The M1 Carbine concept fully developed

[INLAND44]

Great thread! I had a Mini-30 once and I wish I had a picture of it. I stained the stock, had it Parkerized, put a M14-type front sight/flash hider on it, modified a M1 Carbine adjustable rear sight to fit it, all to make it really look like a true Mini-14. I even found a hand guard shaped like the brown composite M14 one but it was black - no problem, I found the perfect shade of red-brown paint and even 'aluminized' the underside with silver paint! The problems were, this was during the AWB and 30-round factory mags were unavailable and/or sky high although there were after-market mags - but they didn't work. I spent many hours tweaking mags to work using every trick in the book plus making up new ones. Then I learned that Ruger would not sell you a bolt - you had to send the rifle in or something like that. Then I got suspicious about whether it was a .310 bore or .308, and of course they would void the warranty if you shot imported ammo. So I put it on the table for a few shows trying to get even on it which amounted to $692. Everybody loved it but not enough to cough up even a sizeable portion of that amount. Finally, one guy came up to it and fell in love. He was carrying something in a Walmart bag that he wanted to trade, so I said sure, may as well see what it is. In the bag was an HK Model 4 pistol with all the calibers; .22, .25., .32 and .380, slides and all. So, I did the trade. Over a year or two I fixed up an E. German military briefcase into a complete kit for it with holster, manual, cleaning kit for all calibers, correct cleaning rod - everything set into the foam. At another show I got my asking price of $692 for it. Some deals just take longer than others.
I did not know about the '580' - it sounds like a rifle I would like in 7.62x39 and although I'm sure the factory mags are still high, at least they're available now. Plus I have lots of 'Golden Tiger' 7.62x39 around which is pretty accurate for imported steel case.

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[imarangemaster]

Great thread! I had a Mini-30 once and I wish I had a picture of it. I stained the stock, had it Parkerized, put a M14-type front sight/flash hider on it, modified a M1 Carbine adjustable rear sight to fit it, all to make it really look like a true Mini-14. I even found a hand guard shaped like the brown composite M14 one but it was black - no problem, I found the perfect shade of red-brown paint and even 'aluminized' the underside with silver paint! The problems were, this was during the AWB and 30-round factory mags were unavailable and/or sky high although there were after-market mags - but they didn't work. I spent many hours tweaking mags to work using every trick in the book plus making up new ones. Then I learned that Ruger would not sell you a bolt - you had to send the rifle in or something like that. Then I got suspicious about whether it was a .310 bore or .308, and of course they would void the warranty if you shot imported ammo. So I put it on the table for a few shows trying to get even on it which amounted to $692. Everybody loved it but not enough to cough up even a sizeable portion of that amount. Finally, one guy came up to it and fell in love. He was carrying something in a Walmart bag that he wanted to trade, so I said sure, may as well see what it is. In the bag was an HK Model 4 pistol with all the calibers; .22, .25., .32 and .380, slides and all. So, I did the trade. Over a year or two I fixed up an E. German military briefcase into a complete kit for it with holster, manual, cleaning kit for all calibers, correct cleaning rod - everything set into the foam. At another show I got my asking price of $692 for it. Some deals just take longer than others.
I did not know about the '580' - it sounds like a rifle I would like in 7.62x39 and although I'm sure the factory mags are still high, at least they're available now. Plus I have lots of 'Golden Tiger' 7.62x39 around which is pretty accurate for imported steel case.

I think I actually like the Mini-30 more than the Mini-14! The factory 20s (which can be found for around $30) feed flawlessly. It was 99.4% reliable with steel case, until I spent it $45 on a heavier, longer stainless steel firing pin. Now I get 100% ignition and feeding with Russian ammo. The 8M3 124 HP Ulyanovsk fragtastic in NASTY, as are my Nosler ballistic tip 123s I reload. I have about a dozen of the Ruger factory 20s for the Mini-30, as well as some aftermarket 30s from back in the day.

[imarangemaster]

Great thread! I had a Mini-30 once and I wish I had a picture of it. I stained the stock, had it Parkerized, put a M14-type front sight/flash hider on it, modified a M1 Carbine adjustable rear sight to fit it, all to make it really look like a true Mini-14. I even found a hand guard shaped like the brown composite M14 one but it was black - no problem, I found the perfect shade of red-brown paint and even 'aluminized' the underside with silver paint! The problems were, this was during the AWB and 30-round factory mags were unavailable and/or sky high although there were after-market mags - but they didn't work. I spent many hours tweaking mags to work using every trick in the book plus making up new ones. Then I learned that Ruger would not sell you a bolt - you had to send the rifle in or something like that. Then I got suspicious about whether it was a .310 bore or .308, and of course they would void the warranty if you shot imported ammo. So I put it on the table for a few shows trying to get even on it which amounted to $692. Everybody loved it but not enough to cough up even a sizeable portion of that amount. Finally, one guy came up to it and fell in love. He was carrying something in a Walmart bag that he wanted to trade, so I said sure, may as well see what it is. In the bag was an HK Model 4 pistol with all the calibers; .22, .25., .32 and .380, slides and all. So, I did the trade. Over a year or two I fixed up an E. German military briefcase into a complete kit for it with holster, manual, cleaning kit for all calibers, correct cleaning rod - everything set into the foam. At another show I got my asking price of $692 for it. Some deals just take longer than others.
I did not know about the '580' - it sounds like a rifle I would like in 7.62x39 and although I'm sure the factory mags are still high, at least they're available now. Plus I have lots of 'Golden Tiger' 7.62x39 around which is pretty accurate for imported steel case.

Haha! I would have traded for the HK also! Sweet little set up. Fired one that had .22 and .380. Almost bought it, but it was either that or groceries for the 5 kids, so you know which one won!