Welcome to Rifle Roundup. Today, we’re looking at a Ruger LC Carbine, and topped with a Holosun SCRS red dot sight, and inside, we have Speer’s 5.7x28mm Gold Dot defensive cartridge.
Ruger LC Carbine - MSRP: $1009
Sometimes, you need something that’s more than a pistol but is a bit less than a rifle, and that’s just the niche for a Personal Defensive Weapon, or PDW. The modern PDW started with a NATO requirement for a gun that could be used to arm rear echelon troops that was more effective than a pistol but was lighter and easier to carry than a rifle. The 5.7x28mm cartridge came out of that military requirement, but then lingered in obscurity for a while.
Ruger reinvigorated the market for 5.7x28mm in 2020 with the introduction of the Ruger-5.7 pistol, which was priced significantly less than competing pistols. The LC Carbine we’re looking at today is an outgrowth of the Ruger-5.7 pistol and shares many of its features, making it an ideal companion to your 5.7x28mm pistol.
The LC Carbine uses the same magazines as the Ruger-5.7. In fact, if you look closely at the grip and trigger of the LC Carbine, you’ll see that it’s pretty much a Ruger-5.7 pistol grip with a different blowback action and barrel attached. The rest of the gun, however, is all rifle. It has a 16 inch fluted barrel that has a threaded muzzle. There’s a handguard with M-Lok slots on the bottom and sides and a Picatinny rail on top, which is where you’ll also find the flip-up backup sights.
The LC Carbine is almost completely ambidextrous. The charging handle can be swapped to either side, and the safety is on both sides of the frame. The folding stock can also be flipped around to work better with left-handed shooters. The stock can also be adjusted for length of pull, allowing for even more customization.
The 5.7x28mm cartridge isn’t as powerful as 5.56mm or other full size rifle rounds, but it doesn’t deliver the recoil and muzzle blast of those cartridges either. 5.7x28mm was designed to work effectively out to 100 or 200 yards, and with the right ammunition, it does exactly that. We’ll talk more about ammunition in a bit, but first, let’s talk about the sight we mounted on this gun.
Holosun SCRS RD MRS Sight - MSRP: $317.64
An innovative rifle like the LC Carbine calls out for an innovative sight, which is why we’ve mounted a Holosun SCRS (Solar Charging Right Sight) on top of our gun. Unlike most other red dot sights, which have a removable battery and a solar panel for backup, the battery on the SCRS is non-removable and is recharged by the solar panel on top of the sight. The end result is a very small and lightweight optic that works well with a small and lightweight gun like the LC Carbine.
The version we’ve put on this gun is the RD MRS. It has a red reticle and is switchable between a 2 MOA dot, a 65 MOA ring and a combination of the two together. The 65 MOA ring is ideal for “minute of bad guy” engagements at close range, while the 2 MOA dot is better for more precise work at longer distances. Add this up with “shake awake” technology which turns off the sight when not in use while still having it ready to go when needed and an advanced auto-brightness system, and you have a dot sight that punches far above its weight class.
Speer Gold Dot Personal Protection 5.7x28mm 40 Grain Ammunition - MSRP: $86.99
Speaking of punching things, the original requirement for 5.7x28mm was that it had to be capable of punching through Soviet-era body armor at distances up to 200 yards. The selection of ammo for this round has always been a bit limited, and to be honest, the performance of 5.7mmx28 in ballistics gel has always been a bit underwhelming.
Until now, that is. While we’ve yet to test Speer's Gold Dot 5.7x28mm ammunition ourselves, I have seen other tests of this ammo from very reputable sources which give 16 or more inches of penetration, which is right where you want to be. Speer ammunition (which is part of Vista Outdoors, who also own Federal Premium) has a rock-solid reputation for both penetration and expansion both in testing medium and in the real world, and it looks like this new round continues that legacy.
Thanks for watching. For more information on the Ruger LC Carbine, the Holosun SCRS optic or Speer’s Gold Dot Ammuntion in 5.7x28, please visit shootingillustrated.com.
