Should I buy a AO M1 carbine or stay away

pc9

pc9

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 99.8%
662   1   1
Location
OKANAGAN
I’m considering picking one of these up but have not made my mind up yet. I haven’t seen any deals on them yet and Tenda seems to be the best price so far for one.
People that own the Auto ordinance ones how do you like them. Are they picky on Ammo and do they feed reliably.
Ammo is also a concern as I don’t reload and would be buying factory rounds. So far the cheapest I found was $30.00 per box.
It will be used mainly a plinking gun in the bush
What are your thoughts
Thanks
 
I personally don't own one, but after a bit of looking into it myself I can atleast offer this much.

Dimensions are a bit different compared to USGI/etc surplus. So stock and part interchangeability might be an issue if you plan on redressing it at any point. Not sure about aftermarket upgrades such as rails, though. Ammo is also getting a little bit more scarce, so you might have to just deal with the $30 price tag on boxed ammunition.

They sell them on and off at the local canadian tire here and I've been doing my best to keep myself from taking one home, lol.
 
I have an AO M1A1 carbine, it has the paratrooper stock. I like mine. It is a lot of fun to shoot.

I have had no jams, since I’ve had it - about 500 rounds of Remington ball, Winchester ball, and Czech soft points. The ball shoots to point of impact, the soft point about 3 inches to the left. I have 5 mags, a 5/30 that came with the gun and 4 AO 5 round mags - these 5 work perfectly. I has one surplus mag that would not lock into position, I got rid of it.
 
Mine is pretty accurate when the front sling band is tight. It does loosen with shooting however.
Occasional failures to feed. I suspect its magazine related, as aftermarket mag makers have had problems making reliable M1 carbine mags.
A fun to shoot calibre.
I would go with the fixed stock. The paratrooper stock is uncomfortable and awkward for me.
 
It feeds reliably but clean it well and do not “limp wrist” it. I am sure that you won’t but I’ve noticed that new or small stature shooters sometimes do until showed no to. It’s a fun, light and non-restricted plinker, but do not expect MOA accuracy.
 
My 2 cents is that not-AO magazine's will be hit or miss, and that the M1 carbine magazine design is also terrible being the flimsiest of sheet metal and easy to bend the lips, or the magazine catches to make them not work anymore.

When I had mine I had 3/5 magazines work most of the time, the other 2 didn't work at all with it.
 
My Paratrooper has been a solid little performer - reliable, reasonably accurate and fun to plink with. Mine shot Point of Aim at 25 yds right out of the box.
 
I have one that is probably from the original batches and honestly I would much rather shoot my SKS than the M1 carbine. It tends to fail to feed a lot and I'm not sure if it's the magazines or the return spring. I was going to order a Wolff spring kit to see if that helps and go through the 10 5/30 mags I bought with it to see if some are better than others or a combination of the two. I also have crates of 7.62x39 that I bought cheap and buying ammo is expensive nowadays. My issues may be because it's a early made rifle that are probably fixed with current production, but honestly there is nothing that it can do that a SKS can't do as well or better.
 
GI mags are hard to find, but the KCI mags have a good reputation. The 5/15's aren't in stock anywhere, but the best deal is IRG, they have the 5/30 KCI in stock {Canadian} Stay away from Pro-Mag! I will send you a link to an ammo deal I found. Also, the AO mags are reliable.
 
Johnyy said:
GI mags are hard to find, but the KCI mags have a good reputation. The 5/15's aren't in stock anywhere, but the best deal is IRG, they have the 5/30 KCI in stock {Canadian} Stay away from Pro-Mag! I will send you a link to an ammo deal I found. Also, the AO mags are reliable.
Click to expand...

Awesome I just ordered 3 mags
Thanks
 
As with most guns of its design era, if you do your part it will do its part. None of these designs are anywhere near the reliability of a new rifle when dirty. Clean properly and it will shoot properly, don't clean it and it won't shoot. Soldiers who were issued those rifles were taught to clean their weapons before they did anything else - like eat, or clean themselves, it's worth keeping in mind. I've seen carbines of all types fail because someone mistakenly thought they could run it like a Glock, or an AR. You can't.
 
I finally remedied all the feeding issues in my AO M1 by replacing the entire trigger housing with a USGI unit. It now works 100% with all magazines (even the clearly different AO mag). That is an expensive and ridiculous way to get a gun running properly though. Using the JB weld fix mostly worked but definitely wasn't 100%...

can14 said:
Buy a few m1 carbine service tools and you will be good to go
Click to expand...

I am having a hard time finding a set for what I would consider a reasonable price myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom