I picked up a PCC and love the low recoil and cheap practice ammo. They are killer for short range, truck gun duty, and fast drills, but they ain’t long range powerhouses, is anyone here running one for home defense or competition, and which cartridge do you prefer?
Pistol caliber carbines
- Thread starter Robin1
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Rogue_soldier
Member
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- Oct 1, 2025
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Back in my day, we didn't worry about 'low recoil' and 'cheap practice ammo' for home defense. You had your grandpappy's old .45 ACP Tommy Gun and you were happy! That big, heavy chunk of steel meant business. Nobody was asking about long-range with a pistol round, you just needed it to work in the parlor. But fine, if you insist on this newfangled PCC business. For the competitions you mentioned, you run 9mm Luger. Why? Because every modern competition shooter is a skinny little fella who cares more about the magazine capacity and the milliseconds between shots than actual thump. 9mm is softer shooting, and the stages are designed around it now..for home defense, I'd grit my teeth and say 10mm Auto, but since you whippersnappers only like the little ones, stick to the 9mm with a good, modern 147-grain jacketed hollow point (JHP). The extra barrel on your carbine makes that 9mm hit faster and expand more reliably than it ever would from your handgun. It's the only one of the 'pistol' calibers that manages to be both cheap for practice and almost respectable for duty.
Indigo22
Well-known member
I like barrels at or about about 10 inches, but that makes them no longer a carbine or a rifle... Maires Leg or pistol length making it more fun. A pistol caliber cartridge from that length barrel will make them hard hitters, thumpers if you will, even the lowly 22Lr manages to do its job better.
This was a funny read, I love the grandpa energy. I’m leaning 9mm for my PCC too and for home defense I’ll stick with solid 9mm defensive loads.
10" barrels great blast, but watch the legal side (SBR rules). Pistol-length builds feel punchier and stay compact for truck/home use. I love that balance of handling and muzzle flash.
home defense- shotgun, pump, short barrel 18", heavy bird shot/ buck shot, cylinder bore- . 10-15 ft that is about a 5" pattern. in that kind of situation max adrenaline flow, shaking like a leaf in wind, ability see likely very low, ability to make a .356 dia pill contact target pretty low. intruder not like a target - they might shoot back. even the little 410 with 7 buck shot balls is going to make some mincemeat. I don't believe in spray & pray
The only viable home defense weapon is a 20 ga semi auto with a short barrel, probably skeet with trap or skeet loads in 7 1/2 or smaller shot. Anything else and you will be sending bullets through your entire house and possibly into the neighbors. A 20 ga is quicker and easier to handle and at home defense ranges it will cut the intruder in half just as fast. Birdshot travels between 1200 and 1400 fps in both the 20 and 12 ga 2 3/4 inch loads. When in the heat of battle you don't want to be dealing with having to jack in a new load after the first shot misses. A semi auto, Remington 1100 or the like means all you have to to is point and shoot. This is especially important if you don't have people all that familiar with firearms in the house. The thought of a pump racking a shell might scare the intruder off these days is pretty much a pipe dream. Most of these criminals that will be breaking into your home will have no idea what the noise is, and worse yet it will give them an idea of where you are. Be Safe, not Sorry or dead.
