Muzzle Wear on My New Inland

[shamrocks]

I just "re-discovered" this forum the other day after a absence and not doing much with mil surps. Well, the carbine bug got me again so I have a question. I bought a Inland handstamp carbine last weekend and after a lengthy hunt for my old gages checked it out. I found the muzzle gaged at a fraction over 3 on my forster gage. About how much life would you say is left in this barrel? I feel pretty sure it is the original barrel since it is dated 1-45 and seems to fall within the time period for the serial number 67714xx . I plan to make the range later today and see how well or bad it shoots....

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[shamrocks]

Well I made it to a local indoor range and certainly answered any question I had about accuracy from a barrell that gaged 3+. I fired 60 rds total...half at 25 yds which is max distance for the range, and half at 15 yds and am extremely happy with the way this Inland shoots. I would have fired more but only have 120 rds of ammo left and can't find anymore due to the ammo hoarding goin on. Here's the results......

[ww321q]

I know from being on the other forums, you can reload just for a specific rifle and get great results from a worn barrel. I don't know how good a shot you are but looks good to me

[painter777]

Nice to see you back around Shamrocks,
I hate to say........ But I'm worried about your stock marking.

Charlie-Painter777

[shamrocks]

Actually, I am curious about that CC as well. It might very well be a fake that was put there to match the more worn HI in the slingwell and the other side has a well worn RIA rebuild stamp visible but faint and so I think it is an Inland stock. Well if it is bad, a good Inland stock with real CC will come along eventually that I can replace it with.

[painter777]

[INLAND44]

Your carbine looks like it could be original to me. Muzzle wear does not necessarily indicate excessive wear in the rest of the bore, and if it's evenly worn, the carbine can have good accuracy. Muzzle wear typically is caused by the jointed steel cleaning rod being used haphazardly (you know, G.I.-style ). The government counter-bored many carbines about a half-inch or so to get back to strong rifling during overhauls. Check for a slight shoulder in the bore. Actually, I doubt if yours was bored, just kind of mentioning it. I like the late carbines because they have every improvement they could come up with and many of them were never rebuilt/refinished. So go through it and find out what's inside.

[shamrocks]

Your carbine looks like it could be original to me. Muzzle wear does not necessarily indicate excessive wear in the rest of the bore, and if it's evenly worn, the carbine can have good accuracy. Muzzle wear typically is caused by the jointed steel cleaning rod being used haphazardly (you know, G.I.-style ). The government counter-bored many carbines about a half-inch or so to get back to strong rifling during overhauls. Check for a slight shoulder in the bore. Actually, I doubt if yours was bored, just kind of mentioning it. I like the late carbines because they have every improvement they could come up with and many of them were never rebuilt/refinished. So go through it and find out what's inside.

Thanks Inland44. The rifling appears still pretty sharp so that and the grouping it shot eases any concern I had and looking at the muzzle more closely it appears good. I was at first concerned about the 3+ on the gage but not anymore. As for originality, it has certainly not been refinished. A few photos will show what I mean and the wear appears pretty uniform. The parts breakdown so far.....Round (worn)blued bolt AI, rear sight H in shield, housing Inland, Hammer I-I, mag release M/WA, safety N. , front sight N, Sear has hole but don't see any code unless it' on bottom and haven't taken out the trigger yet to see either, Op slide D-7161843-7 over HSA, barrel band KI. Love to hear your opinions after seeing these photos as to originality.I wish my lighting was a bit better but hopefully they show up okay. I recall the seller mentioning something about possibly original but I took that with a big grain of salt. Anyway, I am completely satisfied with what I ended up with....a nice late Inland that shoots pretty well.

[jimb16]

The MW guage really only gives you a measure of the muzzle wear. It doesn't give you an indication of the barrel wear. Slug the barrel and you will know for sure. A MW reading of 6 may indicate the need for the barrel to be counter-bored. The barrel itself may be a 2! The only way to really know is to slug the barrel. Accuracy from a counter-bored barrel can be on par with a new barrel if the muzzle wear is from cleaning and not shooting.

[DaveHH]

Yet you don't see them that often. I don't know if there IS a standard number of shots that would signal a shot out barrel. The carbine uses only 15gr of powder and the bullet has a short profile. Both way different than a Garand. Some of the 6K shot test carbines were just cleaned up afterward and sent out to issue. Imagine how much some of the Infantry carbines were shot, needing a barrel right after the war. My Winchester has an almost new barrel but the SG NPM is probably a 1 or 2 with a tiny bit of pitting near the gas hole. It outshoots the Winchester. These are funny little weapons aren't they?