I’m not sure which group of people is more annoying: the “Does it take Glock Mags?” people or the “Will it cycle mini-shells?” people. Probably the latter, but either way, I can satisfy the first group. The PC Charger from Ruger is their latest-and-greatest gun in the PC Carbine line. That said, this isn’t a carbine, but a pistol. A really big pistol. The Ruger PC Charger comes with both the Ruger SR series magazine well and a Glock magazine well.
Let’s be real; that was a baller move on Ruger’s part.
It was humble and made their weapon appeal to a more substantial part of the community. The ability to use Glock magazines opens it up to cheap extendos from ETS, and KCI, as well as the most inexpensive OEM magazines on the market. Don’t forget we have access to drums for Glocks from KCI that make this little gun into quite the little chopper.
What Exactly is the Ruger PC Charger?
The Ruger PC Charger sports a 6.5-inch barrel and uses the same modular chassis as the tactical models of the Ruger PC Carbine. The barrel is removable so it can be broken down into a much smaller weapon. The chassis has a 1913 rail to accommodate MCX style braces of which I’ve added — this was a gift from our friends at SB Tactical. The FS 1913 brace is one of my favorites and the perfect addition to this weapon system. It takes what is a relatively clumsy weapon and makes it much more tolerable.
With the SB Tactical FS1913 brace, this would be the most modern TEC 9 on the planet. It’s a little big and a little bulky and a little hard to handle without a brace. The little gun weighs a mere 5.2 pounds but feels a bit heavier in a traditional pistol shooting stance. The handguard design makes it a bit easier to get a grip on the forward section of the gun, but it’s just a little messy without a brace.
The PC Charger doesn’t come with iron sights but does have a scope rail. A quick toss on of a red dot gives you a competent sighting system for a 9mm sub-gun. I used the SIG Romeo5, and it proved to be a perfect height for the brace equipped PC Charger. The handguard gives you a few M-LOK slots with a hand stop that comes with the gun. The barrel is free-floating, too, although a 9mm sub-gun isn’t exactly known for its accuracy.
The PC Charger Ergonomics
What I love is the fact that Ruger designed the PC Carbine and, by extension, the PC Charger, to be easy to use for lefties. The charging handle and magazine release are reversible, and the safety is a crossbolt push button. I run the PC Charger as a right-hander, so my magazine release and charging handle are on the left side for easy access with my nonfiring hand.
Both the magazine release and the charging handle are quite large and easy to access and reach. The gun has a manual bolt hold open, and the bolt does hold open after the last shot. A quick touch of the charging handle is necessary to send the bolt home.
The included AR 15 pistol grip is nice, and I like that I can swap the pistol grip with any other on the market. I like the included model, but I can see Magpul fans making a swap. Tritech Tactical makes an AR grip that will house a Glock magazine if you want to carry a reload onboard your PC Charger. The options are all yours.
Speaking of options, the barrel is threaded with a ½ x 28 thread pitch, so toss on the muzzle devices or suppressors or your choice. The PC Charger is plenty modular and gives you options for attaching muzzle devices and accessories at your leisure.
That Trigger Tho’
Holy crap did Ruger put an excellent trigger in this gun. I’m impressed. Especially after spending time with other PCCs. The trigger often seems like an afterthought. To be fair, the 9mm and most pistol rounds aren’t super accurate long-range rounds, but I can still enjoy an excellent trigger and shouldn’t have to spend MPX money on it.
The trigger is light and the pull is short. It breaks cleanly and gives you some excellent feedback. The PC Charger is a joy to shoot, and the trigger is a big part of that. It also leads us to the realm of accuracy. The gun is quite accurate, and the light trigger makes double-taps a breeze.
At extended ranges, let’s say a 100 yards or so, the accuracy of the gun gets a little wobbly. You can keep inside the torso of a man-sized target, but you won’t be making precision shots. Fifty yards and closer is a real sweet spot for this gun. Inside that range, you can drop targets with prejudice.
Muzzle Rise and Recoil
So 9mm guns are rarely rough shooters but have you ever noticed they recoil almost as bad as a AR 15. That’s not saying much because the AR 15 is a soft shooter. It’s a bit much for a 9mm, and to be clear, it’s only because of the blowback operation of most of these guns. The Ruger PC Charger is a blowback-operated gun but uses a unique recoil reducing system.
Its called a dead blow system that utilizes a heavy tungsten weight attached to the bolt. The weight shortens bolt travel and reduces recoil and muzzle rise. It gives the PC Charger a unique recoil impulse that’s soft with minimal muzzle rise. It’s a smooth shooter. The lowered recoil and muzzle rise make moving from target to target and recovering from shots at longer ranges, easier.
The PC Charger Reliability
Reliability has been 100% with the gun over a wide variety of ammo types. This includes the good stuff from SIG like their 115-grain FMJ loads and their new 124 grain M17 loads. It even runs with the cheapest most Eastern block steel ammo I can find. Predictably it has the best accuracy with the SIG M17 JHPs. I’ve yet to clean to it, or oil it, or generally care for it, but here we are running hot and doing it well.
The Price
The price is where the PC Charger is going to make its big splash. It’s a great gun, and it’s coming in at a great price. The MSRP is $799, but similar carbine models have been going for as little as $650 street price. That puts it below the CZ Scorpion and MPX, and right around the same price as the Stribog — but it’s made in America. It also takes common magazines, has a good aftermarket, and a great warranty. The Ruger PC Charger is going to take the market by storm and be a damn good firearm at a killer price.
You mentioned iron sights. The 1913 top-rail is really short for iron sights (IMO) So I extended the front sight position by adding a 2 1/4″ barrel extension with a .750 picatinny gas block attached, then topped with a folding UTG sight. I’m running a KVM linear compensator. Blue loctite keeps it tight.
Works great… able to run iron sights and co-witness with Holosun HS510C.
Any possibility of seeing a pic? Sounds sweet!
I’d like to see a picture of that – do the irons keep zero if you take the barrel off?
I went to a simpler solution, but I’m unable to upload an image. I found a picatinney barrel mount for a Ruger pistol. I returned the gas block. I’ll try sending pics later.
Great point Mike. I guess you’re asking about the front iron keeping zero after detaching/re-attaching the take down barrel. I leave the gun fully assembled most times and use iron only as BUIS. I keep the take-down barell adjustment as tight as possible to assure a consistent snug fit. So far so good. Co-witnessed to my red dot let’s me know at a glance if something shifted.
I wrote to support about upliading Pics.
Fair enough. I suppose the whole assembly is short enough to never have to take apart – it fits in a “tool bag” in the car with plenty of magazines, should that be the intended purpose. All things considered, I probably got the takedown model itself just for the cool factor, it’s likely to never come apart. Thanks for he reply and have a great year!
Glocks also take Glock mags, are cheaper, 1/2 the length, 1/3 the weight, yet kick less (locked breech), and can be braced.
I’m glad you like your Glock, I like my Glock too. We like Glocks. I have side arms. Glocks are great side arms, My SIG P365XL for summer EDC. My Glock 45 for cooler months. I’d never attach a brace to my Glock. It’s pointless. IMO they look really stupid… especially with fun-sticks and barrel mags (unless I’m wearing my velour track suit and gold chains).
Glocks out-of-the-box always need add-ons. After night-sights and some tuning, it cost more than my PC Charger (even after prices went nuts). The PC Charger is designed to compete with more expensive guns in the PDW category – my Ruger won out on price and dependability. If I could justify the expense, I would have bought a SIG MPX. But I’m happy.
In a home defense scenario, a 9mm PDW with a 6.5″ barrel and +P ammo generates considerably more velocity than a Glock 9mm. The PCC with red dot, light and sling performs like an SBR (QCB stability, maneuverability, accuracy). Mine came with an SB 1913 brace.
The take down feature makes it an awesome camping/backpack/truck gun. It’s not for everyone.
I think all the bulky plastic on some Glock brace systems looks stupid too, but luckily it’s easily removed. I use a [green] dot too, and also a sling. Mine is a .357 SIG with 90gr Grizzlies. IIRC 9mm won’t reach that energy level with any barrel length.
What did you mean by “QCB”? To me that stands for Quick Change Barrel.
I’ve come to realize that everything is a tradeoff until it isn’t: products often sacrifice one advantage in pursuit of another – in which case it’s purely a matter of personal, subjective preference which advantage is better – but sacrificing one advantage without gaining the expected offsetting quality results in an objectively Wrong Answer.
Weight vs. recoil is one example, but locked-breech is better than blowback in both areas. One might argue that blowback is simpler and therefore cheaper – and it is in a Hi-Point, but not a PC Charger.
Another example (I forgot to mention before): mag-in-grip not only makes for compactness (and better balance), but also intuitive reloading. It doesn’t work for every cartridge, of course, but it’s THE way to go for pistol calibers. Moving the mag forward of the grip negates all those advantages, with the only possible offsetting gain being AR ergos (but only in an AR).
pardon my dyslexia – CQB – Close Quarter Battle. Sorry for the sarcasm. Glocks are rock solid with countless options. Locked-breech is a great system for the full size Glock lineup. I swear by my G45. But for EDC sub-compacts like the G43, it was ineffective. Short-barrel chop dominated overall performance. Like you said it’s all a matter of taste.
Have you fired any of the Ruger 9mm PC lineup? Even with the weighted block used in the direct blowback system, you feel some kick. Running a friends suppressor with subsonic ammo almost eliminates recoil, but the can costs more than the gun. I installed the MCARBO PC Carbine tuneup kit and it’s like a different gun.
Now I’m very happy with it. It’s easu to grab and go, reliable, accurate, easy to shoot, and the only firearm my wife ‘wants’ to shoot.
Sorry – should have sussed out the CQB myself! I haven’t handled the PC or MPX (the latter largely because of cost, as you said), but I’m a big fan of MCARBO – their products as well as their excellent, comprehensive instructional videos.
I also love the CMMG RDB system, especially in 10mm (the perfect PDW cartridge IMO). Their complete pistols and carbines are pricy, but the conversion kit is only $399. I’d love to adapt it to a PF45 lower, because (if you haven’t noticed already) I’m meticulous about “envelope” or proportionality.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aj_ZbKkd9Mse-Bl-mv6PLrjsLuPl
My PC charger does not reliably feed with ETS and KCI extended glock magazines. It is very disappointing because I bought a bunch of magazines for this gun from gunmagwarehouse.com based on this article.