M1 Carbine in .22?

S

spleenandideal

New member
I just saw for sale an Iver Johnson german-made M1-carbine look-alike in .22lr.

What does anyone know about this weapon? It is in fine shape and prettier than a lot of the full power M1 carbines I've seen lately.

Collectible or just a good plinker? worth the 200 bucks asked?
 
That's one of those "Ahhh, why not?" sort of guns. Certainly not common, and probably a fun plinker...

A gun-mag article a few years back showed a tinkerer's GI Carbine-based Wildcat. He used the Carbine case, but necked down to .22 caliber. I vaguely recalled it performed a bit better than the .218 Bee...Don't recalled who rebarrelled the Carbine for him; maybe an insert.
 
Iver Johnson imported the ERMA-Werke HBA .22LR M1 Carbine clones from 1984 to 1987. They also imported a .22WMR version. The .22LR HBA was running ~$185 retail in 1987, while the .22WMR version was over $300. (The .22WMR had a locked breech operated by gas-action.) After AMAC bought out Iver Johnson in 1987, they introduced another Carbine clone, the Model 3112, but I'm not certain whether this was produced in-house or by ERMA-Werke. The M3112 retailed for ~$165.

ERMA-Werke had held the Bundeswehr maintenance contract for their M1 Carbines starting in 1952, and later built complete Carbines. The rimfire versions were first marketed in 1966.

As for Art's mention of a .22/30 Carbine wildcat, these were pretty popular during the early '60s. Several gunsmiths including Dick (.454) Casull offered the conversions, with the most famous version being Mel Johnson's 5.7mm Spitfire. Iver Johnson briefly offered M1 Carbines in 5.7mm Spitfire during the '80s. There is even talk that Israel Arms, Inc. (IAI) may be ready to resurrect the 5.7mm Spitfire, complete with a supply of factory ammunition.

[This message has been edited by Daniel Watters (edited April 06, 1999).]
 
I have seen one of the IAI carbines in the .22/30 carbine wildcat. They are calling the round a 5.7mm Johnson.
It promises to be quite a little barn burner.
 
Well, I bought the thing. It ended up costing 150 dollars because apparently the rear sight is missing. It came with a cheap scope instead. So the hunt for a new sight is on. I'll tell ya how it shoots after this weekend. It sure is finely crafted. :)
 
Well, I FINALLY got around to shooting this little carbine. It shoots wonderfully, although is rather picky about the rounds it's fed. It shot a 2" group at 50 yards off the bench--Not exactly tack-driving but hey, I didn't really expect anything grand. If anyone has anymore info for me, like where can I get a replacement rear-sight so I can remove the scope and turn it into a really fun plinker. Also anyone know a source for replacement mags. The one that came with it is a ten rounder, although it protrudes rather profusely to give it a high-cap WWII look.

And Daniel Watters, how do I tell which model I have? There are no other markings other than the Importer and caliber, and the Made in W. Germany stamp.

Otherwise, if anyone out there finds one of these puppies, pick it up. You won't regret it, especially for the price. It sure does beat the ho-hum 10/22, plus it starts a lot of conversations at the range.
 
I don't have pictures of the two models; the only clues that I can provide are the dimensions.

The HBA had shorter barrel and ovarall length than the Model 3112.

______________HBA____Model 3112
Barrel Length___17.75"___18.5"
Overall Length__35.25"___38"



[This message has been edited by Daniel Watters (edited April 20, 1999).]
 
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