Rebarrel M1 Carbine

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smoothshooter

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I have an Inland M1 Carbine that needs a replacement barrel.

It is in excellent condition, but has a barrel that is chrome lined, but the chrome was poorly done and has what looks like cutter chips left in the bore and chromed over with the rifling. They will not come out using the methods I have tried so far. Easier to replace the barrel.

Can anyone out there recommend a company or shop that has the specialized tooling, barrels, and expertise to do this?

I know that carbines were not normally built with chrome bores, but I have read that a very, very few were. The idea was abandoned because the chrome got applied to the unfinished chambers as well. When the barrel shop started reaming the chambers to final dimensions, the chrome would ruin reamers in short order.
Have no information on where and when my gun got the chrome barrel.
Oddly enough, it still shoots WW2 ball ammo VERY accurately.
Soft point ammo not so well. I suspect the sporting ammo bullets get most of the jacket material ripped off travelling down the bore while the thicker FMJ material remains relatively intact when fired.

Suggestions?
 
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Before proceeding with this project I would suggest doing some research on the subject of chrome-lined barrels in the M1 Carbines. I know that one early "fix" applied to the original M16 rifles issued to troops in Vietnam was chromed bores and bolt carriers (this approach did not fully overcome the reported problems), so it is possible that chromed bores were something DoD was looking at in that time period (early to mid-1960's, while many US forces continued using the M1 Carbines).

My thought is that this might represent a relatively small bunch of Carbines, possibly of interest to serious collectors as a representative piece in the history of these fine weapons. If that proves to be the case you may be better off keeping the Carbine as it is.
 
If it is the original barrel, I would leave it alone. Worth more as it is to a collector.

Buy one of the new M1 carbines that are out there.

Since it shoots military hardball very good, I say leave it alone. The bottom line is it is your gun, so do with it as you please.
 
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I’ll vote for doing your research. Spending a lot of $$ to rebarrel only to kill the collector value could be counterproductive
 
AJ said:
Sell the collectable Carbine and buy a reproduction............
Click to expand...

Very few Carbines to be found today are collectible, at least in the sense that all components are WWII factory original. After WWII, nearly all Carbines in service were refurbished in military arsenals (one of them being here in San Antonio), and there was absolutely no consideration given to keeping original parts together during disassembly and reassembly. Additionally, many, if not most, carbines received new wood stocks, click-adjustable rear sights were added, the safety design was changed, and bayonet studs were added. Replacing a defective barrel with a better one won't affect value that much, if at all, assuming it is a GI barrel, not something aftermarket.

It is simple to replace a barrel. You can make the tools needed yourself at home, and I have done that. My tools are fairly crude, but they work OK. I have found that the arsenal-installed barrels are screwed in fairly tight, and a lot of leverage is required to get them loose. You unscrew the receiver from the barrel, not the barrel from the receiver. The barrels and receivers have witness marks to allow the replacement barrel to be installed accurately.

For the official military manual on gunsmithing the .30 M1/M2/M3 Carbines, do a search on TM 9-1276/ TO 39A-5AD-2
 
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DWalt is correct. I had to replace the barrel on my Standard Products rifle due to a cracked gas cylinder. If you are so inclined, you can buy the tools and parts cheaper than having it repaired by someone else. You can find new old stock replacement barrels on the internet. The one I got went right in and head spaced perfectly. I don't think I'd take a chance on a used barrel. As mention, there are marks on the barrel and receiver to insure proper alignment.
If you decide to give it a try you will need a good solid bench vise. Otherwise shoot me a PM. I can loan or sell you my tools to use. ;)

However, I'm no expert on the M1 Carbine. If what others are saying about the collectability of the chrome lined rifles is correct, I think you would be much better off selling your rifle and just buy another.

Go to the CMP Forums. The have a section just for the M1 Carbine. I'm sure the folks there can answer any questions you may have. ;)
 
Rebarrel and retain the original barrel. If the next owner wants the "collectible" back he can swap the barrels back. Win Win.
 
DWalt said:
Very few Carbines to be found today are collectible, at least in the sense that all components are WWII factory original. After WWII, nearly all Carbines in service were refurbished in military arsenals (one of them being here in San Antonio), and there was absolutely no consideration given to keeping original parts together during disassembly and reassembly. Additionally, many, if not most, carbines received new wood stocks, click-adjustable rear sights were added, the safety design was changed, and bayonet studs were added. Replacing a defective barrel with a better one won't affect value that much, if at all, assuming it is a GI barrel, not something aftermarket.

It is simple to replace a barrel. You can make the tools needed yourself at home, and I have done that. My tools are fairly crude, but they work OK. I have found that the arsenal-installed barrels are screwed in fairly tight, and a lot of leverage is required to get them loose. You unscrew the receiver from the barrel, not the barrel from the receiver. The barrels and receivers have witness marks to allow the replacement barrel to be installed accurately.

For the official military manual on gunsmithing the .30 M1/M2/M3 Carbines, do a search on TM 9-1276/ TO 39A-5AD-2
Click to expand...

The collectibility of carbines is in the eyes of the owner. I have handled about a thousand carbines over the years. Of all of the ones I have found in gun shows only one was an original. Probably 90+% of the carbines are rebuilds. There are a lot out there that are "Correct As Manufactured" and were made so by their owners changing parts around. I collected "As Issued From The Armory" or in another words as we would have drawn from the Armory for use in the field.

As the OP stated it shoots well with military hardball, so why change the barrel. It has been on the carbine for 75+ years and still works as designed. So why change the barrel? Because you can??? Buy a reproduction and modify that.

The picture is of my carbines.
 

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AManWearingAHat said:
Rebarrel and retain the original barrel. If the next owner wants the "collectible" back he can swap the barrels back. Win Win.
Click to expand...

As I recall, if you have a USGI Inland with a chrome line barrel, then that barrel is not original to the gun because none of the USGI war time barrels were chrome lined. It's not "collectible" anyway.
 
Puller said:
As I recall, if you have a USGI Inland with a chrome lined barrel, then that barrel is not original to the gun because none of the USGI war time barrels were chrome lined. It's not "collectible" anyway.
Click to expand...

This is the first time I have ever heard mention of a chrome lined U. S. M1 .30 Carbine barrel (presumably the bore is hard chromed), and I don't believe that was ever done on military production Carbines. The principal reason chrome barrels were used on the later M16 barrels was to prevent corrosion of chambers in hot humid climates which was found to create functional unreliability in combat. Some U. S. M14 rifles also had chromed chambers and bores. WWII Japanese Type 99 (and some Type 38) military rifles also had chrome plated barrels and chambers for the same reason, and also to increase barrel life. The same is true for Soviet and Chinese AK and SKS weapons. But insofar as I know, no .30 Carbines had that feature.
 
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