M1 Carbines – part 2
Les has a big post up about the CMP offering M1 carbines, including price speculation and such. Looks like these rifles will be a good deal but the price savings will be needed to find magazines.
16 Responses to “M1 Carbines – part 2”
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January 4th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Gotta get me one of those!
January 4th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Can you just get these? Or do you have to be in a CMP affiliated club?
January 4th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
The CMP has a list of regulations. You do have to be a member of a CMP-affiliated club, but MANY are CMP-affiliates.
I intend to buy at LEAST two M1 carbines (I love ’em) – one for stock, and one for a project House Gun M1 carbine. If the price is right I might even pick up a third or fourth…
January 4th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
You know if the CMP will ship to people with C&R FFLs?
January 4th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I think the C&R might cover one of their requirements, but I’m not sure. Check the CMP homepage (www.odcmp.com, I think, it’s on my PC at home…)
January 4th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
A C&R FFL satisfies the shooting and collecting requirement. You still need to belong to a CMP-affiliated club or join the Garand Collector’s Association.
I’m kinda curious if they’ll ship directly to someone with a C&R. I’m filling out my paperwork right now.
January 4th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Les, they’ll ship directly to you WITHOUT a C&R. At least that’s what those who have done it have told me. I found out about the CMP right after Mrs. G. put me on a “Reduced Gun” diet. ðŸ™
January 4th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
CMP guns ship right to your door, the way God intended.
And please, if you are considering doing a project gun off an M1 Carbine, how about finding something besides a CMP USGI carbine to work on? There are lots of civilian copies and knockoffs out there.
January 5th, 2007 at 2:46 am
J&G Sales has unissued magazines for $25 each.
Look, I’m not a big fan of the round, and here’s a bullet-list why:
>It is a short-range weapon, with no more range-effectiveness than pistol-caliber carbines.
>The ammo is getting hard to find, and with this release, what milsurp is left will soon be
gone, requiring reload.
>The original design of the weapon was to replace the 1911, which the Army had a tough
time instructing support personnel in using correctly.
Take your hard-earned dollars, $300 of them, to your nearest gun shop and order a Kel-Tec Sub-Rifle 2000 in either 9mm or .40 S&W. If you have either a Glock 17 or 22, or a 59-series S&W, you can get one that takes the same magazines. In the 9mm version, use 9mm NATO 124-gr loads (designed originally for subguns), and in .40, use the FMJ 180-gr. Both of these loads will exceed their 4″ pistol-barrel MVs by 25% at least. You get at least 15 rounds, just like the M-1 (You can fit a Glock 33 rounder into the 9mm Glock model carbine, and a 29-round Scherer into the .40), ammo is way cheaper to buy or reload, and they hit just about as hard. The bonus is that the Kel-Tec folds in half, and will fit inside a standard briefcase. Try that with even a paratroop model of the M-1.
The M-1’s day has come and gone. It served it’s bearers well, but times have changed, and buying one for defense purposes makes no sense.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Robert and Rivrdog,
I would consider it as a defensive gun because I’m trapped behind the Iron Curtain in the Volksrepublik of MA.
Since the M1 carbine is most assuredly “pre-ban”, it can have goodies like a folding stock attached and not run afoul of MA’s AWB, which is basically the Fed ban in perpetuity.
I’ve GOT a slew of “pre-ban” 15- and 30- round magazines – certainly enough to cover any sort of SHTF scenario. I can’t GET Glock mags for the Kel-Tec unless I either: a) Commit a felony or b) Pay an inordinant amount of money for a pre-ban magazine. Very few pistol caliber carbines have inexpensive full capacity magazines available.
Believe me, I know there are better options out there, but unless and until I can convince Mrs. G to move to NH, this is the cheapest one available to me…
And have no fear, only one “rack grade” M1 carbine will be sacrified. Ideally, one “rack grade” will be purchased for the conversion and one better grade for a complete restoration…
January 5th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Jay and Robert: that is awesome, awesome news. Thanks.
I’ve been doing some digging on the magazine issue. I’ll have a post up next week.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Rivrdog,
Here’s hoping everybody else listens to your advice, leaving more of the little fellers for me. 🙂 Yes, the M1 isn’t a battle rifle. Or even an assault rifle (Though the M2 was almost there… a better cartridge and you have it). But if you’re thinking it or a pistol for defensive purposes, you could do a lot worse than the M1. (Though you could probably do a fair bit better as well.) And I can shoot one offhand– err, well, perhaps not “well” but substantially better than I can shoot most of my rifles offhand.
Err… I mean, they’re horrible. Buy something else.
January 5th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Ah, yes. I suspected a nostalgia type or two would pipe up. Good on ‘ya! I collect and shoot old military bolties myself, but mainly to have something battle-worthy if I move somewhere like MA (can’t think of why I would, but I guess the possibility is always there), and/or arm any militia which I might have to raise.
You are right, Jay, you have to go with what you’re allowed. You are allowed. besides the M-1 carbine, the Marlin Camp 9 and Camp 45 rifles, aren’t you? Either of these would make a cheaper alternative to the M-1, and have more available ammo. The Camp 9 originally came with (pre-ban) a 30-round magazine, and takes a 15-round S&W Model 59 (also pre-ban) magazine as well, and there are millions of those out there.
I also have and regularily shoot a Marlin 1894C in .38/.357, which is also MA-legal, and while not autoloading, can be operated almost as fast (except for reloading). Taurus is supposed to be out with a pump-action .38/.357 copy of the old Colt Lightning, and as a 26″ barrel rifle, will have a magazine capacity of 14 or 15 rounds of .38. Pump action is almost as fast as autoloading action. If you load .357 with a lot of slower powder, you turn it into a rifle cartridge, and can get 700-800 #/ft of muzzle energy out of it. It will easily kill white-tail deer or other “thin-skinned” game at 200 yards.
All of these manually operated weapons will likely survive the first wave of any confiscation action the poxy Feds or your state could bring down upon you, but in MA, autoloaders like the M-1 or the Camp rifles are probably on the hot list to be the first to get grabbed.
January 5th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Rivrdog,
First off, I want an M1 carbine for military collecting/nostalgia and personal reasons. I have a Paratrooper model I inherited from my grandfather that has a cracked receiver that I just LOOOOVED shooting. I definitely want at LEAST two M1 carbines – one to leave stock and shoot ~ once a year; another as a serious shooter. Depending on price, I’ll get two “rack” grades, leave one stock for plinking and convert the other.
The Camp Carbines are an option, but I haven’t seen a .45 for under $500 ANYWHERE, plus they’re limited in magazines. Anything > 10 I have to be certain is pre-ban or face felony charges. I’ve got a .30-30 Marlin lever gun, and eventually will get one chambered in .38/.357, but even those are well over $500. I see the M1 carbine as something MA legal, inexpensive, and I already own many pre-ban full capacity magazines.
Besides, it’d be a real hoot to have two of them, side-by-side, the next time some GFW comments about “assault rifles”. One would be bone-stock with a 5- or 10- round magazine, the other would have a nylon folding stock, powered sight, and 30- or 40- round magazine.
Kinda like the AR vs. Mini-14…
January 6th, 2007 at 11:28 am
“Kinda like the AR vs. Mini-14…”
Sort of like my Mini-30, which marries the fine M-1 style action with the fine Russ 7.62X39 round. It’s about $500 used, has a normal wood stock like the M-1, is MA-legal (unless you put 30-round mags in it, but 5s and tens are available also, as well as some pre-ban 20s, I hear).
The 7.62X39 is ALMOST a battle rifle round, but it’s a lot closer to that status than the .30M1
If you want REAL power out of a Mini, it’s available. There’s an outfit called Accuracy Systems that puts the right barrels and magazines on a Mini-30 to handle any of the WSSM rounds, or the .50 Beowulf. If I wanted an exotic ($2,000+!) autoloader to defend a house with, and a tricked-out 20-guage 1187 wouldn’t fit the bill, I would consider the Mini in .50 Beowulf, which is remarkably close in terminal ballistics to a 20-ga slug at close-defense ranges.
There is one advantage to a fully-stocked weapon vice a folding/collapsing stock model: Buttstroke. The simple fact is that you can’t deliver an effective buttstroke with a para or street-sweeper model of ANYTHING. I like having the advantage of a non-lethal option with the long arms I handle, and a burglar with a buttstroked face will have a lot of time to regret meeting you, plus the Grand Jury will LOVE you.
January 7th, 2007 at 2:38 am
Rivrdog, I got rid of a .44 Special because it was too ‘$pen$ive to shoot. WSSM rounds, anything with “Beowulf”, “Grendel”, or “AE” after the number just makes me see dollar bills ejecting with the brass… 😉
Besides, I have a fine SKS and (new-to-me) AK-47 clone for 7.62X39mm. As well as a Marlin 336 for the ballistically similar .30-30, in a lever-action package that’s far more palatable to the GFWs that surround me… Seems as though John Wayne is less frightening than John Rambo. 😉