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I'd like to shoot my M1 Carbine sometime but it seems alot of people think the gun should be looked at by a gunsmith. What things could potentially happen to one of these? I've been shooting my 1946 marlin 39-A for many years which is about the same age. Were the carbines not made as well or have a history of something breaking or causing injury? thanks
My main concern would be stock, and or hand guard cracking,..I had a bakelite grip panel on my veteran purchased Ithaca M1911A1 crack..I dont like to fire my collectors pieces
I have several nice weapons that I fire every chance I get: 1970s vintage S&W model 29 8 3/8" .44 Mag, USGI Inland M1 Carbine, and 1975 vintage Armalite AR-180. Unless it is a collector piece, not much sense in not shooting it. I even had a 56-56 Spencer and 1881 Vintage 1873 WInchester. I shot them regularly with black powder.
Greystone,
If you have been around guns, fired guns, and can take one apart clean it and put it back togeather right, go shoot the carbine. The same people who think you should take it to a gun smith are the same ones who think you should have a complete phy. before you fire it :nono:, it makes them feel good :yikes:.... just use good common sense, it's a tough gun. ;)
Shoot it! Collector's piece or not. I shoot my Colt Buntlines and my engraved Henrys. I bought them for me, not someone I don't even know.
B
Clean it, lube it, check the head space, go to the range. I have shot all of mine at one time or another. But I stay with two or three on a more regular basis. Nobody has an unfired Carbine.
The last lightly engraved Henry I saw went at auction for something over $65,000. You really do believe in shooting everything if you are shooting your engraved Henry. A nice box of original .44 Henry Flat sold for around $2500.
The carbine is a pretty stoud weapon for the cartridge it fires. You can get by on your own IF you have the skill level necessary. Its the little things like the conidition of the bolt locking lugs, the piston nut, the slide and of course headspace. There are a few other areas I check, you really just have to know the weapon and what to look for...
... But for liability reasons, my lawyer requires that I state that every weapon you purchase should be thoroughly checked by a fully qualified gunsmith fire to firing and on a periodic basis...
... then again, I once offered to take my lawyer to the range for target practice - he declined. I was informed that for legal reasons because I can not use lawyers as targets.
Maybe you can't take the lawyer to the range for target practice, but somebody really should establish a hunting season for them. I'd vote for a no bag limit for the season as well. They tend to seek out each other and reproduce, likely birthing new potential lawyers.
I've got 6 operable carbines, and shoot each and every one of them. But then again, nothing in my gun safe isn't fired at least once a year, some guns more often.
he is just going to say "looks OK to me" and charge you $50+. Consider that these things were made to be used hard and endure. Even if the headspace is way too much, you are not going to even know it or care. Carbines only broke when they were fed cartridges that were too long, this allowed an out of battery firing. When the Government went to 100% case length checks this stopped. I would suggest reading Hatcher's Journal, he goes into the issue of headspace and rifle safety at depth and what you will learn is that these military rifles, all of them, were way overbuilt. A careful visual check for cracks on the bolt lugs and greasing it up well is all they usually need.
The one thing that people can do that trumps some dumbell "gunsmith" nailing you for $100 for nothing, is to at the range, open the bolt, look to see if the chamber is empty, stick your thumbnail in the mag well, and look down the bore. The piece of patch , mud or debris that will hurt the weapon can then be seen and removed. When the bore is clear, lock and load.
+1 on everything DaveHH said. Clean, lube, check headspace and close exam of the locking lugs for any cracks then shoot it and enjoy it!
This is a cracked highwood stock on an nice S'G'. The whole chunk is ready to break right off. To each his own, but i would prefer to save the original ones for future collectors and use the rackers for plinking!
Thats my point exactly, why take the chance of cracking wood
Pick up a Springfield Armory replacement stock, and put the good wood in the safe.
You'd be crazy to fire any mil surp weapon without a detail strip, cleaning, inspection, gauging (head space) and lubrication. After that, just the routine maintenance and inspection should keep you fairly safe, but it's never really 'safe' to fire any gun - always a calculated risk.
Some of us lawyers actually collect and shoot carbines too! (I have 9)Quote:
Originally Posted by stickhauler
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeagleEagle
Ouch! ZIngers, you got them. My best friend is an attorney in Kalifornia, and he is the biggest gun collector I know!
Ok, ok, ok.... I promise not to use lawyers for targets anymore... but politicians don't work as well - with all their tap-dancing, they never seem to keep one position long enough to get a clean shot off!Quote:
Originally Posted by LeagleEagle
The shot will always be cleaner than them , don't worry about it.
Chris
it is a fascinating book and really nails some of the ideas people have about headspace and rifle danger. He worked at Frankford Arsenal and essentially just screwed around trying different things to blow up rifles. I may not be so afraid if headspace anymore, but one thing I'm very sure of is I'm NEVER, EVER shooting a low number '03 or any WW1 vintage ammo. He has pages and pages of those things coming apart along with their barrels, some guys didn't get hurt, some were severely wounded.
MPD: If you offered my that high wood stock for sale and I saw the crack, I wouldn't buy it anyway, why not fix it? If that was mine, I'd sure do something as casual handling could bust it off.