As some of you are aware, I am very interested in rifles or carbines that fire pistol cartridges. I can't really explain it. But, it was a major factor in the purchase of my first firearm, the Hi-Point .40 S&W carbine. I've had a bit of fun with that gun and I'm very interested in how certain powders will work better or worse with the longer barrel, and I would, someday, like to develop loads tailor made for pistol cartridges in rifle/carbine length barrels, perhaps using powders that aren't normally used in handgun loads.
Currently, I only have a Ruger PC9, the Hi-Point (which I plan to replace with a Beretta Storm), and the Marlin 1894FG. So, I have 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, and .41 Rem Mag done.
Auto-Ordnance Tommy Gun - This will be my .45 ACP carbine. Even outside of the pistol-cartridge rifle aspect, I love this gun and eagerly await the day I'll have one. From what I've seen in reloading manuals, .45 ACP doesn't do well in such long barrels. The published loads actually show lower velocities than in handguns. I hope to find something that will do much better.
Cobray CM-12 - This will be my .380 ACP carbine. Sadly, there aren't a lot of .380 ACP carbines out there, and this is the only one I've been able to find. The potential for the .380 ACP cartridge is too low for me to really consider getting one custom made out of a better gun. But, if it's a cheap gun, I might be more willing to push the envelope to see what I can get the cartridge to do. Chances are, like the .45 ACP, it won't do well in a rifle-length barrel.
.357 Sig - To date, I have only found one carbine (Vector Arms MP5) that chambers this. It's $1600. But, the potential of the .357 Sig cartridge in a rifle-length barrel seems, to my eyes, quite high. So much so, that I've considered buying two Beretta Storm Carbines and having a gunsmith rebarrel and rechamber one for .357 Sig. This would probably double the cost of the gun, but that might still be less than the Vector Arms MP5
10mm Auto - The only 10mm Auto carbine I know of is another version of the Vector Arms MP5. So, once again, $1600 price tag. Beyond this, the only option would be to get some real custom work done, as I can't just do a barrel swap to get this. It'll have to be a major revision.
.50 Action Express - AFAIK, the only long gun chambered in .50 AE was an AR-15 made by a company called Tromix, and they're not making them any more.
.357 Mag - There are a few long guns chambered in .357 Magnum, but the only ones that are still produced are those straight-stocked lever-actions, rather than the much nicer looking pistol-stocked lever-actions. So, it's a decision of: A.) Shell out for an OOP gun that I may never find; B.) Buy a gun that isn't as aesthetically pleasing as others; C.) Find out if modifying a straight-stock lever-action to a pistol-grip-stock lever-action is feasible. Also, there are a few pump-actions, but they also have the straight stocks, in my experience.
.44 Mag - The .44 Mag situation is more or less exactly the same situation as the. 357 Magnum situation.
.45 Long Colt - Again, the same problem as with the .357 Magnum. This may end up being part of a .454 Casull rifle.
.32 H&R Magnum - AFAIK, only the Marlin Cowboy Lever Action chambers this cartridge with any kind of rifle-like barrel.
Automags - It would be nice to see a semi-auto carbine chambered in one of the Automag cartridges made for the AMT pistols.
Light Cartridges - There are various light cartridges that I either don't want a carbine in, like .25 ACP or .32 ACP, simply because I really doubt they'd be capable of working even as well in a carbine-length barrel as they do in handgun barrels, or would be interesting, but I just don't think I want to shell out the cash to convert something to chamber them, such as .32 NAA or .25 NAA.
Rare-ish Cartridges - There are many cartridges that are somewhat rare (the Automags fit into this, actually) or it's rare to find non-corrosive ammo. 7.62x25 Tokarev, 30 Luger, etc. I think they'd be quite interesting in a carbine, but nobody makes carbines for them. Hell, nobody makes new pistols for them, either.
Heavy Cartridges - Beyond .44 Magnum, there are various revolver cartridges that are more powerful, but I'm of mixed feelings of whether or not I want one. I'd probably have to try one out before wanting to buy them. .454 Casull, .475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, etc.
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