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

[feets]

Yeah, I'm another newbie with issues. I've come here in hopes that you folks will know more about these things than anybody else on the planet.
While I'm not new to the Garand action and it's derivatives, I am a little new to the carbine. Like many of you, I'm kicking myself HARD for not picking up one or two (dozen) carbines when they sold for less than $200.

I've been wanting to quench my thirst for a pistol caliber carbine for plinking and a Mini 14 because I really enjoy them. The often overlooked M1 carbine was a viable option. I'd seen them around but never tried one on and certainly didn't take them seriously. When a friend picked up an Inland, I talked him into letting me take it out for a walk. I dumped 16 rounds into less than 3" at 50 yards my first time out and I was hooked. These things are like 10/22s for big boys! That clenched it for me. The cutesy little M1 Carbine would satisfy my "needs" for both types of guns. I had to have one.
My plans for the carbine involve tin cans, bowling pins, various other things that need shooting, and no doubt many things that really shouldn't be shot. Stepping up to a progressive reloading press will be beneficial.

After doing a little research and getting hurt by tons of sticker shock, I settled on (gasp!) a commercial variant. While I don't abuse my firearms, I certainly put them to use. The carbine will end up as a truck gun so to speak and I really don't want to beat up a collectible piece.

I brought home an Iver Johnson dirt cheap. The wee beastie seems to have full interchange with the GI versions. We tore it down and played mix-n-match with that Inland. Believe it or not, the Inland's bolt even drops in with good head space.
The disturbing part is that it was seriously Bubba'd. You see, Bubba had some sort of problem and tried fixing it with a welder, grinder, and felonious use of a hacksaw.
I think the gas cylinder split at some point in time. Bubba, being the fix-it sort that he is, tried to put the gas cylinder back together. Apparently, he was unable to remove the piston nut and took out his frustrations on it using a hacksaw. Think of it as Leatherface defending his family's honor with a chainsaw.



Careful inspection of the weld shows that it's far from pretty but it should not fail. However, the gun doesn't run properly. It has a random failure to feed at least once per magazine. We used three mags including those that run in the Inland. It's a bolt over base failure like this:



I'm assuming that much of the problem comes from the gas port and piston. I wasn't smart enough to bring along more than one type of ammo so I can't rule that out.

I'd like to pull the nut off the barrel but I simply can't get it to turn. A sharp punch and mallet won't do the trick. I can easily clean up the welds and repair the damage assuming he didn't cut too far back into the gas block. The problem is the piston is in the way and I can't take my usual approach to removing damaged fasteners. I'm a hot rod guy with a machine shop at home so labor cost isn't an issue.

There's a good chance I'll have to rebarrel the receiver. If that's the case, would it be a better idea to use an in-spec GI barrel or one of the aftermarket barrels? Who makes those barrels? Is there any accuracy advantage to be gained with new vs in-spec GI?

No doubt this post looks like a train wreck but I'd appreciate any input you folks could offer. Think of it as me abusing this old turd instead of bashing around with that Rockola I really want.

Information

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[FTD1167]

Best deal on barrels now..
M1 M2 M1A1 Carbine BARREL Back In Stock! : Barrels at GunBroker.com

[Bill Hollinger]

Ditto what FTD is saying. Dump the barrel and have a new one installed. Don't risk a catastrophic failure with that hunk of junk barrel that's on it.

[feets]

I've seen the new barrels for sale. They look tempting but I don't know how difficult it would be to ream the chamber and get it right. I did read up on the new barrels thread.

[Bubba-7]

Yea, my Pa-in-Law did that one. I remember he called me first. I was glad to help him out. I would not spend a penny on it. Keep it as a fun/teenager gun. You usually don't have to worry about coke can shooting back and will wait for you to clear a problem. To rebarrel, you will put $300.00 in to a commerical carbine. Save that for a future GI carbine purchase.
And PaPa did good work, didn't he? You should have seen it before.

[feets]

Oops! Wrong Bubba!

I want a shooter that I can take anywhere. If I rebarrel this little guy I will have less money in it than what a GI unit would cost but it would have a brand new barrel.
I sold off some gun stuff I haven't used in nearly 15 years and will use that "gun money" to handle the work.
I'll probably toss the carbine's pre-tacticool stock on arfcom and see if it can find a new home. That will help a wee bit too.

Again, since I'm going to mix-n-match pieces parts I think it'd be best to do it to a commercial receiver and leave the numbered stuff to the collectors.

[Bubba-7]

There is Big Bubba, aka Pa-in Law, and seven of us little Bubbas. I have another brother-in-law we call "Shade Tree". You may have ran across some of his work before. I was just trying to give you a different take from the others above. I would not put a penny into a commerical carbine. Oh, I have said that before. There are other problems many commerical carbines have. You can put $300 into this one now and week or next year there is something else.
They are not made the same.
They are not made as well.
They will not hold up as well.
I just want you to hear the rest of the story.

[Tired Retired]

I tend to agree with Bubba about throwing good money into a commercial carbine repair project. Guess it kinda like owning a boat (A boat is a hole in the water you throw your money into.). First you have to buy a barrel (those that FTD pointed out run $129 plus shipping). Then you have to either buy the wrenches and block or pay a smith to dismount/mount the barrels. After that you have other parts, like piston, nut and front sight key (assuming the front sight and barrel band are re-usable). With the replacement barrel in the white, you will have to repark at least the barrel if not the entire receiver. Next step will be to have the smith finish cutting the chamber to proper headspace. Each of those steps cost smoe cash for either the tools (for DIY) or services of a smith. Once you are finished, you will have an Ivers Johnson carbine which will not wear well and may have other inherent safety or mechanical issues. They were not the best commercial carbines by a long shot.

If you are looking to get a good truck carbine, you may be financially better off buying a "less than desirable" import marked mixmaster from some of the available sources (Big 5, Dupage, etc). it will give you a better quality gun (even in bad condition) and a safer to operate gun. You will even have your IJ as a source for spare parts (slide, bolt, etc).

I can not help but think of the 40,000 psi about 6 inches from my face when I shoot a carbine - that is why the ONLY Universal I own stays tucked away in the back of the safe never to be fired by me again.

Just my own two cents worth....

[DaveHH]

I'll pick that gravel off your back.

[imarangemaster]

I think sell the GI parts off, and that should get you most of a shooter USGI off GB ($550-600)