M-1 Carbine by Universal ?

V

VictorLouis

New member
I don't wish to re-hash old debates about their utility. I know that this brand has NO collector interest. What I do need to know is if they are a safe, reliable shooter. Or, should they be avoided? I've seen several recently in $250-$290 range.
 
I owned one years ago. Yes they are a reliable shooter but quality is on the low end of good. I would say they are safe.
 
My younger brother had one for several years and shot it a lot. He loaded some loads right below the Lyman book maximum and cracked the bolt. He never had any problems as long as he stayed at "middle of the road" loads. Don't try to make it something it's not and you should be fine.
 
With respect for the others here, I am going to say no, on the whole these are not safe. You may be lucky, but dollar for dollar you would be much better off buying a USGI carbine in good condition. It will not be as pretty, but the receiver and other parts were made to very strict quality and dimensional specs that have a direct bearing on your safety. Kuhnhausen has now got volume 3 of his manuals on the USGI service rifles out, covering the carbine, and there are lots of pictures and text on the faults of almost all types of non-USGI carbines. Buy USGI.
 
I'll have to come down on the side of the USGI carbine too. I've seen a couple of Universal carbines at local ranges, and it was 50:50. One of them was a jam-o-matic, wouldn't shoot anything. I took two of his mags and slapped them in one of my USGI carbines, flawless operation. Since the magazines and ammo functioned fine in my gun, the obvious conclusion was the gun. The other guy had one that seemed to shoot when you pulled the trigger, but he was getting about 8" groups at 100 yards with it. My Inland and Winchester have no trouble grouping 4" with me at the controls, and I'm not that great a rifleman, especially with open sights.
 
I have an M1 Carbine by Universal, piece of junk if you ask me. Jams way too much, the cocking handle sometimes comes up off the railing, and the magazine latch is no good. Just not a good gun, wish I hadn't bought it.
 
I bought a new Universal M1 Carbine, back around 1980. Still have it. It shoots reliably, except for the times I reloaded for it and tried to find the lowest powered loads it would cycle, so that was not the gun's fault. Paid maybe $109 for it. I knew it was a commercial copy, but had I known how few internal parts interchange with USGI parts, I would have avoided it. More recently, I bought a Saginaw USGI M1 Carbine. If I had no M1 carbine today and I did not have the $400 (around here) it takes to buy USGI, and I found a Universal one cheaply, I would buy it. But I think $250 is high when USGI can be had for a little more.
 
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