M1 carbine caliber options?

Z

Zundfolge

New member
Are there M1 Carbines available in calibers other then .30?

I have a friend of a friend with what he is claiming is an M1 Carbine chambered in .308 for sale. This guy doesn't seem to know much about guns (neither the friend or the friend of the friend).

I don't know a whole lot about M1s but have always thought an M1 Carbine would be neeto to own (never had much interest in Garands).

I have been under the impression that M1 Carbines only came in one flavor; .30.

So what's the facts?
 
The M1 Carbine is indeed a neato weapon (I have one and love it), but they officially only ever came in one caliber: .30 Carbine.

There were a limited number of wildcat modifications done to M1 Carbines. One is a .30 Carbine necked down to .22 (forgot what the wildcat caliber is called), and the other one is a shortened .308 or 30-06 (both cases work), with the case being shortened to 1.29 inches, the length of a .30 Carbine case. The resulting wildcat cartridge was called the .30 Kurz, which looked very similar to the German 7.92mm Kurz of StG44 fame.

A .308 case is 51mm in length, which is almost two inches. It would not fit into the action or the magazine well of an M1 Carbine, wih a .30 Carbine case being only 1.29 inches in length. Also, I don't think that an M1 Carbine could handle the high-pressure .308, even if you could squeeze the rounds into the action (which you can't because it's too short for such a long cartridge.)

In other words....there is no M1 Carbine which fires .308 ammo.
 
I dont know of anything like the carbine that fires 308...

The only thing I can think of is the short version of the Springfield M1A.

Or maybe he has a Mini 30 and thinks its 308?

I dont know, i think he is confused about either the gun or its caliber, but if such a beast exists, I must have one.
 
Just another confirmation - the M-1 Carbine could not handle the .308 win without so much modification that you would have a new rifle and not a M-1 Carbine anymore.

However I have heard of a really cool modification for the M-1 Carbine. .45 Win Mag. Read about it a few years ago - the gunsmith modifies the magazines, the barrel, and the recoil system. Nearly makes a new gun out of the system. But talk about a neat caliber for a really neat little carbine!
 
I believe that you friend is wrong. I know that ther is a wildcat caliber available from IAI .22/70 (I THINK) but as for .308:eek: DAROGUE1
 
Under no circumstance could an M1 carbine take anything even approaching the 308. Not unless you would like to have it extracted from your skull. The action isn't strong enough, or large enough.

One of the better carbine conversions is the 5.7mm Johnson, which used necked down carbine brass. It was probably the first non .30 cal. carbine conversion.
At one time, (when DCM carbines were plentiful and cheap) it was popular to convert them to pump actions.

This was done by putting a block in place of the piston, cutting a slot in the bottom of the fore end, and attaching a wrap-around pump handle through the slot to the bottom of the opperating slide box.

Another nice "conversion" was the Vulcan. This was a .44 magnum pump action rifle, that was based on the carbine design.
 
I talked to the guy with the rifle for sale today.

He thought .30cal and .308 where the same thing :rolleyes:


thanks for helping me clear that up
 
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