I shot around 300 rounds of Winchester 9mm today through my Ruger PC9. This is the first time I shot this gun. One thing suprised me: the recoil. It was noticeably more pronounced than through my 9mm semi-autos. I expected little to no recoil, but the opposite was true. I believe the longer barrel made those Winchester rounds more potent due to velocity increase. The dirt was flying high on the berms behind the targets. I tried to sight in my Bushnell 3-9X scope, but the screws kept coming loose due to recoil (when placed on a sandbag). Nevertheless, it's comforting to know the PC9 is rated for +P+ ammunition. It's a heavy gun - making it rather uncomfortable to shoot standing for a long time (either that or I need to work out).

Still, you can tell those rounds went downrange with more authority than they would otherwise through a 4" handgun barrel. With +P hollow point ammo, I can imagine the devastation the longer barrel would make on organic targets.

I'm still waiting to get the Beretta CX4, but until then, I'll be happy shootint this Ruger. I may sell it later when the Beretta arrives, but then again, I may not!

Clean_cut, I have always liked the idea of a pistol caliber carbine, I have a 9mm Oly and love dumping those 32 round Sten mags. I have toyed with the idea of picking up a Ruger because the magazines interchange with their pistols. BobK

While some people may have qualms about the potency of the 9mm round through their handguns, I would not hesitate to use a 9mm carbine in a home defense situation. Especially +P ammo, and hollow point.

The cost of a Ruger PC9 is comparable to a quality 9mm AR upper. Ruger P89 15-rd mags are relatively inexpensive.

This gun is very fun to shoot! (Cheap, too).

That's the fun part getting cheap ammo for the carbine. You can burn up a lot real fast!

As far as recoil goes my Marlin .44 magnum is one of the hardest kicking carbines I have.  For some reason pistol caliber carbines seem to kick a lot more than you think they will.  I have a Marlin Camp 9 and find it a lot of fun to shoot and it takes s&w mags so it's cheap to shoot all the way around.

Quoted: IMO, the Ruger carbine is WAY too heavy, especially for the size of the gun and the power of the caliber.  A Marlin Camp 45 weighs less with a full mag of .45ACP. -Troy

For what they are, they ARE heavy, but they're also built solid as a rock; they're built a lot stouter than the Marlin Camp Carbines. The nicest thing about the PC-9 is the rear sight; when I bought mine, I was rather pleasantly surprised that it had a REAL sight on it, instead of that folding piece of shit they stick on everything else. Another good thing about the PC-9 is that the USA brand magazines actually work in 'em. The 30-rd mag is so long, though that it almost feels like a monopod. The only thing I really dislike about the PC-9 or PC-40 is that godawful trigger.

I didn't think the recoil was bad at all from my PC9.  I do agree it's heavier than it has a right to be, and I really think they could have put some sling swivels on it.  The trigger could've used some work too.