About three years ago, I found this National Postal Meter in a local shop. It was an Italian return gun, given the fat bellied Italian made stock. It was in a group of six or so carbines from an estate sale and the price was $700. I picked this one due to the overall condition and it's excellent bore. (The barrel has a 1943 man. date) There were others in the group in poorer condition, but with higher collector value do to their features. I wanted a good shooting example so that wasn't my top priority. I replaced the Italian stock with a new one of original WWII profile and I've been quite pleased with it. I doubted if I'd find a good one cheaper in the future, so I snapped it up.
I've experienced good reliability with it. Original GI 15 round mags have been 100%. I've only experienced a couple of malfunctions in several hundred rounds with 30 round Korean mags. This has been with both fmj and softpoint ammunition. The mags are the real Achilles heel in the system. They're made of thin gauge metal and easily damaged, so they don't take rough handling. The other issue is, it needs proper lubrication with grease, like it's big brother the Garand. Awareness of these factors will eliminate most issues.
Regarding its effectiveness as a mankiller. There's been so much excrement written about that, much of it parroted right here. Everyone has the story of their father, brother, grandfather, best friends cousin of a guy who lived down the street, who had bad experiences with it. Sure, the cousin of a guy who lived down the street was a scared pantless 19 year old serviceman, who shot a charging Chinese soldier fifteen times at the frozen Chosin, before he put him down. Okay, did you shoot him fifteen times or shoot *at* him fifteen times? Did you pause in the middle of things, kneel down in the snow and check the hits? Of course you didn't, so the cousin of a guy who lived down the street is telling sea stories, just like old veterans do. I don't believe that any more than I believe the story, recounted upthread, of soldiers on Guadalcanal, Okinawa, or wherever, throwing them in trash cans.
Audie Murphy, the most highly decorated US serviceman of WWII, held the carbine as a favorite. My own father, a career marine with combat service in WWII, Korea and two tours in Vietnam, was a stone cold killer who had no problem with it. Jim Cirillo, of the NYPDs famous Stakeout Unit, stated the M1 Carbine was their most effective weapon. I personally don't need any other endorsements. I've personally hunted wild hogs in Texas with it and I never needed more than one shot on those notoriously tough animals. Like most firearms, it will work if you can shoot.
There have been comments in this thread comparing the costs of these Midway guns to that of an AR15. This myopic mindset is missing the forest for the trees. The two are purchased for entirely different reasons and priorities and that's an apples to oranges comparison. The M1 Carbine can certainly be used as a defensive tool, after all that's what it was designed for. In terms of home defense, it's a weapon anyone in a household can use if needed, from a ten year old child to a grown man. It's size, weight and lack of recoil make it a favorite in family outtings at the range. All that being said, there are better tools for defense here in 2021. The little carbine should really live on as primarily a recreational shooter and a fascinating piece of firearms history.
It doesn't matter what you or I paid for something in the past. The past is a different country and they do things differently there. I continually see people on this forum be very insulting to others because they paid far less for something years before. This is juvenile and unnecessary. The price paid in the past is irrelevant. The only purchasing factor should be what something may cost in the future. The cost of M1 Carbines will not be going down.
Regardless of all of this, I wouldn't pay Midway's prices.
