New Member and owner of Blue Sky IBM

Just bought a Blue Sky Import IBM. Shoots great, zero problems after 100 rds. Has a very nice un-marked stock. Total newby.

A few more pics would be nice...

Welcome to the sickness! *LOL*

Wanted a shooter. The Blue Sky Stamp makes it a no brainer I`m going to have fun with this one. She will be a nice addition to my collection of service girls. can get more pictures soon.

Thanks jimb16, my sickness began with my 1896 30-40 I inherited as a young man. My Uncle bought that one from A barrel at the Coast-Coast Hardware Store in Napoleon, North Dakota for $12. And has continued through my M1A1, 1903 Springfield, 1917 Winchester, M1 Garand Springfield, my VISION of an AR15 and now my first M1 Carbine. The only one of my rifles I don`t shoot regularly is the 30-40. Each has it`s own ammo belt bandoliers, Bayonets.... very sick indeed. I use Larry Potterfields quote WHEN MY WIFE ASKS HOW MANY DO YOU NEED WELL AT LEAST 1 MORE HONEY...:D

I was very hesitant to spend my money on an import but this specimen was in particularly good condition with a very clean barrel with nice sharp rifling and a slight visible frosting near the muzzle but with some Hoppes Elite and a good scrubbing after I got it home it actually cleaned out and appears to have been fouling and not frosting. She shoots better than I had hoped for and can`t wait to introduce the grandchildren to a new piece of history. I make them all wear the ammo belt and helmet appropriate for the rifle they are shooting. Also they have to have the Bayonet on it. The 1917 IS A FAVORITE OF THEM JUST BECAUSE OF THAT. Kind of fun history for the kids and Grandpa just loves to teach them as much as I can.

Sounds like a great way to introduce the kids to history. Your carbine appear to be in good shape. Definitely a shooter. Should be a lot of fun for everyone.

They really love the 1903 and the 1917 when they get to wear the Brodie Helmet and use the long Bayonets. This is my first M1 Carbine though and am already in love. Hope to learn a lot more about it on here from the experts. Will include more pictures soon.

Welcome to the M1 Carbine lovers disease! I fired my first M1 Carbine in 1962 as a 10 year old. It was a DCM/NRA gun. That coupled with the fact that my dad fought with an M1 Carbine on Iwo Jima in WW2 had me hooked. I bought my first in 1982, and have pretty much had one ever since. I carried an M1 Carbine much of my LEO career asa patrol carbine. My current is a CMP Service Grade Quality Hardware that came back from Italy in around 2008.

Some helpful hints for happy carbine use:

- Try to stick to USGI magazines, especially the 30s. Make sure your spring is in the magazine correctly /\/\/\/\/\/\ the long side (bottom of shown) to the rear.

- Vietnam era 30 rounders marked "J" and "OKay" are excellent, as are the Belgian made "AYP" 30 round mags. KCI Korean 15 round tend to be as good as the USGI, and their 30s (marked UU) are supposed to be nearly as good as GI.

- Check the recoil spring to see if it is degraded. New is 10 1/4" long. If shorter than 10 1/8" it should be replaced.

- Make sure extractor and ejector are clear of old, hard cosmoline. Carburetor cleaner soak work s well if you do not have a bolt tool. Use an empty case hooked under the extractor to work the cleaner into the ejector spring channel.

- CMP has good info on obtaining as much accuracy as you can by fitting the barreled action to the stock (it's called hanging the action in the recoil lug)

Thank you for the Tips. so far she has operated flawlessly she came with 1 30RD magazine marked AYP. What is up with the 10 RD USGI magazines on EBAY?? I never knew that the government made those??