30 Carbine vs 357 Magnum for HD

[jumbeaux]

A friend and I were discussing different options for Home Defense. We both agree a shotgun is important but he posed the question about the 30 Carbine (Paratrooper Model with the folding stock) versus a 4" 357 Magnum Revolver. For matters of discussion he is looking at 110 Grain SP in the Carbine and a good 158 Grain PB gas checked SWC (HP as an option). Revolver would be either a S&W K or N Frame. FYI he owns the Carbine and both S&W Models. Thank you.

rick

[jmort]

The 30 carbine would be very effective. That is a 1,000 ft lbs of medicine. This would work real good

http://www.hornady.com/store/30-M1-CARBINE-110-GR-FTX-CD

[Blammer]

30 carbine with 30 rnd mag.

make sure you have the bayonette attached too. :)

[Vann]

I think it would be so toss-up. The pistol would handle better in close quarters and be more than powerful enough, but a 357 is extremely loud in confined spaces, with a huge muzzle flash.

The M1 would probably top the 357 if you have room to move around simply because it's easier to get off a faster 2nd and 3rd shot for some people and holds more than 6 rounds.

Power wise from 3 feet to 7 yrds I don't think there would be any difference.

[bedbugbilly]

I don't really have an opinion and others have made good points - both would do the job. My only concern would be if you ended up in a close confrontation or struggle, the perp could prevent the carbine from being turned on him by grabbing the barrel, etc. - they could also on a pistol but a pistol could be muzzle pointed at the perp in close encounter easier.

As far as the cartridges . . . here in MI, our home is on the farm with no close neighbors. Normally I would have a 9mm or 38 spl. but IF it was fired and a bullet were to exit through the wall, there would be no collateral damage to a neighbor. In AZ, our houses are very close together - like about 10 feet. A guy who lives in the complex was bragging one day how he was "prepared" with a 44 Mag. I then asked him if he were prepared to use it. Of course the answer was "affirmative". He got a bewildered look on his face when I asked him what he was going to do if he missed and it went through his house wall and through his neighbor's . . . especially since the master bedroom in the next door house is directly across from theirs.

I'm not saying that a person living in houses close together should be "under gunned" - but I do think you have to look and consider all of the scenarios . . . especially if you were to "miss" in a stressful situation. The same could happen with buckshot or birdshot but for most folks, one shot should do it if necessary in most cases unless there are multiple perps . . which is a possibility. While I am fairly confident with a pistol . . . that's why I'm considering adding a shorter SD shotgun loaded with buckshot. In the night with very little light, the chances of hitting have to increase IMHO.

[Mica_Hiebert]

this is kind of an apples to oranges comparison, any gun will kill some one! closer discusion would be 9mm ar15, beretta storm etc vs 30 carbine or 357 vs 40 s&w hand gun to hand gun rifle to rifle... IMO I have a few big ole aluminum bats I bought on clearance from walmart stashed around the house such as behind my bedroom door, kitchen pantry and just under the lip of the couch that i would rather use against and intruder than a gun but i also have more things to consider like I have an 8 and 4 year old that wake up and wander around my house in the middle of the night, a brother inlaw that has a key to the house and he just kinda comes and goes as he please and were ok with that hence the house key, if i where a bachelor id probably be a little easier facing bumps in the night with a gun but for me a bat is a more responsible choice and i feel pretty confident having the home field advantage.

[Wolfer]

I think the muzzle blast from either fired in a room would incapacitate everyone in the room.

[Geezer in NH]

I think the muzzle blast from either fired in a room would incapacitate everyone in the room.Reason why the AR in our bedroom has hearing guards [electronic] clamped over the rifle.

I have never heard a shot fired at game, by the way, but have heard rounds from a rifle or shotgun fired inside a room.

Never again, you WILL loose any advantage when your ears are bleeding and you are DEAF!!

[Geezer in NH]

i also have more things to consider like I have an 8 and 4 year old that wake up and wander around my house in the middle of the night, a brother inlaw that has a key to the house and he just kinda comes and goes as he please and were ok with that hence the house key, if i where a bachelor id probably be a little easier facing bumps in the night with a gun but for me a bat is a more responsible choice and i feel pretty confident having the home field advantage.

Good luck with that , Just because your family is dis-functional most are not.

Keep your firearms safe from your kids and eject the BIL IMHO. sad but HUH!!!!!

None-NONE of my family would ever try and enter our home without announcing themselves. *** is your BIL an ID10T problem? If so He would never be let in my home un-announced.

[Mk42gunner]

I've done a lot of inside the house/building/ship training. A long gun is not the detriment that most people think it is.

A folding stock is also not the best thing in the world to have attached to a long gun.

If it were me, I would use a carbine with a full wooden stock and have the .357 as a backup.

Almost any long gun is more controllable than any handgun.

Robert

[BAGTIC]

I would use a shotgun. At indoor ranges it is most likely to solve the problem with one shot. Besides the big hole in the barrel adds heaps to the deterrent effect.

[rondog]

M1 carbine for me. I keep an early 70's Plainfield handy, with a red dot optic and a flashlight mounted on an Ultimak handguard. First five in the mag are Cor-Bon DPX hollowpoints, next 10 are softpoints.


30 carbine with 30 rnd mag.

make sure you have the bayonette attached too. :)

Why on Earth do you think you need a 30 round mag and a bayonet? I prefer not to have the extra weight and length, or the bulk of the longer magazine. I also have no desire to get that close to any boogers in my house. I doubt that any court would approve of bayonetting intruders either. Good ammo and good optics are all I need. And the two extra mags in the buttstock pouch.

[Hickok]

Ron, I believe Blammer was kidding about the bayonet, just in case the .30 Carbine round failed. He had a big smiley face at the end.

[Lance Boyle]

I think the .30 carbine. People that haven't handled one in a while forget how small they are. They are downright handy sized. I have both and if I were to choose one for a bump in the night I'd go with the long gun every time. BTW, I am a LEO and do a fair amount of pistol shooting, I'm fairly comfortable with a pistol but the carbine or an AR carbine if you have one had more firepower and is more easily aimed correctly. FWIW I don't have to worry about wall pass through, I live alone and in the sticks.

That said, the model 28 4" would certainly do the job.

[Larry Gibson]

I've done a lot of inside the house/building/ship training. A long gun is not the detriment that most people think it is.

A folding stock is also not the best thing in the world to have attached to a long gun.

If it were me, I would use a carbine with a full wooden stock and have the .357 as a backup.

Almost any long gun is more controllable than any handgun.

Robert

Been there done that with both. Robert is 100% correct. I'll take the M1 Carbine (with standard stock) over the 357 revolver anytime.

Larry Gibson

[MT Gianni]

COmpare the 30 carbine with an 8 shot 16" bbl model 92 for a more accurate measure. Less bullets and a longer reload time but another case where longer is better every time. What isn't there to like about a rifle shorter than your inseam?

[Love Life]

I've done a lot of inside the house/building/ship training. A long gun is not the detriment that most people think it is.

A folding stock is also not the best thing in the world to have attached to a long gun.

If it were me, I would use a carbine with a full wooden stock and have the .357 as a backup.

Almost any long gun is more controllable than any handgun.

Robert

I agree 100%

[Mica_Hiebert]

Good luck with that , Just because your family is dis-functional most are not.

Keep your firearms safe from your kids and eject the BIL IMHO. sad but HUH!!!!!

None-NONE of my family would ever try and enter our home without announcing themselves. *** is your BIL an ID10T problem? If so He would never be let in my home un-announced.

How do you get off accusing my family of being dis-functional? You dont know me! or who I am, or my family! Kids do weird ****! mine sleep walk! thats not disfunctional! Its a fact of parenthood! I work grave yard shifts and have a very screwed up sleep pattern and my wife works from home! My wife's brother is WELCOME to come and go in our house as he pleases as if he lives here his job requires him to live out of town in a camp trailer or commute 1-2 hours a day its the closest thing to a home he has and he and my sister are close and my kids love him. I walk right into my sisters home usually after a brief rap on her door. Like I said it is not the responsible thing for me to do to come out with guns blazing every time some one is moving around my house! I have a loaded 357 and a loaded xdm 40 w flashlight mounted on the rail in the top shelf of my closet, I literately have to wake up, shake the cob webs get out of bed walk around the dresser get to closet and grab my gun then make it back around every thing. where a bat is 2 feet from me behind bedroom door. lay out of my house it is just as easy to ambush some one with a bat from the bed rooms as it is to shoot them. you enter the house through the living room and have to walk through a door way into the kitchen and turn right into a small hall to get to bed rooms. some one unfamiliar with my house is going to get a bat up side their head when they walk from the living room to the kitchen and never see it coming. they may already be in my bed room or my kids room by the time I retrieve a gun. I dont need to justify my choice of home security with you or any one else but you have no place to call my family disfunctional!

[TacticalTed.com]

When I was a law enforcement officer I thought long and hard trying to choose between the 12 ga. shotgun and M1 carbine. After much consideration I decided upon the M1 carbine. I believe I could hit the target 3 times before I could get off a second shot from the 12 ga. due to the recoil of the 12 and practically no recoil of the M1.
Shot into the side of a deer using a Remmington 110 gr. soft point loaded to around 2000 fps. makes a 2 1/2" dia. wound channel with the bullet coming to rest against the hide on the far side. Three of those in quick succession into an intruder trumps the 12 ga in my opinion.
As another poster mentioned, the 357 creates a lot of muzzle blast and flash. At night the flash will blind you. As soon as you fire, you will find your vision will dissipear for a short period ( been there done that) not good when in combat.

[richhodg66]

"I think the .30 carbine. People that haven't handled one in a while forget how small they are. They are downright handy sized."

This. The things were designed for use by fighting vehidle crews, if you ever spent much time in a tank or personnel carrier, you'd know any place in ah ouse is roomy by comparison. I would be a lot more confident in my abiliy to put an intruder down with a rifle or shotgun than just about any handgun, even in the house.