M1 Carbine in .210 Fireball???

[knoxx45]

O.K… So all of this M1 Carbine talk has gotten that little mouse on the wheel in my head running. I have always wanted an M1 carbine, but the fact that I live in the people republic of NJ has put the kibosh on that for all practical purposes. I got to thinking (I know, I know, that can be dangerous) and I vaguely remember someone making a M1 in some thing called .210 fire ball (although I might be mistaken). Then I remembered some outfit in Alaska making or re-barreling them to a large bore like 44 mag.

Does anyone else know what I’m talking about, or did I imagine all this. Also, how cool would a M1 carbine in .223 be that could use AR mags?

Knoxx

 

[Dave Markowitz]

M1 Carbines have been rebarreled for a couple of wildcats called the .22 Carbine and 5.7MMJ (IIRC there are slight differences between the two). Both rounds are .30 Carbine necked down to .22 caliber. Iver Johnson and IAI sold Carbines chambered in 5.7MMJ and small runs of loaded rounds in that caliber have been produced, but it's mainly a handloading proposition.

Back in the 1980s IJ also sold a few Carbines chambered in 9x19 and advertised them in 9mm Winchester Mag. I've never seen either, but I've read that the 9x19 ones used BHP mags. The 9mm Winchester Mag would be interesting from a Carbine, if you could find ammo or brass. Likelwise, 9x23 Winchester or 10MM would be really neat but I've never heard of a Carbine in either one.

A company called LeMag offered rebarrel jobs in .45 Winchester Mag. Given the amount of metal in a Carbine, I'd be leery of actually firing one, although I've never heard of one kabooming.

I've not heard of Carbines in .221 Fireball. .223 wouldn't fit as it's too long. If you want a Carbine in .223 the closest you'll get is a Mini-14.

 

[roscoe]

I would love to have one in 5.7 Spitfire by Johnson. Getting ammo is probably a huge problem, but I really dig the idea.

 

[grendelbane]

I saw a spanking brand new carbine in 5.7mm earlier this year, so they are out there.

The shop did not even have any ammunition! It looks like it would be fun. Fortunately, I have plenty of other projects going currently.

 

[knoxx45]

What else would work in the M1 reciever?

what about a 41 mag, would that work? I think that would be awesome. Would any other rife round fit?

thanks

-Knoxx

 

[Jim Watson]

There was an old magazine article about converting a carbine to .221 Fireball. The magazine was too short for factory loads with spitzer bullets so the 'smith handloaded .22 Hornet semipointed bullets to a short enough OAL.

 

[roscoe]

I saw a spanking brand new carbine in 5.7mm earlier this year, so they are out there.

How much did they want?

 

[s&w 24]

there were a few gunsmiths that made 357 mag and 41 mag conversions to the m-1 carbine. The big problem was getting them to feed a rimmed cartrige from a box mag.