My Carbines, Old and New - with a twist

[imarangemaster]

You all know that I am a huge fan of the M1 Carbine as a defensive weapon. I carried one for much of my LEO career as a trunk weapon, and has been a primary home/farm defensive carbine for me during my LEO career, and the 15 years since I retired. I have killed deer at 100 yards with it, and have no doubt it would do the same to two legged Goblins or Zombie's at that range.

Through the years, though, I have looked for an M1 carbine replacement with more "Pizzazz!" For some reason my 7.62x39 AK and Mid-length AR 5.56 build, just seem to be "too much" for a home defense carbine, and not nearly as handy for a wilderness camping rifle. Nothing seemed as "correct" as the M1 Carbine that I always go back to. I tried Mini-14s and Mini-30s, but until recently, they were not an option. With their whippy thin barrel and dismal (flimsy rear and mile high, unprotected front blade) iron sights, accuracy was not even close to my Inland M1 Carbine.

Then I had a chance to shoot a new Generation 580 series with the heavier stepped/tapered barrel and M1 Carbine style factory sights! OMG! It is like an M1 Carbine with a hard on! Shooting 77 grain MK 262 MOD1 5.56 ammo, it will do at 300 yards was an M1 Carbine will do at 100. I promptly traded in an excess 9mm as a down payment and picked one up a used one at my favorite local gunshop. 2014 Production, 99.9% finish, for $750 out the door.

I still have (Ruger factory and Thermold) "legally possessed by me in California prior to 1-12000" high capacity magazines from my prior Minii-14 forays.


As you can see, the size, handling, and weight are comparable between my Inland M1 Carbine with a 30 rounder in the weapon and two 15s in a stock pouch, and my new Mini with a factory 20 rounder in the weapon, and a single 30 rounder in a stock mag pouch. Even camping out in my mountains, as with the M1 Carbine, if I can't handle the situation with a high cap mag in the weapon, and another 30 rounds in a pouch on the stock, I need prayers more than I need more ammo!



Jeff Cooper, in his 1975 Guns and Ammo Magazine review of the newly introduced Ruger Mini-14 compared it to the M1 Carbine, thinking of it as a logical evolution of the M1 Carbine concept, comparing its handling as identical to the M1 Carbine.

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