I got my first pistol carbine last year. A Marlin 1894C, .357 mag. It was so much fun to shoot, I had to get another one, which turned out to be a Ruger 96/44. I'm now hooked and at some point I'll pick up another one in .45 caliber.

I know that they don't pack the velocity or kinetic energy of pointy bullet centerfires, but there are several advantages to these fun little guns.

1. They are light and handy which is great in the thick woods where I hunt.

2. Low recoil when compared to most centerfire deer cartridges. The .357 is nominal and the .44 mag is about on par with a swedish mauser.

3. Cheap to shoot. For the cost of 20 pointy cartridges I can get 50 pistol rounds. The savings are even better if you handload as they require less powder than most centerfire deer cartridges. I can make 500 .357 mag cartridges for under $50. Double the savings for .38 spcl. This means I can afford to practice more, which is always a good thing.

I'm certainly not downtalking centerfire rifle rounds as these are the way to go if you hunt an areawhere shots could be further than 100 yards, but if you hunt the thick stuff where a 50 yard shot would be considered long I feel carbines might have an edge in manuverabilty.

Anyone agree/disagree? Any other pistol carbine fans out there?