While I've zero experience with any handgun chambered for the .30 Cabine, I've had a half dozen carbines pass through my or my family's hands over the past 5 decades. My first was a DCM that I paid the princely sum of $13.25 for, IIRC, back in the mid-60s's. My dad kept it for me while I was out in Colorado in school till '68, and by then I was off to Texas for pilot training and got some fun shooting with it vs the local jack rabbit population. Since then I've had an Inland bought from a local, here in KY...again $400 if memory serves, and a trio of CMP's that were Inland and Standard models, and all were good shooters...~2.5-3" at 100 yds off a rest with my handloads.
I've always liked the military models, & saw a bunch of them in the hands of Vietnamese Rangers while on my first tour over in that Godforsaken country. They worked well enough with GI ammunition and their small size, quick handling and light weight were well suited to those tuff little guys up in the rolling jungle terrain of lll Corp, near Loc Ninh and Song Be. Finishing up my tour, I made an attempt to send one home with my hold baggage but was unsuccessful due to the misguided efforts of an overzealous squadron 3-stripe clerk.
Nowadays, I still find a pair of GI models useful for transitioning .22 cal. new shooters to a center fire noise and recoil, as well as the more demanding manual of arms necessary with a semi-auto rifle. Too, with the ammo cans of GI 110 gr FMJ's I bought decades ago, the round's still inexpensive for a whole afternoon's plinking. As to killing power, I'd not want to be on the receiving end, and while the M1 Carbine is legal (but a bit under powered IMHO) for deer here in the blue grass, it has killed a few woodchucks for me out to a hundred yards or so and remains, a hoot to shoot. YMMv, Rod