I have an Inland M-1 Carbine in otherwise excellent condition that needs a new barrel.
I got it from a guy that said he got it thru the DCM in the sixties. Problem is that it has a chromed bore and chamber, and it looks like the chrome was applied over some metal shavings that were not cleaned out of the bore before plating.
I know that almost no Carbines were put together with chrome bores. But I have read that several hundred chromed barrels were made up and short-chambered by one contractor for installation later. It was discovered during the assembly process that when the barrels were finish-reamed it tore the heck out of the reamers, so assembly was halted and the barrels rejected. Do not know how my gun ended up with one of those barrels with the bore as rough as it is.
Overall, the gun is in almost new condition inside and out, and has the bayonet lug. I suspect it may have been arsenal refurbished for re-issue to the smaller-statured South Vietnamese troops during the war, and never taken out of storage until the DCM or whoever got a hold of it.
Interestingly, incredibly rough barrel shoots little bitty groups at 100 yards with WWII production FMJ ammo. But not with any commercial ammo I have tried.
One of the chrome bonded-on chunks of metal chunks sticks up at least .040” in the bore. The only thing I can figure is that the commercial ammo has a thinner jacket that is stripped off as the bullet passes the protrusions, whereas the military ball loads may have thicker jackets that do not rip partially off when they squeeze by the rough area that is several inches long.
Any recommendations on who does this work and will do it right?