M1 Carbine for survival

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I have been a fan of the M1 Carbine for years.

Light, compact and quick handling – they are great weapon for smaller shooters and females. Back in the 80′s and early 90′s Iver Johnson made one that came with came with a Choate pistol grip stock (folding also) that I thought was awesome. Always like the classic lines of the carbine. I have handled several but honestly have never shot one.

My brother has an old military M1 Carbine and I can truly see the value in this weapon. Back during the Korean war the M1 was not well received. I think that many of the issues were caused from a lack of maintenance as well as expecting more than the design of the gun would deliver. Regardless – .30 Carbine cartridge is capable if used within its acceptable range of about 100 yards or so. The .30 Carbine has ballistic very similar to the .30-30 Winchester – probably the most popular deer hunting cartridge ever.

Military M1 Carbine

Auto-Ordnance makes a new M1 which is available in a variety of formats – wood stock, plastic stock, folding stock, etc. I like the Auto-Ordnance however it is very expensive. My local gun shop sells one for over $700. That is a bit pricey for an M1 in my opinion.

Auto-Ordnance M1 Carbine

M1 Carbine with folding stock - great "Bug Out" gun

I have seen military grade used M1 Carbines for between $400-$500. Not too shabby.

Accessories are not very plentiful for the M1 Carbine however they can be customized in a few ways. Magazine capacity is typically 15 or 30 rounds. From what I have read – the 15 round mags are more reliable and the 30 round mags do better when only loaded with 28. Like an AR – 2 M1 Carbine magazines can be clipped together. See here.

The are not very many stocks available to accessorize with. My personal favorite is the Choate pistol grip folding stock as seen on the Auto-Ordnance as well as the M1 Carbine pictured below.

Choate folding stock

For optics a scope or red dot mount can be mounted. UTG make a scope mount with 1 inch rings combo for around $18.00 or if the rings are not wanted – there is this. If I had an M1 Carbine – open sights would probably be satisfactory but I do like the red dot option.

“Tactical” today generally means being able to mount a flashlight or laser to the weapon. This is possible with a Ultimak rail system. See picture below (as well as the Choate stock picture above):

Of course, regular items like slings and cases are readily available.

One of the great things about living in the United States (at least for now) is the ability to choose from a HUGE selection of firearms which to arm yourself with. The M1 Carbine is one of many.

Anyone wish to share their experiences with the M1 Carbine?

Rourke

My AR and my brothers M1 Carbine

Tags: bugging out, Weapons

bugging out, Survival & Preparedness, Weapons | Rourke December 15, 2010

12 Comments to “M1 Carbine for survival”

By steve, December 15, 2010 @ 5:01 am

They are fun, but overpriced. I’ve had some reliability issues with Iver Johnson…and especially Universal.
.30 Carb. ballistics are NOT ‘similar’ to 30-30. The .30 Carb. bullet has less than 1000 ft.lbs. energy at the muzzle, while a 150 gr. 30-30 bullet has over 2000. At 200 yards the 30-30 has over 1000 still.
The idea of clipping or taping two mags together is silly – makes the rifle awkward and bulky, prevents prone position and, if exposes the bottom magazine to mud and debris. It’s probably fragile as well.
I’ve known people who used the Carbine in city (riot) combat, and they said they were hopelessly outgunned by opponents who were shooting scoped bolt-action rifles from blocks away.
It’s not really a rifle – it was designed as a pistol replacement for support troops. Difficult to field-strip as well.
By Justus, December 15, 2010 @ 7:36 am

I love the M1 carbine too…..

Carbines, ammo and mags used to be dirt cheap…
Unfortunately, these days when you add up the cost of the
carbine, mods and mags it actually costs more than a decent AR.
By GypsySixx, December 15, 2010 @ 9:09 am

Great review again. I have one that was handed down to me from my Father in law. Great little rifle and very quick handling for CQB. I believe my carbine was bought at Woolworths back in the early 80 s and I believe the price was around $99.00 . Some price increase!!!! Keep up the Good work… GypsySixx
By juan, December 15, 2010 @ 9:27 am

S. L. A. Marshall did an evaluation of U.S. small arms in the Korean conflict. His bias against the carbine is evident throughout. He famously glosses over the problems with the Government Model .45 including defeat of the round by homemade NOK body-armor. No one suggests the GM is a feeble weapon.

The carbine loading is more like a .357 than a 30-30. but in hollow or soft-point configurations will handle most anti-personnel problems out to 150 yards.
By Grill Sgt., December 15, 2010 @ 10:12 am

I’ve always liked the look and feel of the .30 carbine, but I have to differ with you on the balistics. According to balistics charts on the Shooting Times website, the .30-30 Win. muzzle fps/flbs. for 125 gr. is 2570/1830, while the .30 carbine weighs in @ 1990 fps/ 967 flbs. for the 110 gr. bullet. If you shot big game with that cartridge, you’d just make him angry (lol). I remember Ruger putting out a single-action revolver in that chambering.
By Rourke, December 15, 2010 @ 12:05 pm

Grill Sgt. – Thanks for the correct on the ballistics. I should have looked it up rather than go off of what I had “heard”.

Thanks – Rourke
By Rourke, December 15, 2010 @ 12:09 pm

Hi Juan –

Thanks for the comment. Like Grill Sgt. pointed out – the ballistics is not like the 30-30 – my mistake. As you stated – different rounds can be used depending upon your need. Modern day ammunition manufacturers offer more variety than decades ago.

Take care – Rourke
By Rourke, December 15, 2010 @ 12:12 pm

Steve –

Thanks for the info. As others have pointed out – I screwed up on my ballistics comment.

Rourke
By Scott R, December 15, 2010 @ 9:54 pm

Rourke, I was in a Big 5 sporting goods store today with my brother and they had an M-1 in the rack, it was a little beat up and old. Price $799 my jaw hit the ground, I could see that for a brand spanking new rifle but not this one.
By Rourke, December 15, 2010 @ 10:09 pm

Scott –

I agree. That is crazy!!

There are a lot of guns I would buy for that kind of money – Mini-14, Del-Ton AR, just about any combat pistol, 4 Ruger 10/22′s, a couple of nice shotguns, etc.

Thanks – Rourke
By tjbbpgobIII, December 16, 2010 @ 4:59 pm

Steve, I have one of those Universals and I bought cheap, around $100.00, and for a long time I was unable to get it to fire the rounds that came with it. I tried some re-loads and they wouldn’t even hit the primer which I suppose was set too deep. I found out later that factory Winchester loads worked just fine, so thats what I stayed with, and it’s still working fine. It is difficult to disamble though like someone said so it’s mostly a closet queen for the time being.
By irishdutchuncle, December 17, 2010 @ 10:30 am

i missed out on getting one at woolworths. i wanted to get one for Y2K, but by then they had become overpriced. some writers at the time were enthusiastic about the mini-14, which does seem more practical, really. Erma made a neat M-1 carbine in .22lr, but i ended up with a 10/22. (probably for the best)