Garand or Carbine? Update post#40 Pics!

Oh been there, done that with the disappearing spring issue. Took off the stock on my Colt Sporter II and lost the detent and spring for the takedown pin. Eventually found the spring after a LONG search but the detent is still in the wild. Had to buy a new set from Brownells. I'll probably shoot the carbine first and then just so I know they are good, replace the springs since they're cheap enough.

The ammo I actually found plenty of at my LGS, North Shore Firearms in Middleton. Brass cased FMJ Armscor for $23 or $24. They had a couple of other brands too for a buck or so more. Grabbed some as soon as I saw it so I'd be ready when the gun arrived.

Sounds like mags won't be an issue at all, great! Thanks guys. I'll try to post a pic or two when it arrives. I keep refreshing the UPS tracking window in the meantime.
 
Carnea said:
Carbine
a. Smaller, lighter, easy and fun to shoot.
b. Ammo can be tough to find (Mil Surplus - do not know of any "new production").
c. Less powerful cartridge = generally shorter shooting distances than Garand.

Garand
a. Bigger, heavier, bulkier, still fun to shoot.
b. Ammo can be found (Mil Surplus, and "new production" American Eagle brand can be found).
c. Higher power cartridge = generally longer shooting distances that Carbine.
d. Can shoot regular .30-06 ammo if you want to use an adjustable gas plug.

Both guns are awesome...however, the right answer is to try to get one of each! [smile]
Click to expand...

Aguila, Winchester, Magtech, American Eagle, Remington, Tula, Horndy, and Sellier & Bellot all make M1 carbine ammo still.
 
dhuze said:
Aguila, Winchester, Magtech, American Eagle, Remington, Tula, Horndy, and Sellier & Bellot all make M1 carbine ammo still.
Click to expand...

I'll add Privi Partisan in as well. I haven't had any issues with it (this is all I've seen Rileys carry).
 
xcom said:
I second this. There is nothing like the feeling of looking for a tiny spring that went flying across the room. Especially when you have crap all over the place. I wish I had one of those clean boxes they use in bio labs the first time I did it...
Click to expand...

Losing that tiny spring is a right of passage. I always use the bolt tool and I still do it with my hands in a x-large ziploc bag.
 
samandglove1 said:
Losing that tiny spring is a right of passage. I always use the bolt tool and I still do it with my hands in a x-large ziploc bag.
Click to expand...

Don't try to take down the bolt without the special tool, either. You don't have to clean it often, but I like to have personally cleaned and inspected every part of a new rifle/pistol before I shoot it.

T
 
Picked up my carbine this afternoon, looked to be in nice shape as it was in the pictures. Bore is nice and shiny and the barrel and receiver are both Inland with the barrel date of 7/44 and the serial number on the receiver corresponds to the same timeframe so it appears to be the original pair. The slide and (round) bolt are also both Inland as is the rear sight as far as I can tell. Front sight is type 3 marked RIA. The trigger housing is an Underwood and the hammer is Winchester. Its got the M2 15/30 round mag catch and mag catch arm and rotary safety. I haven't taken the trigger group apart though so I don't know about the rest, but at least the major components all seem to match and I would guess are original.

The stock is a replacement though :-( But its nice and has some character to it. Its a 1957 vintage M2 potbelly west german made stock. Type III barrel band with bayonet lug marked J.M.Q. No proof marks or other cartouches on it though. There is "CL03" stamped on the bottom of the hand grip where you would ordinarily find a P proof mark. Anyone know what that could mean??

I went directly to the range and put 50 rounds thru it. Needed to sight it in a little bit at 50 yards. One click up on the elevation and a few clicks left on windage and I was in the black with the rest of my shots. Very nice shooter! I'm really happy with it. Pics soon.
 
that rear sight looks different than my 2...i never really looked into how many "styles" of rear sights might have been on Carbines.
Nice looking rifle
 
The sight has the H in a shield on the right side. That could make it either a type 2 or 3 by a number of different manufacturers (Winchester, Rock Ola, Standard, IBM). I'm not sure which it is though, milled or stamped?

It is nice looking, I was pretty pleased when it arrived. The springs all look fairly new, the seller got it about 10-12 years ago and didn't replace them so I'm not sure if they were done before he got it maybe. They seem good and strong and free of rust/corrosion so I think I'm going to leave them alone. Functions just fine thru 50 rounds.
 
If all looks good leave it be....just order a spring kit and extractor to have on hand if it does break. I don't have a spec book on carbines like I do the garand but sometimes springs look great still work but are out of spec.
 
dhuze said:
Mags are usually around $20. Don't pay more than $25. You can find them easily enough.

By the way I've never had to change a spring in any of my carbines or M1's. I'm not sure why everyone insists you need to do that. I suppose it's because it's spread all over the internet and if its on the internet it must be true. Certainly the companies that sell them aren't going to tell you not to replace them.
Click to expand...

I had to replace the ejector spring in my S.G. M1 Carbine. It was so worn, my bolt came apart after four rounds.

I also recommend buying a bolt tool for disassembly, or making one. Otherwise, putting an M1 Carbine bolt back together takes two people. When I finally get moved in to my new place, I'll take some pics of the one I made and post it here.
 
mac1911 said:
that rear sight looks different than my 2...i never really looked into how many "styles" of rear sights might have been on Carbines.
Nice looking rifle
Click to expand...

There's two. Type 1 are early flip sights in the first part of the war, and the Type II ramp sights like his were late war.

With 10 different manufacturers and incremental improvements, the varying types of parts in M1 Carbines can get pretty crazy, as you can see on the data sheet:

Originals for printout here: http://www.carbineclub.com/DataSheetrev31-1-11.pdf

F6YX41CGLK0NX0B.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ahhh, the data sheets. I have filled out more of those over the years than I would like to remember. Its always fun when you run into a random part that doesn't look like anything on the sheet.
 
Glad I found this thread was wondering if I should trade my AR-15 in for an M1? I live in Boston and have to store my AR in my friends safe down on cape which means I shoot it less. Would this be a comparable trade or should I just poney up the mulah for the M1? I was hoping to move out of Boston city limits by now but that isn't possible currently.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
Dmiller27 said:
Glad I found this thread was wondering if I should trade my AR-15 in for an M1? I live in Boston and have to store my AR in my friends safe down on cape which means I shoot it less. Would this be a comparable trade or should I just poney up the mulah for the M1? I was hoping to move out of Boston city limits by now but that isn't possible currently.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You can keep an M1 Carbine in Boston, but not an AR? If so, then I'd certainly trade an AR for a carbine. Even a bolt action Mauser at home is better than an AR at a friend's house.

Military carbines are in the $500-1000 range, so it should be close to equal value depending on the value of your AR. Commercial carbines are less, though sometimes for good reason.
 
If trading is your only opption then why not.
I know there are restrictions to Boston but what are they? Are you sure the 30 carbine is ok, what about high cap mags?
I would trade almost any of my ARs for the right carbine. I find the carbine fun to shoot and I wish there was a carbine match in the Plymouth area. One thing about the carbine.......mine do not get out as often as my other surplus rifles.
I supose if it was the only surplus rifle I owned it would see more use. Down side to the carbine there's "cheap" ammo for it. That I know of. I reload for about 22 cents per round.
 
Here's the text of the Boston AWB law...
Template

From what I read, M1 carbine or garand would be ok unless the 'assault weapons roster board' added it to their list.
 
So you would need to find 5 and 10 round mags for your carbine.... section 2 restriction of high cap mags.....
That sucks..the 5 and 10 rounders are out there but not as cheap and plentiful as the 15 rounders.
 
I decided to completely strip down my carbine, except for the bolt since I don't have the tool, and clean it all out, check all the springs, and re-lube everything. I already put 50 rounds thru it right after I picked it up and it functioned just fine but still I wanted it to go thru it completely and make sure it was all done right. After cleaning the barrel, I was pleasantly surprised at the condition. It was even better than advertised, nice and bright with strong rifling. Springs all appear to be pretty new with no oxidation or tarnish so I didn't bother with a spring kit. Lubed it all up with oil and some good synthetic gun grease where necessary and everything worked smoothly.

This week I finally had a chance to bring it for a post-cleaning visit to the range and I was very happy with the results as you can see below from 50 yds sitting at the bench (no sandbags, etc). The fliers at 12:00 and 7:00 were all me, knew it as soon as I shot them. Love this rifle![smile] Can't wait to try some reloads as soon as my dies show up.

IMG_00000096.jpg
 
Nice.....personally I ha e not seen many "bad" bores on the carbines. I have seen a few really rough guns but bores are still good. I don't think the barrels take much of a beating anyway with the 30car cartridge?
They can shoot well enough. I think they can shooter better than most of us can deliver. I might be running mine Nov 2nd at Hanson rod and gun cmp shoot? This is my last time out this year so I'm torn....garand, m1, or ar with a little play time after.
 
When I got it the bore was dark so I wasn't expecting it to be so bright and shiny when I cleaned it up. Kind of assumed it was cleaned already when I bought it. I like nice surprises like that. Sure does like to fling the brass pretty far though, its about 6-10 feet behind me on my right.
 
shoot lefty should just catch your forehead just right to nock it down[rolleyes] depending on the hat I wear i can get as many as 4 cases on the brim if i dont move. i am LH
 
lol I think I'll pass on that! Though I did have one or two that came down and bounced off my head
 

Similar threads

1871 calvary carbine
Replies
0
Views
81
weatherby
weatherby
A Hall Saddle Ring Carbine
Replies
0
Views
338
weatherby
weatherby
Help! M1 Carbine stock ID
Replies
1
Views
409
42!
42!
Franken-Garand
Replies
14
Views
787
Maninblue1861
Maninblue1861
2023-2024 WINTER WARRIOR & WINTER SNIPER POSTAL MATCH
Replies
29
Views
1K
mac1911
M
Back
Top Bottom