Pistol Caliber Carbine

[GJM]

In terms of defensive use, there is an issue with many of the 9mm carbines, in reliably and quickly getting them loaded. Watch a USPSA stage with an unloaded start, and there is often drama, between magazines not getting seated and falling out, and/or stoppages caused by manual cycling the first round having less velocity than the bolt stripping a round when firing. I just don't see those issues with a 5.56 AR.

[OlongJohnson]

New Nordic PCC with interchangeable mag feature:

Got an email that says they're shipping now.

https://nordiccomp.com/product-category/firearms/9mm/

[OldRunner/CSAT Neighbor]

Beat me to it Olong, received the same email an hr ago but life side tracked me w/ posting it, good on ya brother.

[MSparks909]

Got an email that says they're shipping now.

https://nordiccomp.com/product-category/firearms/9mm/

I'll be keeping my eyes on this one. Price?

[jeep45238]

$1600 according to their website, magwells are $150, M&P and Glock 9mm models only (at the moment, but how often is something new promised and never comes to fruition?)

[Bergeron]

In terms of defensive use, there is an issue with many of the 9mm carbines, in reliably and quickly getting them loaded. Watch a USPSA stage with an unloaded start, and there is often drama, between magazines not getting seated and falling out, and/or stoppages caused by manual cycling the first round having less velocity than the bolt stripping a round when firing. I just don't see those issues with a 5.56 AR.

Thank you for sharing this information. Is this a reason why you prefer the Glock mag guns to the Colt stick mags? I'd like to start a PCC 9mm AR gun project, and I'm torn on mag type. The sharing of your experience with these separate mag types is very helpful, thank you.

[Norville]

In terms of defensive use, there is an issue with many of the 9mm carbines, in reliably and quickly getting them loaded. Watch a USPSA stage with an unloaded start, and there is often drama, between magazines not getting seated and falling out, and/or stoppages caused by manual cycling the first round having less velocity than the bolt stripping a round when firing. I just don't see those issues with a 5.56 AR.

I agree. Stuffing a fully loaded MPX mag into the gun is an exercise in precision punching. Download by one and it gets easier I use a 20 with a trimmed insert to allow easier reloading. I stilll am slow but mostly due to my lack of practice not equipment issues.

[GJM]

Thank you for sharing this information. Is this a reason why you prefer the Glock mag guns to the Colt stick mags? I'd like to start a PCC 9mm AR gun project, and I'm torn on mag type. The sharing of your experience with these separate mag types is very helpful, thank you.

I don't think any of them excel at bolt forward, loaded starts. Downloading a few rounds helps.

You really want 40 rounds in a USPSA PCC gun, and that is straightforward with Glock and MPX magazines, when combined with a plus ten extension. Seems like a high percentage of PCC guns I see at matches run MPX or Glock magazines.

[OlongJohnson]

If anyone was looking to pick up a Colt 6951, it looks like another run made it to distributors.

https://gun.deals/search/apachesolr_search/098289023285

[GJM]

Transitioning north, when I stop shooting USPSA matches to fall again, so I figured I would put a summary together for this PCC thread.

Equipment:

My USPSA friends call USPSA Pistol Caliber Carbine division, "open long," and there is probably some truth to that. I have spent the season tinkering with gear, and settled on what works best for me. I have experimented with a Colt 6951, the JP GMR-13, Sig MPX, and a custom AR-9 blow back, built by a very talented, USPSA shooter living down in Yuma. If I wanted to shoot factory ammo, and would put up with the risk of getting a reliable specimen, I think the MPX is the way to go, as it shoots so soft with full power ammo. The caveat is that product is still immature, and in my experience, suffering from various small part issues (gas port, BCG, firing pin and firing pin springs). My favorite PCC is the side charger, blow back AR-9, combined with ammo loaded for that gun (hence "open long"). I am running the Leupold LCO, a Crimson Trace CMR-206 green laser, Taccom3G magwell, Hipertouch 24C trigger, and an Odin Works Atlas compensator. I have been using an Acme bullet, 135 grain "red bullet," over 2.8 grains of Tite Group, for a very soft shooting, 134 power factor load.

Here is version #2:






Training:

While I have always self identified as a rifleman, a dispassionate analysis would show that I have spent 100 times as much effort on pistol shooting for the last ten to twenty years, only dragging rifles out for hunting season, defense around bears, and very intermittent practice. PCC changed that, since I was able to shoot the carbine with 9mm in pistol bays on pistol targets (especially steel). Since December, I estimate I have spent 35% of my time shooting the carbine, and it has definitely sharpened up my long gun shooting. Besides improving my long gun shooting, I believe PCC has definitely helped my pistol shooting, as shooting at carbine speeds has helped me learn to process faster, and that has translated to faster pistol shooting.


Competition:

PCC seems to continue to build in popularity, and monthly, it seems like there are more PCC shooters at matches. Something I experienced, and I routinely hear from others, is that PCC is crazy fun to shoot at matches. That is contagious.

After shooting Production, and Carry Optics prior to the 140mm magazine change, I was in a ten round world. By comparison, PCC felt like going to the big kid's table, and I really enjoyed running with the Open shooters. I got to shoot two area matches in PCC, and finished mid 70's percentage against the match winner and PCC national champion, Max Leograndis. Stand and shoot, I do significantly better than on field courses. This past weekend, I got to finish my PCC season at an all classifier match, with stand and shoot stages, and I really crushed it, which made for a great way to end the season and my PCC experiment.

Looking forward to a change of scenery and cooler temperatures, carrying a 14 inch Benelli stuffed full of Brenneke slugs, my HK pistols with .45 Super, and practicing for Carry Optics next fall with the Walther Q5.