Who's a fan of the M1 carbine?

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Byron Adams

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Check a prior thread some months ago. It covered 8 pages and the debate was interesting. I like the carbine and have used in Nam finding it to be effective.
 
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Fred S

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I have two and I like them alot. Fun to shoot. Also great for introducing kids and women into military rifle shooting. Boys love to shoot "one of them WWII guns!"

For $425 you should be able to find a US military one, maybe less if it was re-imported. ;)
 
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MPH

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They're fun to shoot. Have an Iver Johnson and a built up Springfield Armory. Make sure if you get a IAI, that you look at it first. Heard that they were running out of military barrels and went to newly manufactured. That in itself isn't bad, but no parkerizing, only bluing.
At the $425 price you quoted, it's probably the birch stock instead of walnut as they're about $50 more.
 
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tuc22

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Actually, I saw an IAI M1 Commemorative (what it's commemorating I don't know) for $499 and some standard ones advertised on the internet for $425.

So, is the IAI the way to go? I mean I don't see going over this price for one, I'd spend a $1000 on a M1 Garand before I'd go over $300-$400 on an M1 Carbine.

Are the older surplus M1's any better?
 
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Marko Kloos

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Great little rifle. Low recoil, good sights, good accuracy, cheap and abundant 15- and 30-round magazines, light weight and short overall length, and perfectly adequate for social work out to 200 yards. Also, surplus ammo is readily available.
 
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twoblink

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I love them and want one. They are $499 in California... and the price keeps climbing... Buy a few if you get a chance and have the money! You won't regret it. I find them to be the ultimate home defense guns... Light, easy to point, and if you happen to be somewhere that you can get a 30 round clip... knockdown power of a .357 in a 30 round clip that's easier to point without actually sighting in...

And a piece of history...
 
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Lone Star

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I've heard that they don't have a lot of stopping power, but that might change with softpoint bullets. On the other hand, Churchill used a 7.63mm Mauser pistol with slightly lesser ballistics in the cavalry charge at Omdurman, and got three kills, a wound and the rest of his 10 rounds may have missed. (Don't know how often he may have shot any one Fuzzy-Wuzzy.)

I can tell you that we had them in the USAF in the 1960's before M-16's became common. From a two-handed sitting position at 25 yards, I could shoot better five-shot groups with my Combat Masterpiece .38 than I could with the .30 Carbine, but many of those we had were rather worn. Of course, the average chap who wasn't "into" handguns had a much better chance of hitting with the carbine.

Lone Star
 
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FPrice

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I have two military models and they both shoot well for me. I would suggest looking for one of these first.
 
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leadbutt

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One of the best little semis going and under rate on whole.Have two ,and one is always with me in the squad car
 
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Seeker

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I like mine mfg by IBM - it is an international
Business machine.

Taught my 8 yr old son to shoot it this past Memorial Day, he liked it, too.
 
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foghornl

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I don't own one, have a shooting buddy that does. Great fun to shoot, easy on the shoulder. Not too expensive to feed, either.

I haven't looked at the specs all that closely, but I suspect, ballistically speaking, that it is somewhere about .30/30 or 7.62x39 power and range stats.
 
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FPrice

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foghornl...

I do not have anything in front of me but I think that it is far short of the .30-30. If I recall, it's somewhere about twice the power of a .357 magnum. I would be interested in actual numbers if someone has them.

As far as the 7.62x39, I don't have a clue.
 
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tuc22

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According to a Federal Cartridge catalog and data for these cartridges:

.357 magnum-158gr. @1240fps =IPSC power factor of 195
.30 carbine-110gr. @1990fps=IPSC power factor of 218
7.62x39-124gr.@ 2300fps=IPSC power factor of 285
.30-.30 -150gr. @2390fps=IPSC power factor of 358

I just used the IPSC p.f. as a guideline to relative power of these rounds for you.

IPSC power factor is bullet weight in grains x muzzle velocity in fps divided by 1000 =

The .357 magnum is weakest in comparison.
 
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johnwill

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I've always compared the .30 Carbine out of the M1 to the .357, and it seems it's a pretty valid comparison from these numbers. Of course, those 110gr SP rounds out of the Carbine would probably hurt similar to being shot with the .357 too. :D:D
 
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tuc22

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It seems the price of the M1 has shot up in the last 10 years. I have an older Blue Book of gun values showing that resale value of commercials, Universal, Plainfield, Iver Johson, etc. at $190 or so.

I can't find anything now lower than $400 and G.I. versions at $700-900


The big question:

Commercial (IAI) or G.I. ?
 
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