M-1 carbine variations

[brass shower]

Have there been any attempts at chambering the .30 cal M-1 carbine in different calibers? I'm not interested in weapons based on the M-1 like the Mini-14, but chamberings that just require the changing of the barrel, such as a .30 carbine case necked down to a .22 or .25 bullet. Does such a round even exist? Thanks in advance.

 

[Daniel Watters]

Necking the .30 Carbine case down to take a .224" bullet was pretty popular in the early '60s. The 5.7mm Johnson Spitfire was the most famous of these wildcats, and a couple of the commercial Carbine clones offered this as an option. Reloading dies are still available from RCBS and Redding.

I suspect you could do a .25/.30 Carbine wildcat as well given that Universal offered a Carbine variant (the Ferret) in .256 Win Mag (necked down .357 Mag case).

The problem with either wildcat will be bullet selection given the short OAL constraints of the magazine.