Possible correlation between feeding and how worn an M1 Carbine is?

[Bruce McAskill]

The two biggest problems that surface with older carbines are the extractor group and the recoil spring. The extractor group quite often is forgotten when cleaning a carbine. Old grease and dirt get into the plunger and spring causing it to bind and not allow the extractor to close on a cartridge rim. The extractor can chip or break and will also creat functoning problems. These need to be checked, cleaned and replaced if need be. Get a bolt tool if you intend to take the bolt apart as you will need it.

The recoil spring should be 10 1/4 inches long. If it's less then a new spring should be installed. Use a USGI spring and not one of the after market high speed springs as they can creat more problems then they are worth.

It is not very often a trigger housing will be too loose to work properly but if it does then do not try to tighten the lugs on the receiver. They are hardened and can snap off. Work on the trigger housing lugs that can be spreaded apart a little bit to help tighten up the action. A loose housing will not hurt accuracy as it has nothing to do with it.

A worn tab on a slide again does not happen too often. If the tab is a bit worn then the slide arm can be slightly and I mean slighty bent inward to take up some of the play. If the tab is very worn then the slide needs to be replaced.

The gas system on a carbine does not need to be taken apart for cleaning so leave the castle nut and piston alone. A little bit of hoppies on the piston will work. If for some reason the piston has to be removed then get a new castle nut as most often the old one will strip coming off. Do not over tighten the nut when replacing it as the gas cylinder can crack and that means a barrel replacement.

Didn't mean to get long winded here.

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[bonnie]

The two biggest problems that surface with older carbines are the extractor group and the recoil spring. The extractor group quite often is forgotten when cleaning a carbine. Old grease and dirt get into the plunger and spring causing it to bind and not allow the extractor to close on a cartridge rim. The extractor can chip or break and will also creat functoning problems. These need to be checked, cleaned and replaced if need be. Get a bolt tool if you intend to take the bolt apart as you will need it.

The recoil spring should be 10 1/4 inches long. If it's less then a new spring should be installed. Use a USGI spring and not one of the after market high speed springs as they can creat more problems then they are worth.

It is not very often a trigger housing will be too loose to work properly but if it does then do not try to tighten the lugs on the receiver. They are hardened and can snap off. Work on the trigger housing lugs that can be spreaded apart a little bit to help tighten up the action. A loose housing will not hurt accuracy as it has nothing to do with it.

A worn tab on a slide again does not happen too often. If the tab is a bit worn then the slide arm can be slightly and I mean slighty bent inward to take up some of the play. If the tab is very worn then the slide needs to be replaced.

The gas system on a carbine does not need to be taken apart for cleaning so leave the castle nut and piston alone. A little bit of hoppies on the piston will work. If for some reason the piston has to be removed then get a new castle nut as most often the old one will strip coming off. Do not over tighten the nut when replacing it as the gas cylinder can crack and that means a barrel replacement.

Didn't mean to get long winded here.

I agree with this but will add another third biggest problem in an M1 carbine. A dirty chamber. Most clean the bore with a 30 cal bore bush but it is to small to clean the chamber. I use 9mm brushes to clean the chamber.

[DaveHH]

I look at the slide and think that a single recoil spring has to induce some side loading, so grease the slots along the side of the barrel and receiver notch on the right side. In addition, I use the white GI oil which stays where it is put and works great. A lot of those worn out slides are caused by WD40 or 3-1 oil use. Amen to what Bruce says. How can an assembled bolt be considered clean by soaking in some solvent or boiling it? The holes for the plunger are full of carbon, dirt and unburned powder. The fact that the parts are much smaller than the big rifle makes cleaning them and looking at them that much more important.