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Hello members. I am Richard Brennan, USMC 1952-1956. I own an M-1 Carbine manufactured by Inland sometime during WWII. During rapid fire, using a five round mag, the upper hand guard loosens and the back of it separates from the piece. I replaced the hand guard, but no fix. Does anyone have a fix for me?
Is the barrel band spring locking onto the barrel band properly and is the barrel band screw tight ?
If not the barrel band can slide forward during firing and the handguard will loosen/fall off.
Check by loosening the barrel band screw and pull on the band. If it is locked onto the band spring properly it should not pull out of position.
It is not uncommon to have to take a small file and dress both the spring and the slot. You don't need to tighten the screw to death. Snug does OK.
I had to give the spring some more tooth on one carbine to make it stay, like Dave says with a file.
As you can already see, the barrel band and hand guard fitting are supremely important. The Type II band was developed to address this exact problem - carbines taking themselves apart under fire. Ideally the band will be snug against the shoulder of the stock nose when the spring snaps into place. The hand guard should have very little vertical or linear play, although some play is fine. If the nose of the hand guard is loose when the band is properly installed, you have to use a permanent substance on the guard lip to build it up. At the rear of the guard, the metal tang can be adjusted to hold the guard in place under the receiver lip. First, tighten up the rivets holding the tang in place. If that is not sufficient, you can take a ball-peen hammer and persuade the tang to take a 'curled-up' shape to grab the lip better.
Once the band fit is correct and snug and the hand guard is corrected, you should be able to shoot the carbine without it coming apart. There is potentially a lot of fitting on a properly-prepared carbine. Going a little deeper into the barrel/band/hand guard system, it all starts with the proper installation of the carbine into the stock, along with the correct snug fit of the barrel clamp of the barrel band. Just snug with the clamp, not too tight or it will scratch the finish on the barrel when you move it. But first, the recoil plate must be solidly and tightly mounted to the stock. Then the tang on the rear of the receiver is hooked under the recoil plate. At that time, the barrel must be suspended above the barrel channel in the stock. Holding the stock horizontal with one hand, smack the butt plate with the other to settle the action. The barrel should stop just above the barrel channel. If it's too high to install the band over the nose of the stock, do not force it - adjust the fit at the recoil plate. Ideally, the set-up should be adjusted so the band fits over the stock without pulling the barrel down. If the barrel immediately flops down into the channel when you put the action in the stock, it's a poor fit at the recoil plate and should be corrected. However, a snug band and barrel clamp will hold the barrel well enough in an emergency but it's not the best situation.
So, if the action fits in the stock properly and the band/hand guard are fitted, you should be in good shape.
If not, don't feel bad - probably not one carbine out of 1,000 are actually properly set-up according to the original manuals.
I meant to add that building up the front lip on a handguard would be done with different materials depending on it's condition. If it's all there but just a little too low, I would use multiple applications of Super Glue to strengthen it and add dimension. You can always sand that back if needed. For one with missing wood, I would soak in one application of Super Glue, then build up/fill in with Minwax two-component epoxy wood filler. The SG helps it bond with the old wood. This wood filler cures fast and hard - you can saw, sand, or drill it in 15 minutes. It also readily takes stain, which you'll need to blend it in after sanding to get your fit.