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Pistol-caliber carbines...

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JTH:
Recently I've been asked by several people about the pistol-caliber carbine that I've been shooting, as they were interested in getting into that sort of thing in USPSA and Steel Challenge.

Some thoughts about PCC, and what you "need" for it:

https://precisionresponse.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/pistol-caliber-carbine/

If you've got the money, sure, get a JP PCC. Or if you want something different, go for the SIG MPX or the CZ Scorpion. If you have lots of money, and like guns with known "names" attached to them, buy the Wilson PCC.

....but you don't need to spend that much to have a perfectly decent PCC that is a ton of fun to shoot.

jarelj:
Great write-up Thomas, thanks!  I tried PCC for the first time at the Zombie Match and it will definitely not be my last!  8)

greg58:
I agree as well, PCC is a hoot to shoot, little recoil, and ammo is cheap. Well at least 9mm is.
Mine never failed me at the Zombie shoot, only my own failures, and mistakes.

Greg58

JTH:
As a followup to that, ammo choices for PCC....

Far as I can tell, pretty much anything that will run a pistol will run a PCC.  Given the straight blow-back action of pretty much all of them, if it will cycle a pistol it should cycle your PCC.  (Unless you've played with springs a ridiculous amount, and your load barely makes your pistol cycle with a 2# recoil spring...)

...which means that there is a LOT you can do, if you happen to reload.  If you don't reload---buy basic cheap plinking ammo.  Through the longer barrel, it'll definitely make Minor power factor, so you will be good to go for USPSA.

If you DO reload, however, you can lower the powder amount significantly and still easily make Minor, which means you can have a PCC that recoils barely at all.

Put it this way:  I chronoed my normal 125 gr 9mm round (that I use in Production in USPSA) out of my PCC. 

164 power factor.  :)  It almost made major.

I kept the same recipe, and instead put a 115 gr bullet in it.....150 power factor.

I normally run 4.6gr of WSF in an OAL of 1.12......so I put it down to 4.0gr of WSF, with the 115 gr bullet, and STILL made 140 PF.

I could actually lower it more!

If you are running a 147 gr bullet, you can put a ridiculously low amount of powder in the case, still make power factor, and have about the recoil of a .22.  At most.

In my case, I'm simply sticking with putting a 115 gr bullet on top of my normal load recipe (unless I'm making a ton in a row, whereupon I'll drop it to 4.0gr WSF for the run.)  In my case, the recoil difference (which noticeable) just really isn't a big deal to me (what makes me miss or slow is far more effected by other things) and so I'd rather not have to keep resetting my reloading press to anything different.

If I want pistol ammo, I put 124 gr bullets on the case, and go with that.  If I want PCC ammo, I put a 115 gr bullet on the case, and go with that.  If I'm going to make a run of 500-1000 rounds of PCC ammo, sure, I'll crank it down lower....but I won't really worry about exactly what I just cranked it down to.  (Hear that?  That's all the precision rifle people having heart attacks! :) )

My particular PCC hits to the same point of aim with a 124 gr bullet or 115 bullet, whether or not the 115 gr is running 4.6 or 4.0 gr of WSF, within the ranges that I'm worried about in USPSA.  So I can switch and put in any ammo I'd normally use, and it will run the gun, and hit where the dot appears.

If I'm making a bunch of ammo for it, I'll use the lighter bullet and lower powder amount (more to save me money on components than to actually reduce recoil, but that's a nice bonus also) but if not.....through my PCC, at least, it all runs, and it all hits the same point on the target out to 60 yards.  (I have yet to ever take a shot at anything past 60 yards in USPSA, far as I recall.)

That's the great thing about PCC---you can use it to get rid of all the reloaded odds and ends that you've accumulated over the years!


If you are REALLY trying to game the system as much as you possibly can, you are going to want to use a 147 gr bullet with a tiny amount of slow-burning powder. 

Note:  This is for a 16" barrel.  If you are running an SBR, you are going to have a completely different situation!

abbafandr:
Those of us who use the extended glock mags,  especially  the 43 round ,  might want to stick with 115 grain for more reliable feeding.   Less work for the long springs.
My reload is 115 grain bullet with 4.3 grains of Winchester  231.

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