M1 Garand vs Mini-14 vs M1 Carbine

M

Mosin-Marauder

New member
Contemplating which one would be better in the long run. Mini-14 has the Garand beat price-wise, whilst the Garand is a historical piece, and I could have my Grandpa's M1 Carbine for free. I like the idea of a carbine in a low-recoil yet effective and cheap cartridge The Mini-14 beats both here. As M1 Carbine ammo is rather expensive. Accuracy wise, Im not sure, I dont think his M1 Carbine is all that accurate at 100 yards. Garand and Mini (Newer 582- Series mini) seem to be on the same level accuracy wise, I would be using either rifles for field position shooting, not bench rest. IS there any reason why I should pick one over the others? Which would be the best option? Thank you for your advice.

Also, before anyone starts saying "Order from the CMP!" that's not an option.
 
Everyone needs at least one Garand in their lifetime. :)

I wouldnt mind having a Carbine either.

The Mini would be my last choice, but probably the cheapest to shoot.
 
I would like one, but the CMP requires a "Club Membership" which technically, Im a member of one, but 'Im not old enough. :P
Otherwise, their upwards of $800.
 
I have an m1 garand, m1a and a mini 14. No m1 carbine... yet. I have had quite a bit of work done on the garand so it's not stock. You can get a garand from cmp cheaper then most mini's or m1 carbines (some cheaper carbines are about the same price). Strictly speaking from the weapons themselves, I like the garand I have the best, followed by the m1a. If the mini shot better, it would be right up there but the sights are lacking. If it were me, I'd pick up the carbine before a mini. Don't overlook the m1a but they are expensive. The garand is the most expensive to shoot. I think the carbine would be the cheapest if you reload. If not, the mini would be. They are all fine weapons, but IMO the mini is pulling up the rear. Fwiw, I just sent my mini back to ruger and it's a 582.

I believe uspsa counts for club membership and the cost is <$50.
 
My garand is much more accurate then my mini. I can't speak for the carbine, I've shot them but not benched them. I get 2-3" groups from the garand, 1.5-2 with the m1a and 6" with the mini
 
That's the thing, you have to be in the club to order, and I'm in the NJROTC for my county but I'm not old enough to order. I wish my dad could just order it for me but apparently that's a No-No.
 
Unless youre buying one of the older Minis, arent they all in about the same price range?

Ive seen a couple of "decent" M1 Carbines for around $6-800, and M1's can be found for around $7-800. I thought the new Minis were about the same.

Ive owned a couple of M1A's, and if youre thinking of going that route, Id try and find one of the older, "standard" rifles.
 
I used to buy guns for my kids all the time. Parents and grand parents can "gift" their kids/grand kids without transfer.

I dont see why your dad couldnt buy the rifle for himself, and gift it to you later.
 
Keep an eye out at your local shops, you still see some pop up from time to time.

One shop around me seems to have what look like older DCM, lower grade CMP guns pretty regular. Those you can probably dicker down a little easier as well.

Youre going to pay for the nicer grades. The older guns can often clean up pretty nice, and make a fun project.

One thing you do need to watch out for though, is the bores. I ran into two real nice looking guns once, and both had the barrels trashed by the previous owner(s), because they didnt clean them after using corrosive ammo. Make sure you look down the bore, and if it looks "dirty", patch/clean it before you go any further.

I have an M1 in .308 that looks like it might have had a similar problem. The gun is in great shape, but there is obvious signs of corrosion in the finish on the op rod. It was rebarreled, and had a few other tweaks done, as a match rifle, and shoots great. I paid $1000 for it about 1 years ago or so.
 
Now that youre reloading, I would think that your K31 would be fine for that.

Not trying to dissuade you from buying something else though. I know that bug. :)
 
Contemplating which one would be better in the long run. Mini-14 has the Garand beat price-wise, whilst the Garand is a historical piece, and I could have my Grandpa's M1 Carbine for free. I like the idea of a carbine in a low-recoil yet effective and cheap cartridge The Mini-14 beats both here. As M1 Carbine ammo is rather expensive. Accuracy wise, Im not sure, I dont think his M1 Carbine is all that accurate at 100 yards. Garand and Mini (Newer 582- Series mini) seem to be on the same level accuracy wise, I would be using either rifles for field position shooting, not bench rest. IS there any reason why I should pick one over the others? Which would be the best option? Thank you for your advice.
Click to expand...
well let me see.
price wise it's a wash with the mini14 and the M1 garand, assuming you buy from the CMP. a few more hoops to jump through but $750 for an M1 garand and $750 for the mini14 is a heck of a lot better than an average $1200 for a carbine.

utility can be broken into a few different fields.
lethality
m1 garand is the best for hunting as 30-06 can kill anything in north america. 223 has been known to kill elk in the hands of expert marksman but not something that most shooters should attempt. 30 carbine could be decent for deer but I wouldn't use it for anything bigger and at a longer range than 100 yards. so for lethality the M1 garand takes the gold.

accuracy
could go many ways. any of the three could shoot 1 inch groups if you got the right one but the further out you go, the better 30-06 performs over the others.

weight
a tie between mini14 and m1 carbine, definite disadvantage for the m1 garand.

ammo capacity
m1 garand is fixed to low capacity, you can get 8, 5, 2 or 4 round clips for it but nothing over 8. the 30 carbine and mini 30 can both take high capacity mags so again a tie.

ammo weight/size. 30 carbine wins in this case, you can carry a lot of 30 carbine ammo compared to 223 and 30-06 but 223 is not far behind.

so if I were factoring all of these to compare which one is best, I would say that I would pick the mini14. it has the best combination of weight, lethality, range, and ammo weight.
 
IMO, field positions are easier with a shorter, lighter rifle and benchrest tends to be better with the heavier, longer ones (some exceptions on both either way).

For field positions, any of the above should be good. For field shooting, I'd probably take a Carbine first and a Mini-14 second. For benchrest shooting, collecting, and generally satisfying gun lust, the Garand wins everything.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the Carbine you have. Have you tried dialing in the sights? If it's shooting 8 inches high and to the left, you probably will have a hard time hitting paper. But seeing that handmade, smoothbore muskets can shoot a .70 caliber round and hit decent groups at 100 yards, I find it very hard to believe that the Carbine is not mechanically accurate enough to do so.

Have you tried moving further with your 10/22? That would honestly be my first set up for field position paper target shooting considering it's light and handles easily.
 
unless he is humping through the jungle I'm not sure how important ammo weight is. Possibly the weight of the rifle or capacity isn't even important unless he is hunting. The garand could easily be a winner.

I'll as I'm a little down on the mini. Sights stink but it's cheap to shoot. If you reload the m1 carbine is cheaper.
 
Man, this is tough!

I like all three of these guns... but LOVE the M1 carbine!

Unfortunatly, I couldn't ever see myself buying one simply due to the fact that I don't reload right now and .30 carbine ammo is not cheap for what you get. My SKS shoots a quite a bit more powerful rounds that has longer range for half the cost per bullet.

The M1 Garand is an absolute legend and it nips at the heals of the carbine for guns I'd LOVE to own... but also unfortunatly .30-06 ammo is... VERY... expensive if one doesn't reload, or even IF they reload it isn't that cheap from what I've gathered.

Then you have the Mini-14 which I feel is the most practical of the 3 choices. It's a great rifle for all kinds of uses, .223 ammo isn't too bad in price and is plentiful right now after the 2012 Ammogeddon. The Mini isn't quite as interesting as the other two IMHO but is based approximately on the M14 action which is based largely on the M1 action... so it shares the "family tree" if you will which is pretty cool.

If I had to pick one... by golly I'd get the M1 carbine, and try and perhaps get set up to reload for it or even cast bullets just so I could afford to shoot more ammo through it! An M1 carbine really is one of my dream guns. Somebody seriously needs to release a QUALITY, 100% historically accurate copy of the M1 carbine as these guns aren't getting any easier to find and harder still to find in good shape. But, like all things,

YMMV.

Good luck! :D
 
I haven't tried dialing in the sights, I've only shot it a few times, as I said, it's not mine. I could however see me getting it for Christmas as a present from my Grandpa. I will ask for it as my Christmas gift and see if I can get a USGI sling to put on it. I'll also need to get some dies and about 200 rounds to start me off shooting/reloading with it. He has one of the original 30 round magazines and a 15 rounder. What's the bullet situation like for reloading for this caliber (.30 Carbine)? Where would I find bullets and what kind? I know 110 grain FMJ's, but who a makes them? I plan to shoot steel with it from field positions to practice maybe like a 8" gong at 100 yards?. I think I'm far enough along I can start practicing with the 10/22 as well.

As for what I know about the M1 Carbine that my grandpa has, it's made my several different manufacturers. It's pretty clean, I took about two days to fully clean it and everything. It has one of the layer sights on it, the graduated rear sight. Is that a good sight? What do the different markings represent? There's like a 5, 3, and a bunch of others I can remember. I think it also may be adjustable for windage from the rear sight. Also, can someone recommend the Otis Ripcord for cleaning it? Seems like a good way to clean it from the breach and not hurt the riflings and crown. Or would a .30 boresnake work?
Thanks for your help.
 
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