yes .223 can penetrate dry wall. You don't think a .357 mag can?

This stuff about how pistol rounds stop where they're supposed to and how rifle rounds fly into the next state has been discussed on this forum several times.

 

[DougW]

I keep one AR stoked with a frangible 55gr load for the first 10 rounds in a 30 round magazine. Over penitration issue is minimized, but the round is devistating on a soft tissue target. The other 20 rounds are XM193, BTW, that AR is a 20" rifle.

Concerning the over penetration "myth", I would wonder if someone that thinks that a .223 will not penetrate 2 layers of drywall would like to stand behind the wall while just 1 round is fired from the other side of the wall.

Hmmmmmmmmm................................

 

[The Deer Hunter]

Do they make carbines in .50 S&W yet?

 

[Bigfoot]

I think a pistol-caliber carbine would be fantastic for home defence against possums, skunks and yotes.

For two legged critters (that could shoot back) I'll use a higher powered carbine or the shottie, it depends on the lighting. After all whats at risk here is my families life. I call the extra cost cheap life insurance.

 

[crunker]

Hmm, a Beretta 9mm carbine, civillian MP5 or MP5/10, or MAC.

 

[MCgunner]

Yes .223 can penetrate dry wall. You don't think a .357 mag can?

Unless you're using magsafe. That's what I'd use in an apartment, or Glasier. A rifle has more penetration than a handgun, though. But, rapidly expanding bullets of low sectional density or the varmint bullets used in .22 caliber can dramatically reduce such penetration.

I only have a couple of neighbors nearby. So I just leave my handguns loaded with street ammo, +P JHPs, 158 grain in the .38. Good 'nough for the FBI, good 'nough for me.

 

[SuperNaut]

A CX4 in .460 Rowland would overcome a lot of the objections in this thread. Lotsa fps and lotsa mass, sounds pretty good to me...

 

[taliv]

another thing to consider is that rifle and pistol bullets were intended to perform at a given speed. shortening the barrel on a rifle will generally result in poorer terminal performance, while lengthening the barrel on a pistol, presumably, will help somewhat.

i'm not saying a 230g 45acp at 1100fps (instead of 800fps) is suddenly superior to a 55g at 2500 fps (instead of 3200fps) but if the 230g opens dramatically and the 55g remains largely intact instead of fragmenting (which i believe happens around 2700fps), then it's not really fair to be comparing "pistol caliber carbines" to "rifle caliber carbines" as if you were comparing a 5" handgun to a 24" rifle.

 

[browningguy]

There are numerous 5.56mm carbines that are just as short and light and with similar recoil, albeit much louder.

My PLR-16 is half the weight and only 2/3 the length of your average semi-auto pistol caliber carbine, yet offers substatially better terminal ballistics coupled with the lower probability of structure exiting inherent in most 5.56mm rounds. Only problem is noise.

I said "generally", but here goes. The only standard carbines I'm aware of that are close in weight are the carbon 15 and the SU16, I think the Carbon comes with an A2 stock so you would need to change that out to get length down. Otherwise you need a registered SBR, which not too many people have (percentage wise that is). My SU16 "A" feels substantially longer than my Sub2000, although I haven't bothered to check the exact dimensions.

Isn't the PLR a pistol, not a carbine? Although I am considering one it's not for use inside the house in the dark. Your vision would be impaired for some time from the large fireball exiting the muzzle, and you might never hear right again. You could of course add a good flash suppressor (if allowed in your locality), and wear hearing protection. The flash suppressor is easy for most of us, but I'm wondering how many people put on hearing protection when things go bump in the night.