Noticing a lot of pistol caliber carbines being sold

I’ve been bouncing back and forth between buying the KT Sub2000 or the Beretta CX4 for quite awhile now.

I’m sad to say it’s unlikely I’ll own more than one pistol caliber carbine so I need to choose carefully. Quality is going to be pretty high on the list. If the CZ Scorpion was on the table it would be a slam-dunk. Unfortunately, it’s not...it’s a “restricted” firearm up here. Which means like my pistol, can only go to the gun range and back.

I want/need something that can travel with me and go camping & hunting with me. So even that starts to narrow my choices more. The KT would be a great backpack/camp gun...no doubt there. But I’d also like to try it as a close range varmint killer. And, I’m not really sure the KT will cut it.

I’d also like to put an optic on for varmint duty as well. Though I know it’s possible on the KT but it’s more straightforward on the Beretta.

From everything I’ve read over the last few years, it seems the Beretta is the superior firearm...save some who hate the trigger. Otherwise, it reviews extremely well.

So I’m fairly settled on the CX4 now. But I’m open to suggestions. Keep in mind our selection is limited here by our ass-backwards laws.

Have you looked at the Ruger pistol cal carbine yet? Not sure if you can own it, but since it just came out, I doubt it has landed on anyones restricted list yet. It reminds me a lot of the old marlin camp carbines.

Which may be another one to look into if you can.

The ruger uses both ruger and glock mags by exchanging the magwell insert.

I’ll have to look that one up John. Being a “new” firearm it can take the CFP (Canadian Firearms Program) lab ridiculous amounts of time to determine the “appropriate” classification before importers can distribute to their dealers.

If the CFP determines either by insufficient barrel length or the dubious it’s “easily convertible to full automatic” verdict it will end up restricted at best or even prohibited. We always hope and pray for a non-restricted designation.

Beretta actually makes a Canadian version of the CX4 with a 19” barrel...which is a bit of downer for overall length but it’s better than the alternative.

So, as the Ruger PC 9 sits now at 16.5in barrel it will net a spot on the restricted firearm list in Canada.

However, I did see a Reddit thread with what appeared to be a reliable source saying that if the model sells well enough in the states they will look at a non-restricted 18.5” barrel for us. So, it will likely be a year or more before we see any here....if it sells.

Wondering if @SHOOTER13 has pulled the trigger on new pistol caliber carbine yet?

Yeah, me too.

I don't get to appreciate the distance that most all rifle calibers are capable of. Where I live and hunt, pistol calibers are more than enough to put meat on the table.

Maybe a slight hijack, but here is one of my favorite pistol cal's. It's a 38/357 single shot. With one particular 357 load that I have worked up, with jacketed bullets, I can get 1800 fps out of them.

That’s a handsome lookin’ firearm John!

Thanks. It's in pretty good shape to be almost 20 years old.

I don't think he even put a whole box of shells through the gun. It started off as a little 410 shotgun until I got the 357, 20 and 12 gauge barrels for it.

Oh yeah baby.

You just know that ATI is already working on a pistol grip stock for that thing.

I just noticed, that looks like a regular 10/22 trigger assembly. Makes me wonder if the nicer bx trigger components would drop in giving a much lighter and nicer pull.

Things that make me go hmmm.

I did it. I dropped a few pennies yesterday on the 9mm version of Beretta CX4 Storm. I really wanted to buy from a LGS but no one had it in stock and no one close by was really eager to bring it in for me. So...I went to Cabelas...they had 6.

Will post up pics soon. Have family in town this weekend.

Well you can feel ok about it Monkey Man...cuz I paid retail...like so much retail it hurts...lol

These aren’t the best pics I’ve ever taken nor the worst. I’ll try to take some better ones when I get a chance to strip it down and give her a thorough cleaning. While I’m at it, I’m also going to switch over the charging handle and ejection port. Might watch a few videos on swapping the safety and mag release as well. The manual says to have a gunsmith do that swap. So will see how easy or difficult it is.



You’ll also notice the barrel length...that’s the result of our gun legislation. Beretta had been selling the shorter version in Canada for quite some time, however it was classified as restricted(gun range use only). Beretta got smart and lengthened the barrel to meet Canadian spec for non-restricted classification and now it can be used wherever shooting is allowed. Can hunt with it or target shoot out in the woods...whatever you like.

I like it.