Handy Western Carbine

A Carbine is a rifle that shoots a pistol cartridge. When the Assault Rifle was invented by Ze Germans after research into actual shootouts and recoil, they created the progenitor of the AK-47, which Mikhail Kalashnikov is incorrectly credited with. This was a long process, in point of fact, and the US Cavalry had a version of this 75 years earlier with the .44-40 and the .38-40 carbines. So FU Russia. You weren't first. Not by a long shot. The USA also came up with the small caliber supersonic round first, with the 6mm Jorgensen, a 30 Krag necked down into a 6mm bullet, used during the Boxer Rebellion. Worked, too. There was even an insert device that would let you shoot a 6mm assault rifle cartridge in the bolt rifle that was semi-auto, a huge advantage back in 1900 or whatever it was. In modern terms, the 223 is a fun plinking round, but is not very good beyond 200 yards on armed insurgents. A replacement was invented after several deaths in Afghanistan, called the 6.8 SPC. It is a .30 Winchester (not Magnum) based on the .30-30 without a rim and a much higher pressure of 55000 PSI, like military ammo, but necked down to a 277 bullet. This is important, because this round is like a small, Americanized 7.62x39 from the AK-47, only in a smaller round that goes further. The 277 is an American version of the 7mm which is .284 inch, btw. I spent a lot of time researching this. Way more than most people would, but I was studying to be a gunsmith at the time. The 6.8 SPC is interesting because it is a short round, like the 125 grain bullet in a 310/311 in a 7.62 (misnamed) AK 47 round. The actual bullet is the same diameter as the Enfield rifle fires, and the 7.62x54R Russian (rimmed) rifle round designed by Remington for the White Russian Czarist army right before the Bolsheviks killed them all in 1917. They were angry. It was going to happen. Technology convinces people they can win. That round fueled the Mosin-Nagant rifle. I have one of them. Its not a terrible rifle, but it isn't very good either. I would happily trade one for any .308 caliber sporting rifle, for instance. The round has similar ballistics to a .308, but isn't as fast. The bullet tends to be closer to 220 grains, which ruins its ballistics. A 125 grain bullet in a 7.62x54R is 10 pounds of felt recoil and a killer accuracy at 300 yards. Which tells me more people who own a .308 rifle should experiment with a 130 grain .308 bullet and see if they can't make their wives and daughters frighteningly accurate at the same range. There's no points for missing. And all you get from missing a target is a "snap" noise. Same noise no matter what caliber. I worked "the pits" so I know.

This brings me to my point. If I had to do it all over again, I would have bought a Weatherby Vanguard in .270 Winchester and called it good. That's a nice pointable rifle with a Monte Carlo stock and cheek weld. You put a GOOD scope on it and practice with the round you feel comfortable shooting. Like a 130 grain boat tail match bullet or pro-hunter from Sierra. Get good and comfy. And never leave it. A good rifleman will shoot the same rifle and round and hit stuff reliable. A flexible one, like me, adapts to many rounds and recoil energies from many weapons and adapts to their limitations. I did that, and I have this knowledge forever. However, a single accurate rifle is valuable too. So if you don't want all the recoil or you have a teenager or a wife to shoot a rifle for you?

Simple. A short action chambered in 6.8 SPC, with a bolt rifle. 5 rounds is plenty, realistically in the "shoot and scoot" model described by the US Army sniper manual. You shoot and you scoot. Works for hunting too. The CZ company had one chambered for .223. So get one chambered for 6.8 SPC. It is a light carbine rifle, with good machining, and the right weight, that will handle a good bullet/cartridge that can take game and snipe targets. This is the right answer for most users.

At shorter ranges, I really liked the video of the Glock 20 converted to a 10mm carbine (above). That was a cool carbine, and would be very useful against things like black bears and cougars. They are mostly an issue to peoples pets and their trashcans and for vegetarian women who insist on running while wearing earphones along trails KNOWN to have cougars there (and mountain bikers too), but not so much normal people like me. I eat meat, so I sweat visin which scares herbivores and other predators away. If you eat meat, so do you. I would call that visin chemical the biggest downside for serious Green Berets types, because they have to become vegetarians to avoid scaring game so they can hide properly. In any case, a 10mm carbine would be really useful up to 150 yards.

Notice how the bear just stalks forward? That's your clue it wants to eat you. If you don't have a gun, you are screwed. They run up to 40 mph, and they can shrug off most pistol and many rifle rounds with only minor irritation. You have to aim for the nose because you will miss into something vital if you're lucky.

I have noticed that we never see anything positive about the Winchester 94 repeater rifle chambered in 357 Magnum, which is really odd. The round is common, the rifle is cheap and handles easily. It SHOULD be a good one for plinking and the round is well suited to a carbine... yet I never hear of anyone using one. Why is that?

Huh. So there you go. This SHOULD be a good carbine as well. And the ammo is cheaper than a 10mm. And you could probably shoot .38 special as well, since its the same bullet, just shorter cartridge. I suspect I'd want to put a holo sight on that, or a 2x variable on it, close to the barrel. A 2x scope can be fired eyes open and your dominant eye will be able to use the crosshair. I have tested this with one of my other rifles and it is true.

I have personally ENJOYED the peep sight and crosshairs for the M1 Garand rifle, one of the club rifles I shot at Lincoln Range, years ago when I was still into target shooting. A nice rifle, using CMP ammo so it wasn't too brutal, and the action was interesting. My Dad shot one while he was in the army, at Fort Ord in Monterey, California. Their range is in the dunes, between Highway 101 and the ocean. The ruins are still there. He said it was a really cast iron biatch to keep clean around sand, and the marines hated how it fouls with mud and powder, and its a 200 yard rifle, despite the cartridge being 30-06, due to tolerances. This is still better than the AK-47, keep in mind, and hits a lot harder than the AR-15, but wars are fought with checkbooks and with the low bidder. Not with the best equipment. If we swapped ALL our troops rifles with 6.8 SPC rifles, the war would be over in a couple weeks. Maybe a couple months. That round has 600 yards of useful range, not 200 yards like the 5.56. I like the 5.56. Its educational, how finicky it is. You learn a lot shooting and reloading for it. You learn how un-fussy middle calibers around 7mm and .30 caliber are compared to 5.56. You get educated by failure. This is valuable to any marksman. I learned a LOT by reloading for .223.

In any case, the above carbines are probably a good idea, up there with the classic pump 12 gauge shotgun. Try to remember that when you miss with either, the round keeps going. If it goes into your neighbor's house, you are legally liable. If you kill someone with your miss, that's manslaughter. So be really careful rather than stupid. Practice, and keep your cool.