M-1 Carbines

[imjin138]

I picked one up Friday at the Badger military show, I have had them before. This is a gun you either like or hate, I have spoken to Vets who used it in combat and loved it, and some who hated it.

I bought mine for when the Zombies/civil unrest starts, I have ARS and M1A and a garand and other military rifles, but I find the little carbine handy around the house. I normally keep a stock puch with 2 loaded mags and 2 30 rounders in a jungle clip handy just in case.

I have a friend a Korean war marine who uses one to patrol his property up north, he has had some interlopers and poachers and he keeps the same set up except his is in a paratrooper stock. He used one in combat and liked it.

I do know a Korean war vet who was in an artillery unit that got over run by the Chinese and he shot an enemy soldier several times with a carbine with no appaent effect, he then picked up an abandoned Garand and saw puffs of cotton on both sides of the other soldier before he went down. he kept the Garand after that.


I plan on several uses for the gun, mostly fun but protection as well.

 

[safearm]

I traded for a March '43 vintage Winchester M1 in an after-market M1A1 paratrooper stock at a gun show a month ago. It is indeed a fun little gun, although my father was not fond of them at all. He once told me of his experiences with the M1 carbine in Korea, and how he had smashed his against a rock so he could get a M1 Garand.
While I was at the gun show, I bought the Ruth and Duff book, "The M1 Carbine Owner's Guide." This book is mandatory reading for every carbine owner. I also purchased the Army/Air Force technical manual for the M1 carbine series from Brownells (it was on sale for $3.94 last week).
I read on another forum that an easy way to carry a folding stock carbine was in a tennis racket case. Nobody pays attention to a gray headed guy with a US Tennis Open case over his shoulder. Little do they realize it has a carbine with 3 15 round magazines. It's the perfect car gun.

 

[walnutred]

One of my brothers was an infantry RTO in Vietnam from 1966-1968. He said he eventually carried a folding stock M2 that he liked just fine. My dad was land based Naval Air Corps in the Pacific during WW2 and he said he traded his M1 carbine off the first chance he got. So yes, it's definitely a love hate thing.

 

[fiasconva]

You have to realize that during both WWII and Korea they were limited to ball ammo. That little carbine with the correct load nowadays is a whole different kitty.

 

[Old Corp]

Nowadays the biggest thing working against the M1 Carbine is the ammo costs. I recall 15-20 years ago one could find a wide assortment of mil-surp ammo and it wasn't much different than buying .22 ammo. Not anymore, it's all gone. Replaced with stuff 10x more expensive.

 

[GatorFarmer]

I put mine in a Choate folder and replaced the wooden handguard with a metal one. Unlike the old GI folders, the Choate one will lock open. It does make for a handy package, though one that I'm still ambivalent about.

 

[sigp220.45]

I was just shooting mine today. Its a beat up old Standard Products with a Rockola barrel, arriving here by way of Korea and the good folks at Blue Sky.

Ammo is painfully expensive now. CMP sells Aguila for $155 per 500:

Ammunition Sales

They also have carbines in stock - $419 will get you a rack grade Inland.

http://www.thecmp.org/m1carbine.htm

Count me amongst the "love it" crowd.

 

[Joe Kent]

My father carried an M2 in Korea and absolutely loved it. Today at 85 years old he still keeps an M1 behind the closet door as well as a 45 gov't by the bedside. I would not have wanted to tangle with him in 1952 and I sure as hell would not want to mess with him now. In his day , he dealt with Germans, Japs, North Koreans and Red Chinese who tried to take his guns { I might add that we have a couple of nice Lugers, a Mauser or two, a type 44 Jap carbine and a neat Moisan brought home from Korea} and if someone comes to take them from him tomorrow, I am sure he will add something else to the collection.

 

[Frank237]

My Uncle was in Armor during the Korean conflict. He used a Carbine once when their tank had lost a track and they were stuck defending it from a large group of bad guys. It was winter and despite knowing he was getting close range body hits...they were not falling. He eventually grabbed a .45 acp "grease gun" and seemed to get better results...but not much better.

He eventually snagged a Garand and carried that...despite the much larger size.

FN in MT

 

[mkk41]

I've never seen the appeal of them , but my Dad always talked fondly about them. He was a WWII vet , artillery , Battle of the Bulge combatant. Says he carried both carbine and .45. He didn't have much interest in guns , but never stopped me from buying guns or shooting. We lived in a secluded , wooded area , and when I left home , I left one of my .45s with him for home defense. He really couldn't shoot it as he had a bad wrist after a break. I later bought him a 'Blue Sky' M-1 carbine , a few mags and a few boxes of ammo. Not too long after , he was asking me for more ammo. He actually liked shooting that thing out behind the house.

 

[Evil Dog]

Garand vs carbine? I'd take the Garand... if I couldn't get ahold of an M-14.

 

[s&wchad]

They grow on you...

Inland 6-43

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M1A1 4-43

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Saginaw Steering Gear, Grand Rapids (Augusta Arsenal rebuild)

 

[jumbeaux]

M1 Carbines

My late uncle was in Vietnam as an advisor (USAF com specialist) in 1961. He was armed with a carbine, I'm not sure if it was a M1 or M2. He was in country for about a year and was attached to a group of USAF and Marines. He said the carbine was carried more than shot but it stopped whatever it was pointed at....he helped set up com stations and I think microwave com stations. My Winnie was rebuilt and purchased from the DCM in the '60's.....I love it.

jumbeaux

 

[Gutpile Charlie]

Here is mine. As you can see, the photo was from a "meal protection thread"!

About 2000, I purchased a Springfield Armory receiver from SA on Commercial Row at the Camp Perry National Matches.

SA was going to assemble carbines from GI parts, assemble them on their receivers and offer an upscale carbine.

The economics were just not there. Existing parts had gotten so expensive they abandoned their plans and just put the receivers on sale.

I purchased one for $65.00 and was a fool not to pick up at least a half a dozen. Within a couple of years I saw them selling for about $250.00!

I purchased "all new" GI parts, most from Fulton Armory, and found a beautiful stock at a Tulsa gunshow which the seller said came from Anniston Alabama where they were using them was fire wood on the Army post before they were "rescued".

I spent a considerable amount of time rubbing coats on tung oil into the stock, collected all the parts and then sent the receiver to Riverbank Armory in California for a barrel and to have it installed and headspaced.

Here is the complete gun. Looks like new, shoots like new, feels like new and even smells like new! I couldn't be happier.

Charlie

P.S. The steak was tasty too!

 

[Faulkner]

I've had a fondness for M1 carbines for over 20 years and have acquired a humble collection of them and I used them to transition my wife and kids from .22's to center fire rifles.

 

[charlie sherrill]

I had about 20 of these at one time. I'm down to three. A Rockola and a couple of Inlands. I carried one on patrol for several years. One of my all time favorite guns.

 

[Zilmo]

I would love to have an M1 carbine. Problem is, everywhere I look I see more info about them than I could possibly process. All the different makers, stamps and cartouches, import marks, arsenal issued and so forth I wouldn't have a freaking clue as to what I was looking at.

I have always love the Carbine. I own a Mini-14 just because it resembles the M1.

 

[Faulkner]

I had about 20 of these at one time. I'm down to three. A Rockola and a couple of Inlands. I carried one on patrol for several years. One of my all time favorite guns.

I still carry one in M1A1 configuration in my patrol car.

 

[oldRoger]

My Uncle was an artillery officer (105s) Africa, Italy, and finally Third Army France and Germany. When I came home from advanced infantry training and was bitching about the 1911 and carbine, he took me out and showed me the light.
He was a gun nut his entire life, I don’t think he ever saw a gun that he thought was worthless.
He said that the WW II GIs liked the M1 so much that nothing but perhaps a BAR or Thompson was ever good enough. So instead of taking the Carbine for what it was, light and handy, they bitched and found an M1, which for all of its virtues is neither light nor handy.

 

[bettis1]

I was armed with an M2 back in the early 1950s in the 36th Div. TxNG. Fortunately, I never had to shoot anything more aggressive than paper but I loved the carbine. After each qualification the RO gave a case of ammo to each of us who had an M2 and sent us to the end of the range to burn it.

My first exposure to the .30 Carbine was back in WWII when a GI friend of my dads brought two of them to our ranch. We used a hacksaw to cut an "X" in the nose of the ball ammo (field expedient expanding ammo). As I recall, we took a couple of whitetails with them while he was visiting.

Bob