I’m interested in finding out if anyone is loading cast for their Ruger 9mm PC Carbine – and if so, what they are using for boolits (design and weight) and if you are using either Red Dot or Bulls Eye, what charge have you found to work the best in the carbine?
I’m old and I freely admit that. My bottleneck centerfire and pistol centerfire guns have been limited to either single shot, bolt or lever action – semi-auto limited to .22 rimfire. I’ve been looking for a while for a general purpose 9mm rifle – something for plinking, woods walking gun and also suitable for HD that my wife could easily point and shoot if ever necessary (loaded with factory rounds that function in the PC – my wife does not like shooting anything larger than a .22 pistol). I like the loos of the standard Ruger PC Carbine (not really into the AR look but surely respect those that do like ‘em).
After checking out quite a few videso, while they are shooting a variety of jacketed bullet weighs, it appears that the Ruger PC seems to function well with everything from 115 grain to 145issh grain and cycle well. I usually carry a Glock 26, and I like the fact that the Ruger is one that can accept the Glock magazines by changing out the magazine floor plate. In one of Hickock45’s reviews of the rifle, he stated that while he did not have one with him, he saw no reason why a 26 magazine would not work. While I hae a quantity of 26 magazines, I would also pick up some higher capacity magazines for range shooting, etc.
I have loaded 9mm for quite a few years for pistol and have good luck with both truncated and round nose cast. A number of years ago, I used a Lyman/Ideal 358-242 RN for casting and I settled on that as it worked very well in my pistols. I replaced that mold with a NOE 359-121 RN (basically a clone of the 358-242) and it works great in my 9mm as well as 38s. I don’t PC and my TL lubing has always worked fine with no leading issues. They hae worked well out of a Ruger SR9 (no longer have it), Shield and Glock 26. I do have some PC’s RN from a couple of different sources that I bough tot try out of my pistols and if people’s experiences show that a PC’d boolit works better out of the Ruger PC Carbine, then I would go that route. However, if a different weight/design would work better, I would've no issue with getting a different mold.
The one thing I see mentioned in many of the videos is the weight of the PC bolt, made necessary by the design of the carbine. From what I’ve watched, the PC seems to function reliably with factory ammo – but what are your experiences with cast handloads? Where on the minimum/maximum charge do you find you need to be so that the bolt cycles completely? Or, with the length of the PC barrel and the design become less of an issue as far as cycing properly over that of a 9mm pistol where .2 grains might make the difference of whether the pistol cycles properly or not?
From what I'm seeing in the videos, the Ruger PC Carbine is giving acceptable accuracy out to 100 yards on steel and lesser distances - not a "target rifle" but still acceptable and as a HD weapon at close range in a house, surely acceptable as a point and hit if necessary. If experiences show that cast doesn't cut the mustard, then while I've never loaded 9mm jacketed, there's always a first time for everything.
Would love to hear any experiences of Ruger PC owneers (any comnfigeration of the PC) and what they have found works best with cast hamndloads.
Thanks!
Jim
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