Universal M1 Carbine Question

I am a new member and not sure just how this works.

I just purchased a Universal M1 .30 Carbine, S/N 89691 which appears in mint condition. I believe it is one of the first generation carbines made by Universal and would like to try to confirm that it is. Any suggestons?

My military service was USAF 1952-1973 and I have long wanted an M1 for shooting and boar hunting. @$400 I hope I have a good deal. A little worried about firing our of battery and need some reassurance.

Thanks for your thoughts.

AHH

Andy, It looks like you may have one of the better ones by your serial number. If it has one recoil spring like a USGI carbine then it's most likely one of the first generation and if so USGI parts will interchange with the parts already on it as they most likely are USGI. Keep it clean and lubed. If your using commercial ammo you should not have a problem with an out of battery discharge. If your reloading then you have to measure each fired case and trim each time you load that case if needed. Kept to factory specs and you should not have anything to worry about.

Try here,
Universal Firearms Corp.

Charlie-painter777

Andy good luck with your carbine. I have a universal, serial number381799. Eaveryone has me gun shy on it and i sort of retired it, but i fired over 1200 rounds of surplus ammo through it and never had a missfire or any problems. Ive since added a Plainfield and Underwood to my collection and shoot them often. They sure are a fun gun and nice and light. Whay serial number did they start using the 2 recoil springs in? don in Fl.

Thanks Painter. Already went there after signing on to the forum. That is a great website! AHH

To be an early Universal it should have one recoil spring and a solid recoil slide. You should not be able to see the locking luh on the bolt. As for the out of battery, just get into the habit of manually seating the bolt each time you fire. Remember that this is a commercial grade rifle and not designed to have the number of rounds fired through it as the GI guns were. Have your gun smith check the headfspace every few hundred rounds. Or buy a No Go gauge yourself. It's a very simple check to make. Good shooting. On the negative side. Sinch your going to spend $400 anyway, why not hold out ($250 more) for a GI Carbine. Hope this helps.

Ok guys ive got a Universal with 2 recoil springs that I have retired after shooting over 1200 rounds in. Im a fraidy cat from the bad things ive read. Please someone explain to me the worst scenerio that could happen fireing one of these guns. Thanks, don in Fl.

The worst scenario? That would be having a bolt imbedded in your forehead, resulting in immediate death. (This round is close to a .357 mag.)

More likely, your face would be peppered with brass shards from the case, causing the loss of one or both eyes if you are not wearing eye protection.

I don't know if I would call this an "immediate life hazard", but we have at least one credible description of a late Universal firing out of battery. But, with good USGI carbines readily available & reasonably priced, there just doesn't seem any good reason to take a chance.

Thanks,ive retired mine and am now shooting a GI issue. YOU GUYS SCARED ME. thanks don in fl.

The result of firing out of battery is never good, but the M1 rifle and M1 carbine are pretty well designed to keep the bolt from leaving the receiver. You are in far greater danger of that kind of problem with a conventional bolt action than with either of those rifles.

What usually happens with out-of-battery fire in those rifles is that the bolt will be blown back, the stock will be splintered and the magazine destroyed, and the receiver rails bulged outward. Injuries usually come from stock splinters and brass fragments in the off hand, and sometimes powder and gas "peppering" of the forehead. The receiver protects the shooter's eyes (and everyone should wear shooting glasses anyway) and lower face.

Actually, out-of-battery fire is quite uncommon with any rifle. Some folks think that any gun that fires as the bolt closes has fired out of battery, but usually the bolt has either fully locked or has locked enough to prevent a true out-of-battery condition. When a rifle does fire out of battery, believe me, you know it!

Jim

I had a Universal that was in the 70,000 range and sold it as I got paranoid about all of the anti-Universal talk and at the time needed to move it if I wanted to upgrade to a USGI one. Maybe it was because my eyes were slightly younger then, but I could always shoot great groups with that gun, and I would say it was the most accurate carbine I have owned. (I have owned 6) Yours should be in the early group so have at it and enjoy.

Universal M1 Carbine Generations (which is which) :confused:

Be sure to check Universal Firearms Corp. for more detailed info on the changes over the years! :wave:

First Generation:
(Started with SN 0, ended between 93xxx - 104xxx):

The first generation Universal M1 Carbine mainly used USGI parts, including a USGI bolt locking mechanism. One example in the sub-5xxx SN range had an IBM barrel with flaming bomb emblem.

The transition in production between first generation and second generation is somewhere between 93xxx and 104xxx.

Second Generation:
(Started between SN 93xxx - 104xxx, ended between SN 176xxx and 187xxx)

The second generation is where Universal got creative, started redesigning things, added the second recoil spring, and started to machine their own parts. This model eliminated the bolt locking mechanism all together. These had a leaf style flip rear sight, round bolt, magazine catch marked M, and new trigger housing. These could still accept the USGI trigger housing, and some had the M2 style metal upper handguard. The front sight was held on with a setscrew, rather than pinned as the USGI is.

The transition in production between second generation and third generation is somewhere between 176xxx and 187xxx.

Third Generation:
(Started between SN 176xxx and 187xxx, went until end of production)

The third generation included cost saving designs that started the company's reputation for poor quality. Changes included a slide lock lever by the rear sight, the trigger housing was made of aluminum, and several safety features were deleted to reduce costs. This resulted in the ability of the rifle to fire out of battery.

The highest serial number documented so far is 486xxx.

Here are some detailed posts on the firing out of battery issue:

http://www.odcmp.org/new_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33561
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USGI Parts Compatibility with 2nd generation and beyond:

These USGI parts are generally compatible with the later Universal M1 Carbine. For the first generation rifles, most parts are USGI:

Rear sight assembly
Bolt assembly
Buttplate (I believe)
Many trigger group parts
Magazine catch
Magazines
These USGI parts are not compatible:

Stocks
Op rod/recoil springs
Receiver
Trigger group retaining pin (USGI is wider; some people have reported drilling out the hole in the receiver to allow it to fit)
Most other parts not listed


For what its worth: :)
I have a first generation with a SN# of 37xxx, I love my M1 Car. It shoots straight and tight, I have no issues or concerns with it at all. Eats all the commercial and reload ammo I ask of it with out any hiccups.. It’s a great rifle..

Thanks for your time everybody and have a great one..:wave:

"...worst scenerio..." The poorly made stamped op handle breaks. Late model Universals aren't necessarily dangerous. The 'improvements' just aren't.