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Pistol & Pistol Caliber Carbine Combos - Which one - Manual or Auto?

larry44

larry44

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We all know the advantages of having pistols and carbine/rifles able to shoot the same ammo - this goes back to the cowboy days. Which combination of the following two firearms do you think is the most effective and/or practical for today's potential real-world defensive situations?

1) Ruger GP-100 with 4" barrel and the Marlin 1894CS lever action- each shooting .357 Magnum and the .38 Special?

or

2) Beretta 92FS and the Beretta Cx4 Storm carbine - each shooting 9mm with interchangeable magazines?


The first group has the advantage of far more powerful and versatile cartridges in both the .38 and the .357, and it can be argued that they are both more reliable. The second, semi-automatic group, however, has the advantage of firepower with their use of interchangeable, hi-cap magazines.

Let's focus on the manual vs. semi-auto concepts rather than the choice of firearms. Which two would you rather have if you can have only one group or the other?
 
I've got a 629 Powerport matched with an 1894 Winchester in .44 Mag that I like. And every time I see a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine come on the market I think seriously about picking it up to partner with my M1 carbine.

Lever action rifles can be shot very fast if you practice... And the .357 or .44 are a lot more powerful than the 9mm.
 
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My EDC is a K40, just picked up the HP .40 in the group buy. The Kahr is one of the smallest semi's out there, reliable as hell. The HP is supposed to be reliable as well, but I'll reserve judgement in that until I have a lot more than 100 rounds through it. I may add the .45 version at a later date to pair with my xD45, but we'll see. I also just picked up a GP100 in stainless with a 6" barrel, so I'm not averse to wheel guns.

To accurately answer the OP however, and taking into the account that "Hi-Cap" is essentially a fantasy he is MA, I revert to "more faster is better". Even w/o the interchangeable mag option, I think being able to carry multiple easy loading mags far outweighs the (IMHO) somewhat outdated perception of revolver vs semi-auto reliabilty debate. I have at least 3k error-free rounds through my xD45, and 1000 or so through the Kahr.

Speed loaders will NEVER be faster than drop/slap, and loading a lever action speaks for itself. Yes, there are reasons both are still around, and nostalgia is high on the list.
 
If I were to add a weapon to pair up with one I had or buy two in the same caliber it would be for fun and for the sake of doing it. Not for defensive considerations. For the fun factor it would probably a .357 lever gun.
 
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I have a Marlin 1894 and a pair of Ruger Vacqueros in .44 Magnum. This would be the set-up I recommend although the semi-auto concept should work okay also.

One advantage to my choice I just thought of is that I am not at the mercy of magazine problems.
 
I really like the idea of interchangeable magazines (Beretta Storm or Kel Tec). A lever gun/revolver combo is neat, but doesn't really do it for me, personally, especially with how slow lever guns are to reload. That combined with the availability of hi cap mags, the semi-auto's are much, much more appealing, even if the cartridges aren't the most potent out there.
 
I went with the 357 combo. I have a few revolvers, an 1894 levergun and a H&R trapper single shot rifle all in 357. The nice thing is they are not ammo sensitive. You can fire 38 shot shells, target wadcutters up to full house heavy magnum hunting loads. I can top off the 1894 on the fly and I'll bet I can get 10 in the tube faster than I can get 10 in a mag of a semi-auto. Best of all, it's all fun.
 
dwarven1 said:
I've got a 629 Powerport matched with an 1894 Winchester in .44 Mag that I like. And every time I see a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine come on the market I think seriously about picking it up to partner with my M1 carbine.

Lever action rifles can be shot very fast if you practice... And the .357 or .44 are a lot more powerful than the 9mm.
Click to expand...
aah, but which is more readily available, and cheaper, and faster to reaquire a sight picture? I'd have to go 9mm here, imo
 
I vote for KRISS super v and a 1911. Both .45 ACP!


~~~~~~~~~
scratch that... I would get the corresponding glock and share the mags
 
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dwarven1 said:
I've got a 629 Powerport matched with an 1894 Winchester in .44 Mag that I like. And every time I see a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine come on the market I think seriously about picking it up to partner with my M1 carbine.
Lever action rifles can be shot very fast if you practice... And the .357 or .44 are a lot more powerful than the 9mm.
Click to expand...

THIS
 
Yep +1 M1 carbine and Ruger Blackhawk . I have this combo and i love it. .30 carbine is a cool little round . I also have contender barrel in .30 carbine that is insanely accurate.
 
My Marlin Camp Carbine in .45 acp with a few 30 round mags, paired up with my Combat Comander.
 
None of the above. Can I throw away the PCC and have an AR-15 or an AK instead?

If someone told me "You must choose a pistol and a PCC" it would be a Glock 17 and an Uzi.

-Mike
 
If I had to go with a pistol and matching carbine, probably G17 and matching KelTec.


For pure awesome, though, I might also consider a HiPower and Suomi.
 
groundscrapers said:
I vote for KRISS super v and a 1911. Both .45 ACP!


~~~~~~~~~
scratch that... I would get the corresponding glock and share the mags
Click to expand...

Why not switch the 1911 for the Glock 21...then you have total magazine interchangeability with the KRISS.
Either way, nice choice!

+1 for a Glock 19/17 and Kel-Tec Sub2000s to match.

Ive got the rev/lever setup at the moment though and I love it.
 
Nostalgically speaking, I like my two combo's. Granted, neither are built for speed and volume but for sheer pleasure I have a Ruger Blackhawk 38/357 to accompany my Marlin 1894 along with a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Mag and a Marlin 1894 FG in .41 Mag. Fun to shoot and reload for.
 
Another vote for the Keltec Sub2k with either a Glock 17, or Beretta 92 combo as both are available in pre-ban high caps for those of us stuck behind the iron curtain. The Sub2k is a very handy, very concealable, and portable carbine which gives it an advantage over most available pistol caliber carbines that I know of. Obviously an AR/AK would be a better overall choice in a pure carbine, but in the scope of this thread where the op is referring to matching mags, and ammo, the Keltec is hard to beat.
 

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