M-1 carbine…. Did I miss the boat?

[RandyP]

At 74 I reckon I've been in the shooting sports for over 60 years. I calmed my true yearnings for an M1 carbine with a Ruger 10/22 in walnut and a HiPoint 9mm carbine (don't laugh, it is a great little gun). After retirement I came to understand that the "Golden Years" are mostly rust and urine and last year I reached out to a guy on the CMP forums who had a nice shooter grade '43 Inland and happily bought it for his asking price of about $1250. Why? Because I really WANTED one, the same reason I have a Garand. They fought in and endured through at least 3 wars I can think of and the new repro stuff didn't. An AR like the M-16 I carried in Vietnam simply doesn't have the same legacy mystique as those walnut and steel beauties. I say if you have an itch? Scratch it within your budget. I guarantee that next year it will cost more, and the next year after that etc. Life is too short to live it all "itchy".

 

[.455_Hunter]

I satisfied that itch when I found an almost unfired very early Universal at one of my LGS for right at $500 just before the pandemic. It's currently pulling primary bedroom duty. The aluminum trigger group housing is a bit unfortunate, but it's been an outstanding shooter. I will need to procure a later style mag release with the extended leg to help support 30 rounders.

 

[silicosys4]

As a shooter or range gun, I'd say the m1 carbine boat has sailed. I hardly ever see ammo for sale any more and when I do, its prohibitively expensive. Is there cheap surplus still available? I haven't seen any but I haven't gone looking.
Guns are all now collectors prices, not shooter prices. The guns that are shooter priced are replicas and don't have a good reputation for reliability.
I'd say if you want one, get an original one. I like them but unfortunately they are quiet expensive to both purchase and shoot now.
I have considered one of the 9mm versions but they haven't had the best reviews.

 

[Ignition Override]

Yes. And there are no more “paddles”.

Most comments I’ve read on gun forums indicate that you And I missed the Carbine boat until a widow or Millenial inherits a nice example and they need quick cash.

Don’t assume that I wouldn’t tell them that they can be quite valuable.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I satisfied that itch when I found an almost unfired very early Universal at one of my LGS for right at $500 just before the pandemic. It's currently pulling primary bedroom duty. The aluminum trigger group housing is a bit unfortunate, but it's been an outstanding shooter. I will need to procure a later style mag release with the extended leg to help support 30 rounders.

FYI, GI steel trigger housings swap easily into a 1st Gen Universal. Mine required just a few quick passes with a file and it fit like a glove. All the small parts swapped right in. The magazines fit and latch noticeably better now too.
I got a stripped one from Amherst Depot very reasonably. He usually has a couple in stock still.

 

[JShirley]

I bought a IMI M1 Carbine around '99 or 2000. Took the stock off, sanded it down a bit, and rubbed a bunch of tung oil in.

I sold almost all my guns when I enlisted in 2001. I regret selling that carbine.

I do *love* my @FM PRODUCTS 9mm ARs. Enough to buy several. If you look around, good Glock-style mags can be found for less than $10.



John

 

[allisd17]

not all my USGI carbines are reliable shooters either. I think it is the magazine but I cannot say that definitely.

I had one that would not feed reliably with USGI mags. Replaced mag springs. Problem solved

 

[rdmercer]

I bought a new Midland 6 years ago and it operates flawlessly. Most fun I've had since I fed my little brother to the pigs. HA

 

[allisd17]

At todays rates, a decent pile of .30 Carbine ammo will cost more than the gun itself, and, whilst certainly possible, reloading the round isnt easy- case length must be exact since it headspaces on the mouth and they tend to stretch quite a bit on firing.

I've loaded and shot gobs of the stuff and don't consider it to be any more difficult than any of the other 15+ calibers I load for. In fact, next to .38 Special, it's probably my favorite round to reload.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I cast a 93gr round nose .311” bullet with the Lee 6-cavity mold.
I size them to .309” after powder coating them with Harbor Freight powder.
Loaded over 11.8gr of #2400, they shoot better than milspec ball. But that’s not saying much. They shoot about 4” at 50yds. My ‘43 Saginaw S.G. has a like new ‘44 Underwood barrel but there is just something wrong about it. My ‘44 Inland shoots half again better, but I wouldn’t trust it to shoot deer over 75yds.
The cases only need trimming once.
The primers are now the most expensive component.

They surely are the most fun to plink with. Definitely “more better” than a 10/22!

If you want something “modern, Ruger chambers the Mini-14 in .300BO.
I have an AR in .300 in a stripped fashion with flip up sights. I load a 160gr Lee cast Spitzer gas check over #2400. It shoots great but lacks the character and soul of the .30 Carbine.

 

[allisd17]

Loaded over 11.8gr of #2400, they shoot better than milspec ball. But that’s not saying much. They shoot about 4” at 50yds. My ‘43 Saginaw S.G. has a like new ‘44 Underwood barrel but there is just something wrong about it. My ‘44 Inland shoots half again better, but I wouldn’t trust it to shoot deer over 75yds.

They surely are the most fun to plink with. Definitely “more better” than a 10/22!

I agree. It is not an accurate round but it's great for plinking. I don't even bother shooting paper targets anymore; I shoot steel at 200 yards just to hear the satisfying "ping". I used to have a bunch of tracers, shot those at 200 yd steel also; that was VERY satisfying, especially at dusk.

 

[Riomouse911]

I bought my 3,400,000 era Saginaw SG M1 Carbine from a friend who had used it as a trunk gun for many years when he was a deputy up in the Sierra Nevadas. He sold it to me for $300 in 2018 when he and his wife retired, sold literally all of their stuff and moved to Belize.



The parts are clearly from some rebuilds, as the gun was made in 1943, the rear sight is a Saginaw and the Underwood barrel is 5-44, so they pretty much match and were probably original.

The bayonet lug was added later, and the bolt has a different parkerizing on it so that was probably swapped during a rebuild.

The stock was beat up and the butt was badly weather worn, but the metal wasn’t too bad. I am a shooter, not a collector, so I put a Boyd’s reproduction stock on it, bought a reproduction sling and oiler and have had it ever since.

They are still out there, you just have to keep your eyes open and be ready to pounce like a cat on a bug as soon as a deal pops up.

Stay safe.

 

[Jimbo80]

The M1 Carbine is my favorite rifle by a country mile. Hard to find a better handling and more fun carbine plus you get tons of history. I got an Inland a while back and paid the princely sum of $600. I would pay double that now in a second. I agree 100% with Rio that deals are out there though much harder to find. I got lucky last year and saw a minty Sag on the local gun trader site for $800. I owned it less than an hour later. I would happily pay todays prices if I didn't already have 2. Both are shooters to me as are all my guns and get out a few times a year.

 

[Speedo66]

View attachment 1134963 View attachment 1134964

The parts are clearly from some rebuilds, as the gun was made in 1943, the rear sight is a Saginaw and the Underwood barrel is 5-44, so they pretty much match and were probably original.

The bayonet lug was added later, and the bolt has a different parkerizing on it so that was probably swapped during a rebuild.
.

Yours must have had an early rebuild because you’ve still got some early parts on it.

The rear sight is an early adjustable “milled” version. The later versions were stamped.

Same for the bolt, it looks like an early “flat top”, later ones were rounded on top. They decided to skip milling the top for expediency. Some early flat top bolts were blued, not parkerized.

Not all manufacturers made their own barrels, Underwood supplied their barrels to others.

Nice gun!

 

[wesmonster]

This is why I bought a Mini-14 in .300bo, always wanted an M-1 carbine but I knew enough what to avoid way back before the internet and even back then I couldn't afford a good one, just a cheap one. At this stage the good ones are at what I consider collector prices.
Is ammo hard to find? I thought I saw steel cased Monarch on the shelf at Academy Sports like a year ago. If I can still buy 6.5x55 swedish off the shelf .30 carbine shouldn't be too hard to find.

 

[Riomouse911]

Yours must have had an early rebuild because you’ve still got some early parts on it.

The rear sight is an early adjustable “milled” version. The later versions were stamped.

Same for the bolt, it looks like an early “flat top”, later ones were rounded on top. They decided to skip milling the top for expediency. Some early flat top bolts were blued, not parkerized.

Not all manufacturers made their own barrels, Underwood supplied their barrels to others.

Nice gun!

Ya, I found the codes for the sight so it is a Saginaw Steering Gear like the 1943-era receiver, and the period-correct 5-1944 Underwood barrels were on receivers from different makers according to a few sources. I read Underwood made a lot of extra barrels that were farmed out. I never could find a front sight marking to see if that is also from 1944. (It was pronounced pretty late so this gun may or may not have made it to a WWII unit, but it certainly could have seen the hills of Korea.)

The barrel band/MMQ bayonet lug is one of the later post war-era ones and the W/CC magazine release and lever safety is probably also from an arsenal trip. The bolt looks like it has a darker parkerizing on all of its parts than the greenish stuff on everything else, so I doubt it was original as well.

IMHO every M1 that came out of a government arsenal is a “correct” one, as the parts were produced to be swappable for replacement/repairs. If the parts were the ones that the gun was first factory assembled with, I would certainly say it is original and all-matching.

Mine is no longer what I call “correct”, as the stock is a modern reproduction, but like I said I am a shooter not a collector so I am fine with that.

Stay safe.

 

[Jimfern]

Ya, I found the codes for the sight so it is a Saginaw Steering Gear like the 1943-era receiver, and the period-correct 5-1944 Underwood barrels were on receivers from different makers according to a few sources. I read Underwood made a lot of extra barrels that were farmed out. I never could find a front sight marking to see if that is also from 1944. (It was pronounced pretty late so this gun may or may not have made it to a WWII unit, but it certainly could have seen the hills of Korea.)

The barrel band/MMQ bayonet lug is one of the later post war-era ones and the W/CC magazine release and lever safety is probably also from an arsenal trip. The bolt looks like it has a darker parkerizing on all of its parts than the greenish stuff on everything else, so I doubt it was original as well.

IMHO every M1 that came out of a government arsenal is a “correct” one, as the parts were produced to be swappable for replacement/repairs. If the parts were the ones that the gun was first factory assembled with, I would certainly say it is original and all-matching.

Mine is no longer what I call “correct”, as the stock is a modern reproduction, but like I said I am a shooter not a collector so I am fine with that.

Stay safe.

When I read "trunk gun" I was expecting the picture to show a somewhat rough rifle. That one looks really good to me.

 

[wesmonster]

Must be a velvet lined trunk. I'd be proud of that.

 

[BlackHand1917]

I owned a Universal Carbine back in the day. It was a real jammer and got rid of it. The magazines tend to be unreliable. The Mini-14 is a much better tool. I think Chiappa still makes a rifle that's styled like an M-1 Carbine and takes 9mm. When it was released a few years ago the reviews were discouraging (jammy). I don't know if Chiappa corrected the problems or not.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

I have an IBM carbine, and it is a fun gun. Light, pleasant to shoot, well balanced.

I wish Talo would do a Ruger Mini-14 run set up to look like an M1 carbine.

 

[35 Whelen]

I have an IBM carbine, and it is a fun gun. Light, pleasant to shoot, well balanced.

I wish Talo would do a Ruger Mini-14 run set up to look like an M1 carbine.

But you know Ruger, if they did that, it'd be a big albatross and would weight more than a Garand.

35W