If I were to tell you that Ruger was producing a .45 ACP pistol caliber carbine, which platform would you think they’d choose? Naturally, it seems like the PC Carbine would be the choice. However, Ruger went a different route and chose the LC Carbine as its base.
Funny enough, the LC Carbine utilized the very small 5.7x28mm cartridge. But Ruger did a 180 and used the LC Carbine series to chamber the big, hefty, and fat .45 ACP cartridge.
The LC Carbine – Now In .45 ACP
The .45 LC Carbine keeps things short and sweet by using the magazine in a pistol grip design. That makes it shorter than the PC Carbine. The gun ships with a 13-round magazine and uses GLOCK-pattern mags. That’s a great move because GLOCK magazines are cheap and easy to find. They could have gone with some crazy proprietary Ruger mag that costs $45 a pop, but it isn’t, and that’s worth a mention.
The .45 LC Carbine has a few ergonomic updates. The biggest is a bolt release placed on the right side of the gun. It’s a big button that’s easy to press, and the bolt flies forward. This makes the gun almost fully ambidextrous. The charging handle is still only reversible, not truly ambidextrous.
The gun can eat a steady dot of hot stuff since it’s +P-rated. I imagine some 180-grain hollow points with a +P rating will come screaming out of this gun.
Breaking Down The Modern Rifle
The gun comes with folding sights, as well as a folding and collapsing stock design. It’s a straight blowback gun, so you get a dose of recoil that might surprise you at first. However, assume a good standing position, and you won’t feel too beat up. I didn’t have a problem delivering rapid double taps on target, and the trigger is an impressive one.
It’s a thoroughly modern gun that’s covered with rails and M-LOK slots. The famed .45 ACP doesn’t get too many rifles, so seeing Ruger embrace the big, old round is a surprise but a welcome one. I’ll bet ya five bucks we’ll see a Charger model sooner rather than later.