I’m a big fan of Pistol Caliber Carbines (PCC) for prepping… but does my opinion hold water?
Let’s find out.
So What Is A Pistol Caliber Carbine?
A PCC is exactly what it sounds like from the name… a carbine length rifle that uses ammunition most commonly used in pistols.
There are many common calibers that feature PCC’s… 9mm, 40 S&W, .45 ACP are three of the most popular in semi-automatic weapons.
There are also lever-action PCC’s, and these commonly use rounds like .38 special/.357 magnum, .44 magnum, .45 long colt, etc.
Many semi-automatic PCC’s use the same magazines as popular handguns, making the magazines interchangeable between the two. Some do not.
Advantages of a PCC?
There are several advantages of PCC’s.
- Ammunition is MUCH cheaper in pistol calibers, often a fraction of the price of rifle rounds
- PCC’s (generally) have very tame recoil, very little muzzle rise and are excellent choices for sound suppression
- Magazine interchangeability, when it’s available, is very nice.
- If you shoot indoors, they are allowed on almost every shooting range (unlike many rifles)
- They may be the best way to get the highest capacity legally available in your state
- They are generally smaller than most big-caliber carbines
PCC Disadvantages
Of course, there have to be downsides, right?
- PCC’s don’t have the ‘hitting power’ of a rifle
- PCC’s sometimes have only slightly better ‘impact’ than a pistol, while being far less maneuverable
- Many PCC’s are nearly as big as a small .223 caliber bullpup, and many are heavier than a light AR-15 pistol.
Salty’s Own Experiences With The PCC’s He Owns
I have several PCC’s, from some of the cheapest ones out there on up to one high-end gun.
I’ve only done a review on one, and in my humble opinion, it’s the best review I have ever written. Here’s the link:
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2017/03/03/hi-point-995ts-9mm-carbine/
Of course, that’s the LOW end of the spectrum, and while it is both cheap and reliable, it also has limited capacity, magazine interchangeability and it is beastly heavy.
Further up the food chain comes one of the more interesting guns that I own, a Kel-Tec Sub2000 in 9mm.
I’m going to do a full review on it one of these days, and when I do I will insert it here. For now, I’ll tell you about the Sub2000.
Sub2000
Kel-Tec is a wierd company. I ordered my 9mm Glock compatible Sub2000 nearly a full year before I got one. For some strange reason known only to Kel-Tec they can put out a gun that is a complete hit, and then not produce anywhere near enough to keep up with demand… for years at a time.
Let’s show you around my Sub2000 so you can see what it looks like:
My particular Sub2000 is the Glock version, and it accepts 17 round magazines and up. The bottom picture shows a Glock factory 33 round magazine, works great with this gun.
As you can see, the Sup2000 does almost everything a pistol caliber carbine is supposed to do, it’s small, it’s light, it uses inexpensive ammo and as a bonus, the magazines are interchangeable with our handguns of choice.
There are just a couple of “downsides” the the Sub2000 (other than spotty availability) that are (somewhat) fixed by after market parts. Unlike most PCC’s I’ve owned and shot, the Sub2000 has a level of recoil that’s actually noticeable. Additionally, the way that the stock tube interfaces with the stock can pinch the hairs of a bearded shooter. You can see an aftermarket tube cover that I put on mine to fix this problem and give me more consistent cheek weld. More on this in the full review.
I’ll be putting together a full review of the Sub2000 in the near future,
Lever Gun PCC Love
One of the best things about PCC lever guns is that they are legal in a lot of places where higher capacity magazines are not.
Although the 16.5 inch Henry Big Boy Steel doesn’t hold as many rounds as it’s longer siblings, I love the size and feel of the gun so this is the one I bought (I don’t have any pictures of it available so here’s a stock shot). It holds 7+1 of .357 magnum rounds.
The good news is that when you shoot .357 rounds, they hit REALLY hard. The better news is that you can also shoot cheaper .38 Specials as well. The bad news, though… the aiming points are (not surprisingly) vastly different between the two rounds, so you can only sight the gun in for one or the other, not both.
I’m a huge fan of Henry Rifles (hey, name me another leading manufacturer where the boss actually answers the phone for customer service) and my Big Boy Steel is a great gun.
Additionally, unlike my 9mm carbines, the .357 round is big enough to handle deer-sized game, making it a good choice for a hunting gun here in the Midwest. I wouldn’t take it Elk or Moose hunting, but for Deer size on down, it works.
AR-Styled PCC’s
I don’t own one, but I’ve recently shot fairly extensively with a CMMG 9mm DRB2 and I really, really like it. Very similar manual of arms to what I am used to from an AR-15.
Conclusion
PCC’s have their place in prepping for sure, if you’ve never considered one before I recommend trying one out.
I’m also a big fan of the Sub2000. Mine is in .40 using the Glock magazines and have been using it as my car gun for over 2 years. I solved the stock tube problem with a piece of water pipe insulation and two zip ties. While I don’t have a beard, I didn’t like the bad cheek weld and banging on my face when firing the gun and decided to do something about an otherwise very satisfactory weapon. If anyone were to ask me about buying one for themselves, I’d tell them to get one ASAP. I also agree that the wait to get such a gun is terrible. Mine took over a year and that’s because the .40 guns aren’t as much in demand as the 9MM, according to my dealer. My only complaint about the gun, now that I fixed the tube stock problem, is the disassembly for cleaning. I’m an older person and don’t have the hand strength I used to. So, for me, taking the butt off and replacing it was a challenge until I figured out that I could brace it against a solid object as I put the butt back on and installed the pin holding everything in place.
Sounds like a plan. I have to admit I was surprised as to how much force is needed to put that gun back together… A LOT of force.
With the aftermarket buffer tube shield i put on it, it pretty much limits what position i can put the stock in because the shield is “cut to fit”, but frankly the gun is a pain enough to change lengths on even without it that I just don’t care, I set it the longest and forgot it.
I’ve shot dozens of PCC from 380acp up to 44mag lever guns and they really do have a place in ones arms locker especially if one lives in a urban/suburban area. Where PCC’s really shine now are the pistol versions with armbraces of the carbines that are highly maneuverable and compact. I use to own a hi point 9mm carbine but couldn’t stand the 10rd only magazine. I can’t stand the AR’s that take Glock mags either. I totally understand the reasoning of able to switch mags, increased velocity in carbine length it’s just a personal pet peeve. I don’t want to reach into the safe and grab a 9mm AR when everything is set up for 223 if need be. I now have a CZ scorpion pistol that was a deal I couldn’t pass up, it is just silly accurate at 50 yards, very low recoil and very compact even with the fixed brace attached. I attached a friends silencer to it and running 147gr subsonics, it is amazingly quiet, just about perfect for the suburban survivalist. Best part is, 9mm is as low as .15 cents a round vs .20 of the cheapest 223 out there. The Cz has replaced the folding stocked AK as our travel gun
I also have the Kel Tec Sub-2000 in Glock 9mm. I like it because it weighs 5 lbs loaded, folds down to 16.5” which allows it to be stored in surprisingly small packs or bags for carrying, I find it to be accurate and reliable. I added the tube cover and a raised peep sight from MCARBO (no affiliation). The raised peep sight eases the contortions needed to get a sight picture, which is pretty difficult with the stock rear sight. The peep hole is also bigger, giving faster target acquisition. I still get some beard pull even with the cover, but it isn’t too bad.
The Sub-2K runs dirty and it can be difficult to clean the receiver area just because there is not much access. Having said that, I ran 500 rounds through it without ANY cleaning as a test, and there were no failures. I can’t imagine (or at least do not want to) a bugout situation where you would push this carbine to that level.
I haven’t checked it on a chronograph, but with the 16 inch barrel, a typical 9mm round will fire about 15- 20% hotter, based on numbers found on a website that showed “Ballistics by the Inch” of barrel. This equates to 1300 fps, or higher, depending on your choice of ammo. I can hit reliably on a 20 inch silhouette target at 100 yds, which is farther than I would probably ever need it.
hmm I got a kel tech in 5.56 mm shoots .223 also
Its a pistol class
loud as crap
very accurate at short ranges
Doesn’t quite fit in my glove box in the car though lol
got a henry big boy in .357 owned it for 8 years . Its so damned nice ive never shot it . Safe queen I guess
it feels like a work of art actually
But tomorrow it gets test fired . I feel like zombies are coming hehe
I put a scratch in Salty’s Henry the first time I shot it. (Sorry Salty!) It slipped on the bench and slid. On the up side, it got shot a lot more after it was no longer pristine.