M1 carbine in 9mm

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Cal44

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I noticed Big 5 had M1 carbines in 9mm rather than the usual 30 cal round.

My dad brought an M1 carbine home from the Pacific in WWII and I shot it some as a kid. Of course, it was the usual 30 cal military version.

I always liked that gun, but my mom sold it when my dad got too old to use his guns any more.

I've considered getting one some day -- more likely a new reproduction version.

Has anyone tried one of these in 9mm? That seems more practical in terms of ammo availability and variety.
 
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I've only started hearing about these very recently. I have two concerns; 1) is the magazine a common or proprietary design, 2) Many people find the 30 Carbine not powerful (about same as 357 mag in a carbine length barrel) what advantage would a 9mm version provide? Ivan
 
Plainfield made these years ago. It used a Browning High Power style of magazine, extended of course. They weren't very popular, kind of pricey for the time period. More of a novelty than anything else. I tried to get mine to work with an M2 kit, but there were just too many differences in the trigger housing. .30 Carbine is a better round out of the carbine anyway!
 
The new ones are Italian. Chiappa-made, I believe. And I think it uses Beretta 92 magazines.

Blowback, instead of gas-operated.

I can see a use for it. As a "plinking" round, 30 carbine es no bueno. When it can be found (harder and harder to do) it is quite expensive. 9 mil, on t'other hand, is all over the place, and fairly cheap.

I doubt you'll get 1900 fps out of a 9mm, even in an 18-inch barrel, but it's a little better than from a 4-inch pistol, and rifles are much easier to shoot accurately.

BBTI - Ballistics by the Inch :: 9mm Luger Results

MSRP is 700, which, to my mind, is too much money. Others may find it acceptable.
 
What Alpo said is spot on, they are made by Chiappa and use Beretta 92F mags.
I have been eyeing these since I heard they were going to start making them. I am seeing them go for the $450-$550 price range. Seems to be a little cheaper than an AR in 9mm and since I already have a pile of Beretta 92F mags, that's just a bonus.
 
Commercial 30 Carbine ammo (Aguilla) 110 FMJ is in stores for $23-25/50 here in Central Ohio.

I have had sever M-1's, My first was a Universal, and all the rest were G.I.'s and have been happy with the performance. Unlike the 2 Marlin Camp 9 carbines that just didn't have much killing power on vermin. (I liked and kept a Camp 45).

I was very lucky a few years back, when Dick's took over Galyan's; the ammo sell off had Winchester 110 grain soft HP ammo @ $12.50/50, so I took all 400 rounds. This goes along with a couple or 3 thousand reloads. Brass is now in the unattainium class. With more GI imports there might be more brass too. Ivan
 
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.30 M1 Carbines are just plain fun. Sort of like a .22 rifle on steroids. An M1 Carbine in 9mm seems to be wasteful IMHO. It would be shorter range and less powerful than the .30 Carbine. These rounds are very easy to reload, and if you want to shoot them a lot, just scrounge around and gather ammo/brass when you find it. The .30 cal 110 grain FMJ bullets are an easy find almost anywhere. IMR-4227 and H-4227 powder is also easy to find, and either are great for this caliber.
 
H-110 was invented for 30 Carbine, sort of. Hodgdon had tons of surplus powder for 30 carbine and when they went to market it, they had to call it something. If you are going to reload it, don't waste time and money on a standard die! Get a carbide or titanium nitrate set. I have no idea on how often to trim, some of my brass was reloaded 4 or 5 times before I lost it, but it never stayed around long enough for those finer details. Ivan
 
Most 9mm carbines are overpriced IMHO, and this M1 clone and the CX4 definitely so. The sensibly priced one is the Hi Point.
 
9mm in an m1 could be fun suppressed too- 147gr is subsonic at least in a pistol, not sure if it would stay subsonic in a longer barrel? Plus as others mentioned ammo is cheap and available. I'd like to try one, could be a fun plinker.
 
WATCHDOG said:
I hear this same issue brought up when people start talking about the Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine.

So...not trying to be funny here...not powerful enough for what?
Click to expand...

To hunt deer?

Some years back I was reading an article. Said that all the "experts" agreed that 30 Carbine was too puny a round to use for deer hunting. Problem was, all a 30 Carbine was, basically, was a rimless 32/20. And "good old boys" in the piney woods, had been killing deer with 32/20s for a hundred years. So, not knowing that the round was not powerful enough, these same "good old boys" killed the hell out of deer with surplus M1 Carbines.

Apparently the deer were also unaware that the round that was killing them was too puny to kill them.
 
All those MP-5s ......ya 9mm just won't do the job!........OK they are full auto.... but rarely shot full auto.........

Anyone want a double tap from my 9mm CX4 at 50yds.....I can keep all rounds in a fist size group about as fast as I can pull the trigger.......


No doubt a .556 is a better round ....... but don't discount a 9mm out of a 16 inch barrel out to 75yds...
 
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