M1 Carbine for Home Defense?

[Suvorov]

I have long been thinking about the idea of having a carbine for the home defense role. While my wife has been shown how to use a pistol and has to (by a pact we made) attend annual retraining, she is at best - not likely to shoot herself with it. She is terrified of the 12GA that supplements the home defense plan, but can shoot a .22 rifle and an AR15 with amazing skill! Given the politics surrounding AR15s in Kalifornia, they are not the best option IMHO for a HD gun. I also have issues with the muzzle blast of a 223 indoors which has for now ruled out a Mini14. I've been looking for a Ruger PC9 carbine, but those things are silly impossible to find, expensive for what they are, and really are not that inspiring to me in hand. So that leaves me with the M1 Carbine. They are super light and handy, low recoiling, sturdy, and with soft point or hollow point ammo - have good terminal ballistics. They are however a little dated.

So with that, what is the general concensios on putting a "war baby" into the role of HD gun?

Should I go with a military gun, or are some of the after market guns like the Thompson/Kahr M1s good (I would consider tacticooling up a WWII M1 to be a sin)?

What kind of sighting options are available?

Anyone else use one for this role?

[TGS]

I have long been thinking about the idea of having a carbine for the home defense role. While my wife has been shown how to use a pistol and has to (by a pact we made) attend annual retraining, she is at best - not likely to shoot herself with it. She is terrified of the 12GA that supplements the home defense plan, but can shoot a .22 rifle and an AR15 with amazing skill! Given the politics surrounding AR15s in Kalifornia, they are not the best option IMHO for a HD gun. I also have issues with the muzzle blast of a 223 indoors which has for now ruled out a Mini14. I've been looking for a Ruger PC9 carbine, but those things are silly impossible to find, expensive for what they are, and really are not that inspiring to me in hand. So that leaves me with the M1 Carbine. They are super light and handy, low recoiling, sturdy, and with soft point or hollow point ammo - have good terminal ballistics. They are however a little dated.

So with that, what is the general concensios on putting a "war baby" into the role of HD gun?

Should I go with a military gun, or are some of the after market guns like the Thompson/Kahr M1s good (I would consider tacticooling up a WWII M1 to be a sin)?

What kind of sighting options are available?

Anyone else use one for this role?

Did you check out DocGKR's thread on M1 Carbines?

FWIW, just some other things to think about real quick.....Mossberg 505 .410 youth shotgun. 000 buck in .410 is okay terminal-wise. Also, instead of the Ruger PC9, there's also the Beretta Cx4 which I've shot...not a bad gun. I'd still rather have an M1 with JSP ammo compared to either, however.

[DocGKR]

M1 carbines work fine, especially with an Ultimak rail, RDS, and light added:



All you folks in NY should carefully read your state's odioius and misnamed "SAFE" act--especially the section which exempts weapons and magazines that are over 50 years old...

[Maple Syrup Actual]

My only concern would be availability of decent ammo but I imagine you have fairly different options than we would in Canada. Other than that, it's a light, handy, military-grade PCC and Ultimak makes a rail for it. What's not to like? (In Canada, the fact that I'd probably never find anything but FMJ).

[TGS]

M1 carbines work fine, especially with an Ultimak rail, RDS, and light added:



All you folks in NY should carefully read your state's odioius and misnamed "SAFE" act--especially the section which exempts weapons and magazines that are over 50 years old...

An M1 Carbine with an Aimpoint Micro.

It's like they were made for each other.

[Suvorov]

Did you check out DocGKR's thread on M1 Carbines?

FWIW, just some other things to think about real quick.....Mossberg 505 .410 youth shotgun. 000 buck in .410 is okay terminal-wise. Also, instead of the Ruger PC9, there's also the Beretta Cx4 which I've shot...not a bad gun. I'd still rather have an M1 with JSP ammo compared to either, however.

Well, no I didn't Pretty much all my answers here. Actually I seem to recall reading it years ago at M4.net which probably planted the original idea seed.

The Beretta Cx4 would actually be the ideal answer since I use an M9 as the HD pistol. That said, I have looked into it and making the Cx4 Kalifornia compliant is more trouble that it is worth (it is too short, has a detachable magazine with a pistol grip, and a few other issues).

So what about the Auto Ordnance/Kahr carbines - anyone own one?

[DocGKR]

Stick to USGI...

[ffhounddog]

I am all for a M1 carbine myself. I did get a Beretta CX4 Storm in 9mm that takes Beretta Mags. It is light and handy and I can load it with some decent 9mm rounds. It is a heavy towards the rear of the stock. My wife is okay with the M4 but she really liked the CX4 storm because she can maneuver it better inside the house. We have Remington Golden Saber 147gr JHP in it right now.

[JDM]

Probably a dumb question, but where would someone who has almost exclusively bought brand new modern firearms go to buy a USGI M1 carbine?

Ron P's ( an Albuquerque LGS) used to have three or four on the shelf regularly. I don't know if that is still the case.

I'd be curious to know if there was a reasonably constant supply of M1Cs available somewhere besides local shops.

[TGS]

The Beretta Cx4 would actually be the ideal answer since I use an M9 as the HD pistol. That said, I have looked into it and making the Cx4 Kalifornia compliant is more trouble that it is worth (it is too short, has a detachable magazine with a pistol grip, and a few other issues).

The same issues don't apply to the M1 Carbine because it doesn't have a pistol grip? I'm not well versed in California's laws...