Just thinking out loud....

[mrclark303]

So, we have our beloved M1's and you can buy the somewhat poor Chiappa M1-22, a .22 LR blow back facsimile of the original...

How about going one step further and using the Chiappa bolt design and magazines as a starting point, make a .22 LR blow back conversion kit for the M1 carbine, with a barrel insert?

I don't see any show stoppers here, it would need to be a seperate chamber insert with a screw in liner I suppose, perhaps secured at the crown with a screw on collar, like the old Martini action conversion kits, what do you guys think?

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[browningautorifle]

You'll need to re-engineer the return spring and hammer spring for two more. If we use the FN subcal as an example, they used the same hammer spring housing but your bolt return spring was tiny.

[mrclark303]

Good point Jim, anyone see any real show stoppers here?

Perhaps leave the springs alone and make it .22WMR!

Do you guys think there would be a market for such a thing in the US?

[floydthecat]

Of course it is interesting and fun to perform conversions. I have a 9mm that was extremely fun to shoot. I say was because we all know 9mm ammo prices have gone crazy. Anyway.....you do know there is a 10/22 model setup with GI style stock and hand guard already? You can even purchase the carbine complete.

[mrclark303]

Of course it is interesting and fun to perform conversions. I have a 9mm that was extremely fun to shoot. I say was because we all know 9mm ammo prices have gone crazy. Anyway.....you do know there is a 10/22 model setup with GI style stock and hand guard already? You can even purchase the carbine complete.

Hi, I've seen the 10/22 stock sets, just wondering if any Carbine users would be interested in an actual conversion kit?

The ideal solution would seem to be the Italian dedicated .22 LR builds, but the quality is apparently terrible.

[painter777]

Chiappa M1-22

A friend bought one of these new. Nothing but problems for the near year he owned it. Constantly working on it to get it to run.
I was at his private range when he said it was it's last chance. Best I recall he got almost 2 mags to feed when it started acting up again.
Mags stopped feeding, light primer strikes and Trigger not resetting...... etc.
He had tried early on to get Chiappa to service it but was told he had to work that out with the dealer he bought it from.
I heard him take a deep breath, tensed up, unloaded it and broke it to pieces against a cinder block wall.....
Small parts went in the trash can, the bent up barrel and parts of the receiver were tossed in to the truck bed.
All he said as we drove back up to the house was "My time is worth something".
I see him often and make a point of never saying anything 'Chiappa' around him.

[mrclark303]

A friend bought one of these new. Nothing but problems for the near year he owned it. Constantly working on it to get it to run.
I was at his private range when he said it was it's last chance. Best I recall he got almost 2 mags to feed when it started acting up again.
Mags stopped feeding, light primer strikes and Trigger not resetting...... etc.
He had tried early on to get Chiappa to service it but was told he had to work that out with the dealer he bought it from.
I heard him take a deep breath, tensed up, unloaded it and broke it to pieces against a cinder block wall.....
Small parts went in the trash can, the bent up barrel and parts of the receiver were tossed in to the truck bed.
All he said as we drove back up to the house was "My time is worth something".
I see him often and make a point of never saying anything 'Chiappa' around him.

That sums it up beutifully Charlie, utter junk. Its a shame, as a many folks would have had great fun with a .22 Carbine, if it could be made to work reliably.

I must admit, my thoughts on a conversion kit were primarily dissecting a Chiappa, looking at what they have done, making suitable adjustments to make it work properly, i.e material changes etc and adding a liner.

The Chiappa M1's are getting cheaper and cheaper here in the UK, as people trade in the junk, so I might buy one with a view to studying it's blow back bolt and properly reverse engineering and correcting their poor efforts....

A 'proper'.22 Carbine would be great fun.

[floydthecat]

Don’t let me dissuade you in any form-or-fashion, but a lot of stuff has to be considered and it could get into some serious $. However, a man must do what a man must do. If you take it that far, experiment with commercial carbines and parts.

I know the idea is to make it look and act like a 30-caliber carbine, but by the time you get it done, it will likely be something else that just resembles one.

Good luck!

[browningautorifle]

Too, we had M1 carbine lookalikes in the past decades that have faded to obscurity. They weren't so popular at the time either.

[Fushigi Ojisan]

Any love out there for the Marlin 99 M1?