Look out! It's a newbie with carbine problems!

[vintage hunter]

I really can't understand why you're still fiddling around with that fubar'd barrel. The only way it could possibly be fixed so it would function properly is to replace the gas cylinder......providing the bore/barrel has'nt been ruined by being welded on multiple times. Welding on something that has to stay perfectly straight is no easy task, and it distorts the metal, causes warpage and changes it's structural integrity, not to mention putting it under loads of stress. Likely, the bore has a tight spot directly under the welded area or will be warped or both. Go with the original idea and rebarrel it or take everyone else's and scrap it and get one you don't have to worry about a barrel rupture on every time you pull the trigger. Theres a reason the originals have the gas cylinder swaged in place, IIRC Iver Jonnson and others silver soldered theirs on and thats the reason the weld cracked, impossible to weld over that stuff and get it to hold up. JMHO

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[shadycon]

Question; If it is soldered on , can it be warmed up and remove? Then replaced?

[vintage hunter]

No, not warmed up, heated up and yes they could be but you really don't want to do that. They were silver soldered on, different process to lead based soldering, this would require heating the barrel/cylinder cherry red to attach or remove it. Not something you'd want to do under normal circumstances as it would likely require the whole barrel to be heat treated to remove stress. I've seen some replacement gas cylinders that were said to have made by Iver Johnson and were leftover when they ceased producing the .30 carbines. They were'nt the band type like seen on USGI barrels and on the IJ carbine I had they were silver soldered in place.

[feets]

Vintage is right. There is no removing the gas block and saving the barrel. It would have to be cut off using a very slow and tedious process. I enjoy fiddling with metal but there's no way I'd go put that kind of effort into saving a barrel that is likely beyond saving as it is. Slamming through it with a cutoff wheel on a die grinder would cook the steel and leave you with a potentially explosive barrel. The uneven heating caused by that is worse than welding because of the duration of the heat generated.
If the gas block has to come off, the barrel is going in the scrap pile.

I'm just fiddling with it now. Think of it as goofing off in a mechanical way.
The welding I did was on the bottom of the gas tube. I did not weld on the barrel itself. The previous owner did some nasty welding and no doubt did nothing for the barrels precision (or lack thereof). I am very aware of what welding does to metal. I weld and machine all kinds of stuff. Sheet metal, steel structures, automotive stuff, tools for my guys at work, etc. I have a good understanding of physics and what temperature does to metals. I bet my life on my welding and machine skills, as evidenced by this photo:



How many 1965 Plymouth Belvederes do you see running around with twin turbocharged fuel injected big blocks and 14" AMG disc brakes from a 2005 Mercedes S55?

Back to the topic at hand...

The interesting part is that the little carbine punches relatively tight groups. This barrel has had a bad day but shows no signs of fatigue, inside or out. A bore scope shows the inside to be free of hot spots, visible cracks (no witnessing from gas residue), or other bad signs. There appear to be no tight spots.
The piston and nut in this thing are trashed. I can hack away at it and do whatever I like. Replacement parts are on the way to me as we speak. When they arrive, I will weld a stick to the piston to help me hold it rearward. Then, I'll cut it off as close as I can to the nut. Once that's out of the way, I'll try a broken bolt extractor on the nut. Should that fail to remove it, I'll tack weld a piece of bar stock to the remains of the piston nut and use it to twist the nut. Once it moves it'll be easy to remove from the barrel. I'll stuff the new parts in there and see what happens. If the carbine still won't run properly, I'll rebarrel it using one of the Criterion pieces. The new barrels don't have any hardware so I need that new nut and piston anyway.

Welding and machining don't cost me anything. All I do is step from my living room into the garage and turn on the lights. I might even turn on the radio and fan if I'm going to be out there for a while. You see, I enjoy doing stuff like this. While I don't normally machine gun stuff I have made a few parts in the past. As a matter of fact, I got rid of the scary piece of brass that someone stuffed in the carbine as a trigger group pin and turned my own pin out of 306 stainless steel rod I had in the garage. I did not have a GI pin to measure at the time so I made it .005" undersize for a slip fit.

In short, I'm playing with the barrel to see if it will run well and group tight. If it doesn't straighten out, I'm really not out anything. I have learned quite a bit about the carbines and will learn more as I go.
If I simply threw this thing in the trash and bought something else I'd be out more money and would have learned very little.

Some people take their car to the mechanic when they have a problem. I'm the guy that studies the problem, does a little research on the subject, and gets my hands dirty fixing it. Guns are very simple mechanical devices. There's no voodoo or black magic going on. If you have an eye for detail and can comprehend what other things can happen throughout the system when one little change is made these things are easy to figure out.

[feets]

I was thinking about it. If I have to scrap the barrel I might have to build another little monster and give him a cannon to play with.

Here's a pic of a trophy I made for my car club. Junior is unfinished in this pic. I made a trophy to put in his hand after I shot this pic. Anyway, I could build his twin brother and have him playing with a piece of the barrel.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

You do some great work, feets!

I understand the challenge of making something work. It's a battle of man against machine, and I appreciate that challenge more than most, and won't give up until it's a lost cause. I'd do as you just described to try to fight the battle and try everything to get it running, just for the challenge of it but I would not spend the money for a new barrel.
If it was a USGI carbine I would do so just to keep a part of history alive, but not a commercial clone.

You have the carbine bug already whether you know it or not, and you're hooked by the history of it's design.

Keep your project and please consider saving for a USGI carbine. You have love for machinery and when you have a vintage M1 carbine in your hands everything changes -
There is nothing like a vintage WWII firearm that comes alive as they do. It's 'living history' like nothing else in the world to possess a well made firearm from WWII that functions better than most guns made today.

After 65 years, nobody manufactured a carbine replica that touches an original mechanically and they didn't make one after WWII ended. An original USGI M1 carbine is worth spending a few dollars more for on mechanical merits alone.

When you have a piece of history in your hands that's most likely fought through two and possibly three wars because nothing else could replace it, you become to hold it in reverend as not only a tool but something with a life of it's own.

[Rustship]

Feets,

You must have good sense if you replaced that MOPAR engine with a Chevy.....LOL

[feets]

Feets,

You must have good sense if you replaced that MOPAR engine with a Chevy.....LOL

I like a challenge but I'm not interested in throwing away good parts in exchange for lower performing items.

The hot rod is powered by an Edelbrock headed 440 wedge. It's got a custom port injection intake of my own design, 1700 cfm throttle body, and 120 lb injectors. The ignition is distributorless and controlled by the EFI system.
It's street manners are so nice that I drove it from DFW to Green Bay, WI on the Hot Rod Power Tour.


Back to the carbine....

I went to the range today with my friend. We had a good time sighting in his new Remington 308 bolt gun. I also ran the 1954 Marlin Model 88 until the firing pin broke. I put all 30+ rounds inside the 9 ring at 50 yards. I'll have to scrounge up more parts to make dad's old rifle run again.
When I pulled out the carbine, tragedy struck. I left it's ammo at the house.

No biggie. The new parts will be here in a couple days. I'll have to put it together with the new stuff and try again.

[Rustship]

The hot rod is powered by an Edelbrock headed 440 wedge. It's got a custom port injection intake of my own design, 1700 cfm throttle body, and 120 lb injectors. The ignition is distributorless and controlled by the EFI system.
It's street manners are so nice that I drove it from DFW to Green Bay, WI on the Hot Rod Power Tour.

Damn Feets, I guess I read it wrong, I was under the impression you had stuck a Big Block CHEVY in that Mopar. I gave you credit for having some sense...HHHMMMMM...LOL. My Chevy's have no manners at all, they only like to go 1320 ft. And they like to get there First.

[frankderrico]

Rusty, your funny.....Frank