[kiwi56]

I have a suppressed Marlin Camp Carbine in 45ACP and two rossi carbines in .357 and also 44 Magnum. If these cartridges are so useless in a carbine you should try telling that to all the feral pigs and goats I have taken with them.
The Marlin has proven to give good accuracy with my reloads (typically 1.5MOA out to 100meters) and with that and the Rossi carbines can shoot without having to worry about ear protection, recoil is next to nothing and carbines are light to carry and quick to point. With the .357 and .44 special carbines you can always load 38 specials and 44 specials to ensure over penetration doesn't happen. Sure you cant make 300 meter shots with them but they were never designed to do that anyway.
I have shot my carbines in areas where you wouldn't be able to shoot with a more high powered rifle.
You cant compare the perfomance to a handgun because even in the Marlin the bullets are travelling about 200 ft per second faster than a handgun and with the magnums the increase is around 350 ft per second. I have a lot more high powered rifles in my arsenal but I get just as much fun out of shooting the carbines.
As a home defence gun in a suburban enviroment they make perfect sense being so quick to point and shoot, the last thing you would want to do is let loose with a 270 Winchester in a home defense situation. Saying the guns are useless in my opinion is just a plain stupid statement, hell if you don't want one don't buy it simple as that. Sure they can't compete with a 270 or a 30 caliber magnum for long range shots but they were never designed for that type of shooting, everyone knows that but they do make an excellent companion to have in the gun rack along side those rifles.