Pistol Caliber Carbines Aren't New

The PCC has been around a long time
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A Marlin .32 Magnum matches up nicely with a pair of custom Ruger .32 Magnums

Much attention has been given recently to pistol caliber carbines, especially those chambered in 9mm. So much attention, in fact, some might think it’s a new idea. Not quite. Carbines chambered in pistol-length cartridges go back well over 160 years.

In The Beginning

The very first attempts, some more successful than others, to come up with a repeating firearm involved pistol-length cartridges. The first successful repeater, the Model 1860 Henry, was chambered in the .44 Rimfire, which is definitely a cartridge that proved to be suitable for chambering in sixguns. The Spencer arrived about the same time as the Model 1860 Henry and it also featured a pistol-length cartridge. The Model 1860 Henry was improved to the Model 1866 Winchester and was still chambered in the same .44 Rimfire.

1873 saw the arrival of the first centerfire Winchester with the Model of 1873 chambered in .44 Winchester Centerfire (.44 WCF) or as it is most commonly called today, the .44-40. Meanwhile, the same year Colt issued their Single Action Army in .45 Colt. Prior to this, Colt Cartridge Conversions were available in .44 Colt and many believe the first Single Action Army was actually chambered in .44 Rimfire.

Winchester did not chamber their lever action Model 1873 in .45 Colt for a couple reasons that seem obvious. One problem would be feeding. The .45 Colt is a straight-wall cartridge, while the .44-40, .38-40 and .32-20 are all bottled-neck cartridges — or tapered if you will — making them much easier to feed from the action into the chamber. Another reason, probably the most important, is found by looking at the rims of .45 Colt cartridges. The original rim was very small without much area for an extractor to grab.

I recall reading of handloaders complaining in the 1940s-50s of rims pulling off when cases were re-sized, giving birth to the myth of weak .45 Colt brass. Even today, the .45 Colt cartridge actually has the same size rim. A major improvement in modern brass is the channel cut around the base of the cartridge case, right in front of the rim, which allows a better grasp by the ejector. Even so, I don’t believe any lever-action carbines were chambered in .45 Colt until quite a while after both Marlin and Winchester chambered the .44 Magnum in the mid- to late 1960s.

One of the great attributes of the 1860/1866/1873 Winchesters was how smoothly they operated. They are very particular about overall case length, however with the right ammunition it is almost a spiritual experience working the lever of one of these great guns. Today’s replicas work exactly the same way. These first leverguns could easily be operated without removing the butt from the shoulder and this is true of most leverguns today. Keep the butt on the shoulder and work the action with authority.

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Henry’s .357 Magnum Big Boy performs exceedingly well.

Power Up

After the 1873 Winchester, the Models 1876 and 1886 arrived chambered in what we normally think of as rifle cartridges such as the .45-60 and .45-70. Then, in 1892, Winchester went back to their pistol-length roots by modernizing the 1873 Winchester into what is basically a miniaturized Model 1886, yet chambered in the same cartridges as the Model 1873 Winchester. The Model 1892 proved to be one of the slickest handling and strongest lever-action carbines of all time.

Although Real Pistol Caliber Carbines are lever actions, we do see the beginnings of handy carbines with the arrival of the .351 Winchester Self Loading (WSL) in the semi-automatic model of 1907. In 1941 the United States military adopted the .30 M1 Carbine, which was widely used in WWII. Ruger still chambers their Blackhawk revolver in .30 Carbine.

The modern era of PCC lever-action-style began in the early 1950s. Ward Koozer, a gunsmith in Arizona, began converting .32-20 Winchester Model 1892s to .357 Magnum. One of my favorite articles found in this magazine at the time was by Kent Bellah and featured his sixgun/levergun combination consisting of a 3 ½” Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum and a Koozer-converted Model 1892.

I believe the first factory-produced Magnum pistol caliber lever-action carbines were the Winchester 1894 and the Marlin 336 both chambered in .44 Magnum in the late 1960s. In 1969, the old Marlin 1894 was resurrected and offered in .44 Magnum, and then later in .44-40. This action, being shorter, is better suited to sixgun cartridges than the .30-30-length Model 336 action. Marlin also made a special run of Trapper-style 1894 carbines in .44 Magnum and .45 Colt with a 16 ¼” barrel, full magazine tube holding seven or eight rounds depending upon the nose length of the bullet, a recoil pad on its straight gripped stock, checkering on forearm and buttstock, and excellent sights.

Winchester would also go on to chamber their Model 1894 in .45 Colt and .357 Magnum offering both in Trapper versions. In the 1970s, Marlin brought forth their Model 1894C chambered in .357 Magnum. This is one of the handiest carbines ever offered and our family has four of them currently in use. Marlin also chambered this little carbine in .32 Magnum, .32-20, and .25-20. Since they did not come up with one in .327 Magnum, I had my local ’smiths convert one of the .32 Magnums to this longer cartridge.

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Perfect Trapper

My favorite rifles are lever guns, and my favorite lever guns are the Trapper models, that is those with barrel lengths of 16 ¼”. Before government in its infinite wisdom made shorter lengths illegal, factories offered barrel lengths such as 12″ and 14″ that would certainly be exceptionally handy.

My all around Perfect Rifle is a PCC levergun chambered in .357 Magnum. Properly loaded, it makes a very effective home defense rifle. Especially in such a situation, I appreciate the fact I’m in control of loading the next cartridge into the chamber. There is nothing I am likely to encounter in my area that cannot be handled with a .357 levergun such as this, and if I ever wander into a more challenging environment I can always reach for a Trapper in .44 Magnum or set up for Heavy .45 Colt.

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