M1 Carbine

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PreserveFreedom

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I have read a little here and there about this fine weapon. It just recently got me interested though. I played with one at a gun show this evening but the owner wanted $600 and it was pretty beat up. He actually had two of them. He had the only two in the barn. I assume this price is high, but correct me if I am wrong. What is the going rate on such a fine carbine? I really want one as a secondary semi-auto rifle. Any pros or cons to this carbine? Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
 
Cons: anemic round for a rifle
Pros: points very well, cheap mags, simple manual of arms, reliable

Mine is the IAI re-make which cost $420.
 
its weak

As a rifle round, especially for combat use. For self-defense, loaded with hollowpoints, its a fine self defense round. Energy alone is greater than a .357 and there sure will be expansion at 1900 fps MV.

Magazines and ammo are realtively cheap and reloading for it is no big problem. Use the Winchester data, 110 gr bullets and WW296. One load, no guesswork.

It is a very handy rifle for ranch work when one feels light with a .22.
 
I know it is a little on the weak side, but my primary defense rifle is chambered in 223 Rem so I feel comfy with that. The M1 carbine would be merely a secondary. Besides, I can't find anyone that makes a bayonet for the end of my Mini 14. ;)
 
It's light, points well, has virtually no recoil, and most are suprisingly accurate out too 200 yards or so. As for it being underpowered it certainly is when compared to the 30-06, but how much power do you really need to drop a man? No offense to any posters as this is a place where we all share our thoughts, but frankly Audie Murphy likely killed more men in combat with firearms than anybody on this board and he loved the little carbine and didn't think the round was anemic in the least. I'll take his word for it. Mines sitting five feet from me and I love it.

Personally (and most would disagree) I would rather have my carbine in a fire fight than a AR-15. My carbine has never jammed or double fed, it points better and quicker (at least for me) than the AR, it may even be lighter but I'm not sure on that. It only lacks the range of the .223 but I can't hit small moving targets at 300 yards anyway so why waste ammo.

JMHO, Blue Duck
 
Oh... forgot to mention the price you saw was very high for a shooter. It could have been a fair price if the gun was original and from a rarer manufacturer, one little stamp here or there makes hundreds of dollars of difference to a collector. At least in my neck of the woods regular GI carbines go for $300 to $400 depanding on condition. I've heard good things about IAI but stay away from the "Universal carbines" they look like but are not really M1 carbines. They don't have a good record of reliability and getting parts will be a pain.

Good luck, Blue Duck
 
Seems a bit high for that type(shooter) M1 carbine I would agree with Oleg I have an IAI M1 carbine out the door price was $440 NEW barrrel and most parts were unissued military parts. As mentioned mags are cheap. Don't pay more than $12 for the 15rd ones or $25 for the 30rd ones. Mine were in the wrap for $10 at a local gun show. Also can buy ammo strait through the government through Department of cililian markmanship if you belong to an affiliated club. Anybody buy from them? Gonna buy a can next month. Check out the site at http://www.ODCMP.com Hope that this helps. If you have questions about the IAI just ask. Haven't fired it yet too snowy and cold here in PA--DAROGUE1
 
I brought my M1 carbine to a shotgun class (along with my 20ga pump). After the class, I tried hitting bowling pins set at 40-80 yards away. Could hit 60%+ whereas even the best shooters had trouble scoring 10% with their shotguns.

These fellas laughed about the anemic .30 but M1 is eminently pointable and fairly accurate and the recoil is slight so flinching isn't a factor. I'd pick it as #1 for in-house fighting except that I am unsure of how it would perform on vests or against interior walls.
 
i am lucky enough to own a WW2-era M1, my grandpa bought it from the NRA civilian arms, or something like that, and has handed it down. it is really accurate, low recoil, reliable, etc. the only thing that sucks is there is no cheapy wolf ammo or anything (at least that i can find)
 
The down side is the price of ammo or brass to reload. You can dump a few rounds into a target in the time most guns are still in the recoil cycle. It seems to have more in common with a MP-42 than a M-1 at short range and probably does more damage than a 9mm with a soft point to.:)
 
Let me set you straight on mag cost.

No offense to darogue1, but never spend over $8 on US GI 15 rounders and no more than $15 on the 30 rounders. Why? I bought about 8 of the 30 round mags from Centerfire Systems a few years back for about $10 each. Then at one of the last Great Western Gun Shows, I found a huge tub of the 15 rounders all for only $2.00! I had to cycle through a bunch of them to find ones that looked servicable and in reality only 8 of the 10 I bought actually worked well, but $20 for 8 15 round mags was a steal!

My point, never spend over $15 for the usgi 20 rounders nor over at the most $10 for the USGI 15 rounders. And if you live in the PRK, just make a trip to Vegas with a bunch of the magazines in your trunk, and when you return, have the same magazines that you bought years ago in the trunk still when you return ;)!
 
M1 carbine

if you decide to reload for the carbine you absolutely positively have to trim the cases. if you don't you run the risk of having the casing stuck in your barrel with no head on it and they are tough to get out. also the extractor will break eventually. this was the first gun i ever reloaded for in the mid 1960's and the one i blame for filling up my garage with probably ten reloaders of various kinds. if Lee knew how much stuff i would eventually buy because of their $9.95 reloader they would have given it to me....surplus powder and bullwts are available from patsreloading.com...Dick
 
The price probably depends on where you live, but in the east an import-marked USGI shooter would run around $400 in very nice condition; a non-marked copy would run maybe $50 more. I heard from an acquaintance in California last year that they were going for a lot more out there (pre-ban panic buying?). The carbine has some drawbacks but it is a very historic and very serviceable little rifle. If you are going to buy one, invest in a copy of Kuhnhausen's book and the Larry Duff "owner's manual." I have not seen any teardown reviews of the IAI carbines, but virtually every other commercial copy has been a disaster. Hopefully IAI has figured out how to do it right -- but history is not in their favor. I would pay a premium for a clean USGI carbine...YMMV.
 
IAI has got it right! The earlier ones were built with a lot of USGI parts, mine is new parts throughout , shoots better than any GI gun I've seen probably due to tighter tolerance in barrel or chamber, all parts seem high quality. Mine is strewn across the kitchen right now, worked on the trigger and sear to where its nice and smooth, now I have the painful job of re-assembling the bolt. Universal? Don't do it. I broke one with 400 rounds, damn near disassembled in my face, junk parts throughout. Buy an IAI, 400 bucks, get a GI only if you're collecting.
 
Another vote for IAI's M-888, which AIM Surplus advertises on their website for $414. Very nice little carbine, though the ammo is slightly pricey.
 
IMO, ultrasonic cleaners were made for cleaning Garand and carbine bolts!

My USGI early-war carbine shoots a little over 1" at 50 yards over the iron sights. Considering that I can hardly see the danged things (getting old sucks but it beats heck out of the alternative!), that is very fine shooting. This one wouldn't even be truthfully described as having a tight muzzle, but it sure does shoot.

Is IAI selling their carbines with the bayonet lug? I can't find the AR copy with the test article in it. Mine is all early feature, so no bayo lugs. These might be among the last of the non-"assault weapon" semi rifles available....
 
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