M1 Carbine 30 cal

T

Target Shooter

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A few questions about the M1. I'm not really familiar with it, but I have a chance to buy one. How do I tell if it is restricted or non-restricted? I know the barrel has to be 18.5 inches. Where do I measure from?

What is a good price for one in decent shape?

Do all magazines have to be 5 rounds?

Where is the best place to buy cheap plinking ammo?

Thanks
 
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Target Shooter said:
A few questions about the M1. I'm not really familiar with it, but I have a chance to buy one. How do I tell if it is restricted or non-restricted? I know the barrel has to be 18.5 inches. Where do I measure from?

What is a good price for one in decent shape?

Do all magazines have to be 5 rounds?

Where is the best place to buy cheap plinking ammo?

Thanks
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** The original poster corrected from M1 Garand to M1 Carbine **

Welcome and my condolences. You've got the Garand-disease.

Five shots if you are hunting. The issue 8-round en blocs are so much easier to use and find.

I'm going to break you heart. The lowest price for Garands was about 30-yrs ago when Alan Lever bought a shipping container of Danish army surplus from their war reserves. They were $100 in recession money. Now a rack standard M1 will spoil $1800. (( The line for the time machine is forming over beside the De Lorean dealership. ))

The 18 1/2 inch barrel is a foolish holdover from some bullneck cop's opinions on what would stop armed bank robbers. The USGI M1 Carbine is 18", so by legislation or regulation, the limits were bumped up. The distinction is meaningless when AR15s were Restricted/now Prohibited at any barrel length that will make it cycle. The original Garand only comes in one length, 24 inches. The accepted way to measure a RIFLE barrel is to drop a rod down the bore with the bolt closed. A REVOLVER barrel is measured differently (of course) from the front of the cylinder.
 
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Thanks maple leaf eh for the info. I actually have a DeLorean and if I could find some plutonium, I'd travel back 30 years and grab a few cheap M1's for us. LOL

I'm going tomorrow to look at the gun. I'll post how it goes. I've been doing lots of internet research on the guns and am excited to add it to my collection.
 
Target Shooter said:
What about the 15 and 30 round mags?
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Are you asking about the M1 Garand, or the M1 carbine? Your title says Garand, but I suspect you are asking about the carbine.
So, carbine.
Original barrel is 18"; restricted.
Commercial ones may have 18 1/2" barrels and be non-restricted. Many USGI carbines have been rebarreled.
Standard magazines were 15 and 30 rounds. These must be limited to 5 rounds.
There is no cheap .30 carbine plinking ammunition.
 
Thanks Tiriaq. Yes, it is the M1 carbine I was asking about. I didn't realize there was a difference. I tried to change the title of the thread, but I don't think I can. I appreciate any information on the gun as I'm not too familiar with them.
 
The m1 carbine is a light handy rifle but parts magazines and ammo are getting harder to find

most are restricted

stick with USGI

some of the aftermarket versions had problems AND GI parts wont always fit...

you can reload but you must trim the case as it headspaces on the case mouth
 
Target Shooter said:
A few questions about the M1. I'm not really familiar with it, but I have a chance to buy one. How do I tell if it is restricted or non-restricted? I know the barrel has to be 18.5 inches. Where do I measure from?

What is a good price for one in decent shape?

Do all magazines have to be 5 rounds?

Where is the best place to buy cheap plinking ammo?

Thanks
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Ask the seller, because the seller should know the status of it. He is either going to have a registration card for it, and an ATT, OR not. But most are restricted. To measure. Close the bolt, Drop a cleaning rod down the barrel, at the muzzle make a mark with a razor blade. Pull out the cleaning rod and measure.

Yes all mags need to be pinned to 5rds.

Well I was up in NB, the Gun Dealer had 30 Carbine ammo on clearance ( 15$/50 ) But seems avg 32$ a box of 50rds.
 
I bought one earlier this year, a WW2 Inland (Restricted). It came with one surplus military mag that works perfectly, except it will not hold the action open after the last round is fired. I bought 7 brand new aftermarket mags, got lucky, all work flawlessly and also hold the action open. The rifle came with a box of S&B ammo which works great. I bought a couple of hundred rds of brass and a pack of 500 CamPro Bullets and reloaded them with IMR 4227 & 2400 and got a couple of potential loads for me to try out to 150 yds next spring when there is less snow. I also found a cast bullet maker in Alberta that makes 100 grain LRN .309" bullets. Bought 500 of them. Had good results with them also. My local indoor gun range "rents" an M1 Carbine, which apparently is quite popular, so I hoping to pick up 1,000 brass soon.
 
The bolt hold open in a M1 carbine is the little manual plunger in the root of the cocking handle. Pull back, push down.
Issue 15 round magazines have no bolt hold open provision. The 30 round M2 magazine has a follower with a square back. The bolt will hang up on the follower, and be held open. Remove the magazine, and the bolt snaps shut. If an M2 type follower is installed in a M1 type magazine, the bolt will be caught.
 
I love my M1 carbine. It's light and compact and fairly accurate. Be patient and wait for a good one to come up as there are many that have seen better days and people still want full value for them. I managed to snag a 1943 Underwood in excellent condition. I had a problem where the aftermarket 30 round mags wouldn't seat properly and stay in. I managed to get hold of an M2 mag release and that fixed the problem. Now I have a problem whjere the rifle functions perfectly for the first 4 rounds but hangs up trying to feed the last round in the magazine. I suspect a worn recoil spring and just got hold of a replacement one but haven't installed it yet to see if that fixes it. But it is fun to shoot and having a real USGI one feels right as it has some history to it. Personally, I wouldn't bother with the post war reproductions or a chiappa version etc.
 
I too had one many years ago. IBM with a 19" barrel. Shot literally 1000's of cast bullets in it. 120 gr RCBS GC sized 309 . 4227 powder. Never had an issue. Foolishly I traded for something else I thought I needed more at the time. Mistake! If you get a nice one -enjoy.
 
Old Ranger said:
I too had one many years ago. IBM with a 19" barrel. Shot literally 1000's of cast bullets in it. 120 gr RCBS GC sized 309 . 4227 powder. Never had an issue. Foolishly I traded for something else I thought I needed more at the time. Mistake! If you get a nice one -enjoy.
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Looking to start reloading some 30 carbine and acquire a quantity of brass. With nothing loaded extremely hot....do you know roughly how many times you could reload the brass and does it generally require trimming after?

I did order a quantity of Cam-Pro 110gr bullets anyone have any load data or experience using the Cam-Pro bullets?

thanks
 
bros said:
Looking to start reloading some 30 carbine and acquire a quantity of brass. With nothing loaded extremely hot....do you know roughly how many times you could reload the brass and does it generally require trimming after?

I did order a quantity of Cam-Pro 110gr bullets anyone have any load data or experience using the Cam-Pro bullets?

thanks
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It depends on how light you want to load. The M1 Carbine works best with the loads it was developed to shoot, which develop around 36,000 CUP

You can make some changes to your M1 Carbine, by replacing the recoil springs with lighter springs, same as is done with some semi auto handguns set up for reduced psi loads.

I did this once, a long time ago. Your post just revived the memory.

I had access to an indoor range (more of a tunnel). It was made up for shooting handguns out to 40 yards. I used to shoot the little M1 Carbine there a lot. They were non restricted in those times and I liked to use one from tree stands in the swamp for White Tails. The shots were never over 50 yards.

I used to practice with 100 grain, cast lead bullets, loaded to around 1200 fps. Very light load.

To light for the M1 Carbines gas system to allow enough force on the piston to push the op rod back far enough to eject the fired round with factory springs.

Depending on which Carbine you purchase, you will need either one or two recoil springs. They were available online at one time, don't recall if regulations have changed.
 
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I Run Guns on Canadian site has some 15/30 KCI mags. The KCI have a decent track record. & the Auto Ordnance mags as well, as original GI mags are hard to find. I would avoid Pro Mag. I looked a couple times, anyone know where/who has the CamPro Bullets in stock? Thnx
 
Johnyy said:
I Run Guns on Canadian site has some 15/30 KCI mags. The KCI have a decent track record. & the Auto Ordnance mags as well, as original GI mags are hard to find. I would avoid Pro Mag. I looked a couple times, anyone know where/who has the CamPro Bullets in stock? Thnx
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I got them from Reliable Gun in Vancouver but they had to bring them in.
 
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