Pistol Carbine for HD + Recoil? (for wife)

D

Daekar

New member
I've been shooting more than usual lately and I just can't get over the difference in effective accuracy between rifles and pistols when it comes to rapid fire. This, plus my wife has been talking about wanting to get more comfortable with carrying/shooting. Which brings me to the title, who keeps a semi-auto pistol caliber carbine for HD, and what kind of recoil do they have? My wife is very recoil sensitive, so this actually matters... she wouldn't practice or enjoy it if it kicks much at all. I'm thinking 9mm +P loads for the house, if it matters.

I've been eyeballing the Beretta CX4 with 17 round 92FS mags or the Keltec Sub2000 with the 33 round Glock magazine. Opinions?

Oh yes, I know about possible penetration issues, but we live in the country and have no children, so that's not nearly as important as the stopping power and control offered by the carbine platform in my opinion.
 
Not much recoil at all for me,,,

I fired a Beretta 9mm carbine several weeks ago,,,
I thought the recoil was fairly mild.

It was a lot less than my H&R Handi-Rifle shooting .38 special or .357 Magnum,,,
That might not be a great comparison but it's all I have for ya.

Aarond
 
I bought a pistol caliber carbine for my son's first centerfire rifle due to the recoil issue. i currently own a camp 9 and keltec 9mm carbine. Both take S&W mags and cost around $300-$350
 
low recoil

My wife was involved in "NRA Women on Target" event at our local club. She and four others were the rifle instructors. The only rifles used were AR15's (223) of various makes. Out of the sixty women who went through the rifle portion of this event, only one (a 14 or 15 year old who may have weighed 80 pounds), had an issue with the recoil.

So, I think a AR15 carbine is well suited for recoil sensitive people. I would also like to mention that the ladies really liked the AR15 with a red-dot, and wanted to shoot it the most.
 
As much as I hate to say it, my girl is that one woman who doesn't like it. She has shot my SKS and my HK93 (223 carbine) and didn't really care for it. I think this might change eventually, and it's certainly not that she CAN'T, necessarily, but she dislikes it so she WON'T. I think she'll grow into normal power guns eventually... but not yet.
 
It may be that the blast/noise element is bothering her more than the actual physical recoil. I've noticed that in some shooters before and neither the HK93 or the SKS is really very recoil intensive. If that is the case, good ear protection or a suppressor can make a difference.
 
That's a good point about the blast/noise, but not really practical. She already wears good hearing protection, and the only suppressor I'm forking out money for would go on a semi-auto MP5, which is unfortunately not an option, financially. I also am not a fan of rifle calibers indoors.

All of this is moot though, because her arms are so short she has trouble holding the HK93 and the SKS, even if we did want to use them indoors. Whatever it is has to be lightweight, short length of pull, and preferably has the option for a vertical foregrip.

If the recoil is as light as Aarond says, then I think things will be fine with the 9mm. And really, why bother with more when +P 124 is getting you 357-ish performance out of the longer barrel?

The real question is... which one? Do they make decent higher capacity magazines for the hi-point? Does anybody have a Sub2000 that can testify to its durability?
 
no hi caps for the hi point except some 15 rd mags that have a reputation for being unreliable.

My sub 2000 has been perfect. reliable, easy to shoot, feeds everything, all my S&W mags work flawlessly. The only thing I don't like is that you can't mount optics onto it.
 
IMHO The Ruger PC-9 blows the Kel-Tec and Beretta out of the water. Too bad it is out of production, you will have to find a used one. Finding a used PC-9 at a reasonable price can be hard at times.

My experiences with the Kel-Tec:
Cheek wield is uncomfortable and on some samples feels like getting hit in the face with a piece of rebar.
Charging handle is awkwardly placed and heavy recoil spring makes charging difficult for people without the arm strength necessary.

However they are reliable and normal capacity mags hold plenty of ammo.

My experiences with the Beretta:
Open sights are mounted too low and are useless for aiming the gun.
Trigger is "meh". It feels inconsistent to me. I like the trigger on a Hi-Point better.
Very bulky for a PCC.

Again though, they are reliable and normal capacity mags hold plenty of ammo.

I honestly prefer a Hi-Point to either the Kel-Tec or the Beretta. The sights are better, the trigger is better, it's easier to work the bolt, they are reliable, it's more compact than the Beretta. The only downsides is that it doesn't fold like the Kel-Tec for storage and is limited to 10 round mags, not as big an issue with the 40 S&W model as it is with the 9mm.

Another candidate to look at is the Mech-Tec upper receivers.
 
"I've been eyeballing the Beretta CX4 with 17 round 92FS mags or the Keltec Sub2000 with the 33 round Glock magazine. Opinions?"

Both carbines shoot great and are accurate. Beretta has better quality.
You could buy the Keltec 2000 and a used Glock pistol that use the same mags for the cost of a CX4. The keltec folds down to an 18" length (easier to hide in the house). Don't need optics if your using it for HD or the range IMO. Recoil is mild in 9mm.
Both shoot great and take the larger capacity mags.
 
Another vote for the Hi-Point. Mine paired with a red dot sight is a near perfect combo for plinking at the range, and I think it would be great for HD too except I also have a nice old 870 for that.
 
The keltec folds down to an 18" length
Click to expand...
Actually 16"... fits in a laptop bags.

I've got a several month old S2K, only 500 rounds but not a single failure and I shooting cheap Wallyworld stuff. I'm very happy with it and am impressed with its accuracy. Also have a Glock 26 & 19 and enough 15/33 round mags for all three... really like the shared mag/ammo across the three firearms. I also have 12ga. pump with 18.5" barrel and would toss a coin between it and the S2K in a home defense situation.

The key with the S2K vs the other pistol caliber carbines is obviously it's foldability/portability... it makes for an excellent travel gun. If it's only used for home defense, that may not be so important, and the price for ultra-portability is arguably some additional fragility - this is not a gun that will take kindly to being dropped, for example. On the plus side, with the S2K stored in a laptop bag, your wife could discreetly carry it from room to room in the house and it would take literally 2 seconds to deploy it. And if the bag were sitting on the coffee table when a surprise intruder burst into the house, it wouldn't even occur to him that there was a "rifle" in the vicinity.

Agree with Crosshair on some of the downsides:
- cheekweld is tough, but I find this is due it's relatively short/low stocktube - a shorter person might actually find it fit quite well.
- charge handle on the stocktube is awkwardly placed, but you just need to get used to it - put the butt on your chest and the charge handle is easy enough to work.
- trigger ain't the greatest - it's plastic and feels a bit rubbery.

As far as recoil is concerned, at 4lbs, the S2K ss probably one of the lightest center fire "long guns" out there, so if she really doesn't like recoil, this ain't best gun to shoot.
 
Recoil of the 1927A1 Thompson .45 ACP carbine is virtually nil. Of course, that beast goes over 10lbs empty! And with a 50rnd drum, a couple pounds more!

Perhaps not the best pistol caliber carbine for home defense, but you absolutely CANNOT beat the intimidation factor!

Mine will put 5 rnds in one ragged hole at 25yds with careful aim, and can also nail the 200yd gong on the rifle range with the ladder sight!

And, as a last ditch measure, you can do fearsome damage to an attacker, just by dropping it on them!:p
 
Perhaps not the best pistol caliber carbine for home defense, but you absolutely CANNOT beat the intimidation factor!
Click to expand...

Sure you can, with a KP-31 Suomi .:D

m31_suomi_right-550px.jpg
 
A carbine in 9mm is going to have very little recoil. For comparison, my Winchester 94 in 357 Magnum has considerably less recoil than my 22-250 with a 26" bull barrel. With 38's it is like shooting a big 22.
 
I have a hi-point 9mm carbine...I know.. they're cheap, but it's a sweet little carbine! The charging handle is large and easy to find, and has a spring loaded recoil pad, so the recoil is nil.I have their extra clip mount on the stock which holds two more clips, so you have thirty rounds on hand.Oh ya.. and also the red dot sight works great in low light situations.
But we both keep revolvers on our night stands.
We also live in the country with no children so we have weapons all over the house.
I originally got the carbine for nocturnal critters coming around the house and tearing things up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top