- Joined
- May 12, 2005
- Messages
- 523
Mike:
I was a big fan of the M1 Carbine from about 1970 through 1992. Accumulated 32 of them in that time, from estate sales, garage sales, shows, etc. Many were $12 DCM guns that vets bought, and were tickled to sell in the 70s for $50 to $75 each. I ended up getting extremely disgusted with the US martial arms collecting scene when the emphasis was on "correctness as issued" and the national pastime was swapping out "incorrect" parts with "correct" NOS parts and doing a repark job, then asking $500 to four digits for a "correct, authentic" M1 Carbine. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was looking at a Carbine and a late 1945 dated letter for its "owner" to bring it back to the US. I held the letter up to the light and the watermark said "Hammermill Laser-something." Sold all but one of my Carbines during 92-94. Haven't looked back at the US Martial Arms collecting scene since.
Not to say I don't enjoy shooting the Carbine that I have. I do. They are a hoot. I still reload for them, and have found that the 110 FMJ is the best for functionality. There are some JHP/JHC bullets out there but BEWARE that they need to have a jacket that rides up the nose quite a ways, if not wraps into the cavity. If there's too much exposed lead, fuggedabout any sort functionality/reliability. And many of my Carbines were selective about the JHC/JHPs, too. What worked in some would choke in others.
The 15rd GI mags seemed to run 100%. The 30 rd GI mags would work in maybe six or seven of the 32 Carbines that I had, but still failed from time to time. I had eight 30s, and kept none of them. All I have are GI 15s.
There are those folks that say "Stick to GI, everything else is junk." In principle, I tend NOT to agree with that statement. My reasoning is based on the fact that many USGI Carbines were used in three significant wars, and many yet were exported to allies or pseudo-allies. These were reimported in the late 80s from South Korea, South America, etc. And many of them were ridden hard and put to bed wet. The single biggest problem that many folk simply ignore is the varying amount of wear experienced by individual specimens. I refer to wear of the bolt lugs and the receiver raceways, and to the firing pin block boss in the underside of the receiver that prevents OOB discharges until the bolt rotates into the locked position. Of the 32 Carbines that I owned, five of them had out-of-spec wear issues, and three of the five were worn such that an OOB discharge could have been possible. One I stripped the parts from and scrapped due to this particular issue, and assembled the parts back on a Springfield, Inc. receiver.
I am not whitewashing all GI Carbines with this worn receiver brush. Far from it. My comment is made in the interests of raising awareness among the fans of Carbines because in my experience few people recognize the fact that most of these little gems HAVE BEEN USED. What complicates matters is a quick repark dip that is effectively like putting a new dress on an old whore. It covers a multitude of sins, and IMO commits a few sins of deception in the process. Caveat emptor.
There are those that say, stick to GI because the receivers are forged, and the current clones have ("junk" is implied here) investment cast receivers. IMO, I'l take a current IC receiver over a clapped-out GI receiver any day, of for nothing else but pure safety. The current replicas from Kahr/AO carry a warranty, whereas a gunshow USGI carbine is "all sales final" at best. I've examined a few Kahr clones and in general I'm favorably impressed with them. The bolts translated and rotated without hangup, and passed a GI NO GO gauge. For the right price, I would not hesitate buying one.
And the one of the 32 that I kept? It's an early model Universal with one recoil spring and numerous GI parts installed. It is the single most dependable Carbine that I've owned, including some of the GI Carbines that almost REFUSED to run, one being a certified as-issued early Rock-Ola. (I bought it from the owner's widow, he being an Army Major in WWII that somehow brought this thing back and kept it in a closet until the late 70s.) I never fired a 15rd mag full of ammo without a FTF in that one. Never. And because it was truly all-original, I wasn't about to effect the repair that I knew would fix it.
As for effectiveness of the round, three men in my immediate family (late father and two uncles) and my FIL fought in WWII. Each had the opportunity to use the M1 Carbine in anger, all of them but one elected to return to the weapon of their preference, the M1 Rifle. The exception was my FIL, a paratrooper who preferred the Thompson. Dad never talked much about the war, but he did speak about what a wonderful weapon the M1 Rifle was and he'd sneer when the M1 Carbine was mentioned in conversation because it took too many hit to stop an enemy at banzai time. When I bought my first M1 Carbine Dad glanced at it and said, "That's nice." Later when I bought my first M1 Garand and took it over to show him, he was transformed, sitting ther holding it, turning it this side and that, sighting it out the window, and finally field stripping and reassembling it, all without saying a word for better than 30 minutes.
Excuse the rambling; it's my two cents. Congrats on the acquisition and enjoy!
I was a big fan of the M1 Carbine from about 1970 through 1992. Accumulated 32 of them in that time, from estate sales, garage sales, shows, etc. Many were $12 DCM guns that vets bought, and were tickled to sell in the 70s for $50 to $75 each. I ended up getting extremely disgusted with the US martial arms collecting scene when the emphasis was on "correctness as issued" and the national pastime was swapping out "incorrect" parts with "correct" NOS parts and doing a repark job, then asking $500 to four digits for a "correct, authentic" M1 Carbine. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was looking at a Carbine and a late 1945 dated letter for its "owner" to bring it back to the US. I held the letter up to the light and the watermark said "Hammermill Laser-something." Sold all but one of my Carbines during 92-94. Haven't looked back at the US Martial Arms collecting scene since.
Not to say I don't enjoy shooting the Carbine that I have. I do. They are a hoot. I still reload for them, and have found that the 110 FMJ is the best for functionality. There are some JHP/JHC bullets out there but BEWARE that they need to have a jacket that rides up the nose quite a ways, if not wraps into the cavity. If there's too much exposed lead, fuggedabout any sort functionality/reliability. And many of my Carbines were selective about the JHC/JHPs, too. What worked in some would choke in others.
The 15rd GI mags seemed to run 100%. The 30 rd GI mags would work in maybe six or seven of the 32 Carbines that I had, but still failed from time to time. I had eight 30s, and kept none of them. All I have are GI 15s.
There are those folks that say "Stick to GI, everything else is junk." In principle, I tend NOT to agree with that statement. My reasoning is based on the fact that many USGI Carbines were used in three significant wars, and many yet were exported to allies or pseudo-allies. These were reimported in the late 80s from South Korea, South America, etc. And many of them were ridden hard and put to bed wet. The single biggest problem that many folk simply ignore is the varying amount of wear experienced by individual specimens. I refer to wear of the bolt lugs and the receiver raceways, and to the firing pin block boss in the underside of the receiver that prevents OOB discharges until the bolt rotates into the locked position. Of the 32 Carbines that I owned, five of them had out-of-spec wear issues, and three of the five were worn such that an OOB discharge could have been possible. One I stripped the parts from and scrapped due to this particular issue, and assembled the parts back on a Springfield, Inc. receiver.
I am not whitewashing all GI Carbines with this worn receiver brush. Far from it. My comment is made in the interests of raising awareness among the fans of Carbines because in my experience few people recognize the fact that most of these little gems HAVE BEEN USED. What complicates matters is a quick repark dip that is effectively like putting a new dress on an old whore. It covers a multitude of sins, and IMO commits a few sins of deception in the process. Caveat emptor.
There are those that say, stick to GI because the receivers are forged, and the current clones have ("junk" is implied here) investment cast receivers. IMO, I'l take a current IC receiver over a clapped-out GI receiver any day, of for nothing else but pure safety. The current replicas from Kahr/AO carry a warranty, whereas a gunshow USGI carbine is "all sales final" at best. I've examined a few Kahr clones and in general I'm favorably impressed with them. The bolts translated and rotated without hangup, and passed a GI NO GO gauge. For the right price, I would not hesitate buying one.
And the one of the 32 that I kept? It's an early model Universal with one recoil spring and numerous GI parts installed. It is the single most dependable Carbine that I've owned, including some of the GI Carbines that almost REFUSED to run, one being a certified as-issued early Rock-Ola. (I bought it from the owner's widow, he being an Army Major in WWII that somehow brought this thing back and kept it in a closet until the late 70s.) I never fired a 15rd mag full of ammo without a FTF in that one. Never. And because it was truly all-original, I wasn't about to effect the repair that I knew would fix it.
As for effectiveness of the round, three men in my immediate family (late father and two uncles) and my FIL fought in WWII. Each had the opportunity to use the M1 Carbine in anger, all of them but one elected to return to the weapon of their preference, the M1 Rifle. The exception was my FIL, a paratrooper who preferred the Thompson. Dad never talked much about the war, but he did speak about what a wonderful weapon the M1 Rifle was and he'd sneer when the M1 Carbine was mentioned in conversation because it took too many hit to stop an enemy at banzai time. When I bought my first M1 Carbine Dad glanced at it and said, "That's nice." Later when I bought my first M1 Garand and took it over to show him, he was transformed, sitting ther holding it, turning it this side and that, sighting it out the window, and finally field stripping and reassembling it, all without saying a word for better than 30 minutes.
Excuse the rambling; it's my two cents. Congrats on the acquisition and enjoy!
