[Rock185]

I got to handle a 9mm Henry the other day. I like it, and it's more traditional look. I've had Marlin Camp carbines for years, and chronographed quite a variety of 9mm ammo in them. It has been my experience that the 124/125 grain and lighter bullets, especially +P and +P+ loads, pick up more speed in the 16" barrel over a 5" barrel than the heavier bullets, i.e., 147-158 grain. In fact, the heavier bullets sometimes lose velocity in the 16" barrel. For example, the Federal 147 grain +P 9mm averaged 1017 FPS in a 5" barrel, and 950 FPS in the 16" barrel. The IMI 158 grain 9mm averaged 971 FPS in a 4.7" barrel, 891 FPS in a 16" barrel. Go figure. The lightest 9mm bullet I can recall chronographing is the 65 grain ARX bullet that was sold over the Ruger brand name for a time. It averaged 1706 FPS in a 5" pistol, 2005 FPS in the 16" barrel.

I like the 9mm carbine. It is a fun light duty plinker out to about a hundred yards, and an interesting test bed for comparing 9mm velocities in the various barrel lengths.