"Inland" Manufacturing M1 Carbines - 1st hand experience

[Sleeplessnashadow]

Cast bolts have been used exclusively by Iver Johnson, IAI/iai, Auto Ordnance, National Ordnance, Alpine, and Federal Ordnance. Plainfield switched to cast when GI surplus ran out in the 60's and most of theirs were cast. Universal used forged steel til about 1969 then switched to cast tho some in the late 70's were made from forged steel. Erma's Manufacturing used cast when GI surplus ran out.

I'm not a metallurgist but a Carbine Club member in Canada is a retired lifelong metallurgist and I've tried to coordinate with him under the restrictions of the laws of our respective nations.

I had seen it with most cast parts before he said it ... the problems arising with commercially manufactured bolts for the .30 carbines have not been whether they were machined from forged steel or cast. The problems have been related to the hardening process, a lack of consistency by the companies doing the hardening and the absence of quality control to catch them at it. This also applies to other critical components that take a beating during normal use: the sear, hammer, slide, receiver, extractor and so on.

That mag catch earlier in this thread ... manufacturers figure a certain percentage of parts will be rejects. The goal is to minimize that percentage and to have quality control inspections in place at various points that will catch a problem before it gets out of hand and prevent that percentage from shipping out with the carbine. The mag catch on my "Inland" was cast with no apparent machining. It does not have the issues the earlier one does. The extractor on mine was made from forged steel and is a lighter finish than the rest of the carbine. I suspect they bought surplus post war GI extractors until they can get the problem addressed.

Two parts on a carbine I will replace if they were made from casting simply because I've seen so many fail due to improper hardening. The extractor and sear. I have been recommending monitoring of the rear of the bolt and face of the hammer and not to use a GI hammer or bolt with a commercial hammer or bolt. Not because of forged steel vs cast but because of the different hardness used commercially that has sometimes been inconsistent.

Personally I prefer GI forged steel to any commercial equivalent of any kind. However, like that M60 tank vs the M1A1 Abrams both will put projectiles downrange. It's a matter of what we intend to use them for and what we're willing to pay for them.

Maybe to add some perspective to cast parts. Totaling the number of commercially manufactured .30 carbines by several dozen commercial manufacturers over the years they add up to just short of 1 million. With Universal Firearms having made 4 out of every 10 (they were in business for 22 years). Until Springfield Armory in Geneseo in the late 90's followed by Fulton Armory and James River Armory the past few years, ALL but Universal used cast receivers. Universal is rumored to have made a few cast receivers about 1972 but I've yet to see one. Investors cutting back on overhead then fell on their face in short order with their successor getting back to their standards. Things change over time.

What percentage of all those commercial carbines have failed? A higher percentage than GI but a low enough percentage to keep those companies in business over 10 years.

There are reasons everyone doesn't skip the commercial equivalents, or simply buy Fulton Armory M1 Carbines and skip all the rest. I'm in favor of "Inland" succeeding but that's up to them and the current market.

Jim