In view of the current running thread extolling the virtues, and rightly so, of the M1 Garand, I thought it might be fun to also throw down some love for the "War Baby".

Anyone else a fan of the most prolifically produced US longarm of WW2?

Mine below is a 1944 Standard Products, all correct and minus import marks, that obviously went through the standard post War rebuild for sights and bayonet lug. It runs like a scalded cat and is one of my favorite rifles.

Anyone else a fan of the "War Baby"?

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Some seriously handy guns.

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My Dad ordered this one from the NRA in the 60's. It is a National Postal Meter with a Buffalo Arms (Marlin) barrel.

This one came with two 15 rd. magazines all for the princely sum of $17.00. Accurate, fun to shoot and over the years I have added several more WWII magazines and some 30 rd. magazines from the Korean "police action."

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I like the M1 Carbine as well... was my first Mil-Surp... if I had only known.. lol
mine is in original configuration.. purchased from the son of the WWII Naval vet that "brought it back "
along with his mess kit canteen and his service 45.. a US&S... his widow just wanted them out of the house...

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My dad carried one in WWII, always spoke fondly of it. I’ve wanted to get one but either can’t afford those I’ve come across or I just miss a good deal on one lol.

This pic is from 1944-France, my dad is on the left, the other guy was his cousin that he bumped into purely by chance.

I have a Quality Hardware with Inland barrel. QH did not make barrels, and used barrels from other sources. Mainly Inland, I think. One of my very earliest gun purchases so it has a special place in my heart.. Have accumulated far more Carbine magazines and bolts than I will ever need. Of course, it is one of the postwar updates

One of some. Underwood Elliot Fisher. Lent to Germany after the war for police work. Mine has "Bavarian Forestry Police" stamped on the receiver. 99% of what rums through mine is my cast bullets and jacketed pushed by #2400 powder. The one pictured came from CMP in Anniston.....IN the GOOd OL Days we would make a yearly trip there. And load up on rifles and ammo.......Sadly that is no more.......Just crumbs left.

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S&W Accumulator

Appears to not have been through the refit which many received. The rear sight nor the safety has not been altered. It doesn't have a bayonet lug on the barrel either. All of those things were modified in later production and some were added later to early production. Yours missed the arsenal refit and because of that is highly desirable with collectors. I can tell it's a battlefield rescue. Nice carbine.

I have a 43 Inland with a Win barrel. Not much to look at but the barrel is almost new. I can hit 18" steel plates at 220 yds. Real good shooter. Purchased a CMP 1911 to go with it.

Now all I really want is a Thompson machine gun but not going to happen.

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That's just somebody talkin.

back in the late 60s I had one in mint condition. It had a Winchester receiver and an Underwood barrel. I paid $45 for it with some ammo. Shot up the ammo and sold the gun for my $45 back Yes stupid. I wish now I had kept it. Prices are a little higher now.

About 15 years ago, I had a neighbor who found an UNCONVERTED Saginaw at an estate sale. Rare maker, rare condition. At the time I figured that he probably could have sold it easily for at least $1K. Probably at least double that today. It was one of only a very few unconverted Carbines I have ever seen. During the postwar period, the Army's San Antonio Arsenal here, located just south of downtown, was one of the major Carbine upgrade facilities used by the Army. The facility buildings are still there, but have been used for many years as the corporate HQ of the large Texas H-E-B supermarket chain. After upgrades, Carbines were sealed in large steel cans for long-term storage, I think 20 or 25 Carbines in a can. I would sure like to find a full sealed can.. When I was in high school, the Principal spent WWII working at the Inland Carbine plant in Dayton. I don't remember what he did there. He and I were not bosom buddies to say the least.

I started acquiring USGI M1 carbines in the late 1990's, which was probably nearing the end of the golden era of purchasing carbines at reasonable prices. There is no telling how many dozens of USGI carbines I've bought and sold and traded and even parted out. I still have a few special cream-of-the-crop favorites that are part of my retirement portfolio.




I also carried one in the early 2000's as a patrol rifle. It was one that I had assembled from scratch using new old stock USGI parts mounted in an Italian made M1A1 folding stock. We all used open sights in those days and I could hold my own at the range shooting with other officers shooting open sighted black rifles or Mini 14's.

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- Change it back -

I think they would make a darn fine home defense weapon . Light , minimum recoil , and Hornady makes a Critical Defense round for it .

Some here must be millionares, I can only afford one.

I've only had a couple of these and got rid of them some years along with just about everything military. I don't know what the carbines are really good for, but I certainly enjoyed reloading for them and shooting them.

Far more pleasant to shoot and easy to look at, unlike ARs, but gun tastes vary significantly.

I have a couple WWII vintage carbines. I carried one in my patrol car back in late 70’s and through the 80’s. It was my “patrol rifle”. Always carried GI ball in it.
Also carried a M1 Enforcer pistol in the squad. It is made by Universal. Consider it an early “ PDW “.
They served a purpose. My sidearm was a revolver, so having a 30 caliber 30 shot pistol in the car was handy. The carbine gave me capability out to 150-200 yds.
I dispatched a lot of game animals & livestock injured by motorist with the M1 carbine.
The carbine in the photo is an Inland Div.

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Have not been without at least one since I was 16.That was a long time ago.

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LEX ET ORDO

Like Faulkner (great post, bro) I carried one as a patrol rifle in the 90's. I believe it be one of the most under-rated fighting rifles of all time. Much of the criticism in that regard centers on the bullet. Load it with soft-points or hollow-points (if your particular example will feed them) and it changes character materially. They are light, short, handy, reliable, and accurate enough.

My biggest personal criticism is the safety; the rotating tab is much slower than the original pushbutton. Yeah, I know why; scared 19-year-old kids would intend to push the safety off but instead inadvertently push the mag release, dumping same on the deck. But I wasn't a scared 19-year-old, so swapped the safety on mine back to the button.

Not long after, I was patrolling along the river, back to the county seat twenty miles away. Came around the corner and spotted two feral goats on a rock the size of a house above the lonely highway. Now these goats were not welcome, had been causing problems in the nearest town, so the sheriff (me) had ordered that they were to be shot on sight So, following my own orders, I stopped and stepped down, pulling the M1 out with me. Goats stood there calmly munching the grass. I chambered a round, took a sight picture, pushed off the safety, and the magazine clattered onto the pavement..

Got them anyway. While I never had to fight with that marvelous little carbine, I did kill two deer and those two goats with it, all with 110 grain softpoints. None of the four moved out of their tracks after taking one bullet to the boiler room.

I've got an Inland, two Saginaw SG's, a National Postal Meter, an Underwood and a Quality Hardware. All went through the arsenal overhaul except the Underwood. It's all matching and has all the early features.

I have a Saginaw. Moved out a couple of Underwoods.

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Living a dream - S&WCA #2364

Have a nice non import Inland left, sold my Original WWII Winchester to friend in our gun club about 10 years ago when starting to downsize. Had all mfg’s but IBM at one time when they could be found at shows for around $100.00, those were the days.

I do not like them as much as I like the M1 Garand, but they are seriously nice carbines. I picked up a late Inland from one of the last batches the CMP got in from Italy. I mean, everyone should have a least one Garand, Carbine, 1903 and 1903A3.

I guess I take for granted most folks on here are aware of a lot of the history and information found in the books I grew up reading, written first hand accounts and biographies of combat vets . Many of these great soldiers went on to storied careers and success but many also served admirably in the NRA in high profile positions.

Anyone who admires the .30 carbine that hasn't read John George's "Shots Fired In Anger" has short changed themselves. I take it as common knowledge that the carbine was not a substitute or stand-in for a full power battle rifle but as a lightweight compact expedient for the 1911 for officers and non-coms who ordinarily were not issued long guns. Also, support troops, such as mess or supply personnel, truck drivers, etc. that may have had to suddenly enter the fray if things went sideways had a weapon that was easy to carry and manage while going about their normal duties. The ballistics of the .30 M1C matches closely at 100 yards around the same as at the muzzle of a .357 magnum with the 110 grain slug and increased the practical accuracy and distance to a much greater degree as opposed to someone with the 1911.

John George used the 30 carbine to deadly effect fighting the Japanese when he wasn't sniping with his 30-06' bolt gun and offered it easily penetrated Japanese helmets at range.

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Qui plantavit curabit

Inherited Dad's, (RIP). It's a nice little piece, but I doubt I'd ever buy one.

The advent of paratroopers spurred this as well. At a moment, rear echelon could find themselves under attack from the air. The pistol wasn’t ideal.

When I was in high school I bought my first one off my boss at the gas station he owned in 1969 . A minty Quality Hardware that he purchased thru the nra/dcm .

i loaded tens of thousands of Speer 100gr Plinkers that killed whitetails , muleys , badgers and scads of prairie dogs and other varmints .

My Old Man used his to great effect as a combat Marine in Korea 1951-1953 as did my father in law .

IMHO it is a great little rifle to break kids in on after they have learned the fundamentals with a single shot or bolt gun .22 .

I still have that first Quality Hdw and also a flat bolt Inland .
I’ll pass them on to a couple of deserving grand kids .

I still have five cases of Korean surplus ball. Bought them a few years ago for $0.25 per shot:



Same ammo goes for $1 per now. .30 carbine ammo has gotten very expensive in the past year or two.

With battle rattle:



Love this gun but at the price of the ammo, I’d rather shoot my Garand to be honest:

Although there are much better hunting rounds than a .30 carbine and I certainly don't recommend hunting medium game with one, I have been successful taking coyotes, feral hogs, and a few whitetail deer with mine, albeit they were all under 100 yards. I've never had to shoot one twice and never had one get away.

As Venom6 noted above, the trick is to use quality expanding bullets. Remington produces .30 carbine ammo with a good jacketed soft point and Hornaday's Critical Defense round in .30 carbine has a good reputation. My favorite due to good experience, though, is the Winchester jacketed soft hollow point. It is a very effective round and what I would use for a home defense round in the M1 carbine.

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- Change it back -

Big fan here.

Famed NYPD Stakeout Team veteran Jim Cirrillo stated that the .30 Carbine loaded with jacketed soft points put down bank robbers and hostage takers faster than anything he ever used except 12 gauge slugs. They also pretty much used anything they wanted to with few if any restrictions.
And he shot and saw shot a lot of bad guys.
Ironically, after surviving all those shootouts, and writing a couple of good books about them, he was killed in a night-time car wreck a few years after he retired.

I grabbed a dozen or so of those 1080 round cans of Korean Surplus when you could get it for around three bills a can. I am good for a while.

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These 5 cases will last my lifetime. I enjoy the M1 rifle more.

My dad and one of his younger brothers did the same thing post V-E Day. The best part of that was my dad was Army while his brother was Navy.

NOPE. What we liked. We bought long time ago............For many this ain't our first rodeo. 15 years ago you could go to the CMP in Anniston Alabama and buy all the Garands/Carbines/ Springfield 03's etc you afford and tote out of the building.
Over 6 million Carbines were produced by about 7 mfg'ers.......Lots were loaned to foreign countries. Lots, not all were returned and given to the CMP........Lots went through Capt Krunch too.

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S&W Accumulator

AND........A 1911 in 45acp.

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S&W Accumulator

Audy Murphy used a Carbine nick named "Ol Lucky".

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S&W Accumulator

I have access to shoot an ORIGINAL Inland folding paratrooper carbine........Lots of FAKES out there.

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S&W Accumulator

Beat me to it.

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Mine is a Quality Hardware, and it lives up to it's name.

The neatest M1 Carbine that I ever saw belonged to a friend of my Dad's. He had been a co-pilot on either a B17 or B24, and was shot down over France and crash landed. He had brought a carbine aboard for just such a situation. A German patrol came upon them, and even though he was shot in the hand, he and his crew were able to fight off this patrol and escape after killing several of them. French partisans soon got them back across enemy lines, and even though they wanted to take his carbine while he was treated for his wound at an aid station he refused. He held onto that carbine and got it home after the war. He also had the glove he was wearing when shot, and displayed it along with his Purple Heart.

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Only a cold warrior

Carbines were popular battlefield pickups among Wehrmacht soldiers.

I got to know a local Saginaw GM engineer, Bob M., who made the carbine his specialty hobby. His career was at "The Gun Plant" as it was known there.
He put together a "birth month" Saginaw for me, as built, with mostly correct bits and the expensive two settling for repro. Not so collectible, but satisfying to me. "War Baby" is the book, or books, to have.

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It's what I do, not what I am.

I have been a fan of the little carbine for years. Seriously collected them for @ 20 years, had every manufacturer except Irwin Pederson (the few I found were always more than i wanted to pay) including a couple as built examples bought years ago. Job changes and other events eventually lead to me selling off most of them. Still have a Winchester that only had minimal updates done and a Quality Hardware that got the whole rebuild including an M2 stock. A previous owner also glass bedded the Quality hardware and it is amazingly accurate, the best shooting carbine I ever owned.

I suspect some of the claims about carbines being inaccurate or lacking "stopping power" may have been due to rebuilt guns that were rather loose. My dad was issued one as a vehicle driver and said a lot of the units carbines were loose enough to rattle in their stocks (Korean war era). His Lieutenant picked through and found a couple tight ones, they shot quite well. I am still very much a fan of the carbine!

We keep plenty of ammunition around for them also.

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Regarding the effectiveness of the Carbine, back in the later 60s I worked alongside a retired Marine Colonel. He had fought through both WWII in the Pacific and later in Korea, and always carried a Carbine. When the subject of how wimpy the Carbine was came up, he always commented he had put down several dozen of the enemy with his Carbine and never saw a single one get back up. He was not the type of person to doubt. He retired before Vietnam.

I have always liked the carbine and have shot several. However, I have never bought one, usually spending my money on some S&W.

I came close to getting one during the last CMP sale, but I wasn't one of the lucky ones.

When I started in LE with a sheriff's office in the mid '70s, the chief deputy had a M2 as his patrol rifle. He had me clean it for him. Of course, I shot it before I cleaned it.

Maybe someday I'll get one. I should sell some of the guns I seldom shoot & get me a War Baby.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Unlike most of you I waited until was old to get interested in the carbines. I seem to buy high on every thing I'm interested in. I have these three, two that have been rearsenaled and one that has all the early features.



This was my first, a late serial number 1945 Winchester. It could have all the latest parts honestly. It is in a M-2 possum belly stock. All the books, sling, oiler and several magazines were given to me by a good friend. I have learned you will never learn everything about carbines.

The carbine is a good little rifle. I like mine a lot.

Fulton Armory makes a good reproduction.

I am rounding my collection of WW2 themed guns and accessories with a Tisas M1911A1. From my readings they are a swell reproduction.

My father, who was in the Field Artillery in WWII, told me he carried a carbine. I never had the opportunity, or got around to acquiring one, and at my age, doubt I will. I do have a Ruger 10-22 with M1 carbine inspired aftermarket stock, and guess that will have to suffice.

Those are neat. And don't cost much to shoot.

I shot M1 Carbines in the USAF until 1968 when I want to Vietnam, There they handed me an M16. Bought my first in 1964 at Shooters Paradise an IBM, paid the princely sum of $35. I have one of each manufacturer now except Irwin Peterson. I have lots of ammo picked up over the years and reload. I picked one up at the last gunshow For $850 Which is cheap now. a nice Underwood.
SWCA 892

I was given this Quality Hardware M1 carbine several years ago.



I gave my CMP Inland M1 carbine to one of my sons when I was given the QH. My other son will get the QH carbine when I'm gone.

I've owned numerous carbines over the decades, both GI and a couple Plainfields. I served in the Army with two NCOs who advised South Vietnamese units and they carried M2 carbines and thought they were very well armed with them.