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I think the same way.
A 5.56 will do more damage than a 9mm.
Yet they both weigh about 2.6 pounds per 100 rounds.
Some would argue they are equivalent. I don't think so.
But regardless, as the distance increases, the difference becomes greater with just about any handgun cartridge fired from a rifle, compared to most modern rifle cartridges - the trajectory, the remaining velocity and muzzle energy, increasingly favors rifle cartridges as the distance increases.
Then there is the ability to hit a target at a distance, the disparity between a handgun and a rifle cartridge becomes greater there too.
Even a 460 Magnum is pretty much a 200 yard cartridge from any rifle, where the same weight in 7.62x51 has at least 3 times the range and more energy at 500 yards than the .460 magnum does from a rifle at 200 yards.
So it really comes down the fact that there is no real weight advantage, no performance advantage. The only advantage, and a very debatable one at that, is that your "carbine" would share the same ammo as your handgun - if your handgun matched your rifle. I say it is very debatable because most people don't carry a lot of ammo for their handgun in a self-defense situation when they are also carrying a rifle - they carry most of the ammo for their rifle instead. In that situation, your handgun becomes your last ditch standoff defensive weapon before you go hand to hand, only resorting to it when your rifle is out of ammo or jammed.
To me, it makes more sense to have more rifle ammo in that situation and maybe two or three reloads for the handgun. If I have to resort to the handgun, I am probably not going to last very long with it.
Hunting is different. To me, using a handgun for hunting is for those few times when you need a lower power cartridge, or for when you don't have your rifle handy and you want to take a shot of opportunity at a closer range than you would take with your rifle.
The idea of sharing ammo in any of these situations is a fairly unique and not very probable situation.
There are exceptions - for example - rimfire firearms. I can totally see having matching handgun and rifle in that situation. But that is pretty much a horse of a different color. I personally almost always carried some kind of rimfire firearm when hunting - usually a handgun. Now that I have a one pound takedown rimfire rifle - lighter weight than most handguns - I would also carry a rifle if I were to take up hunting again. In a SHTF situation, I would most certainly have both.
