New Inland M1 Carbines?

[Pandaz3]

Nice review CountryGent, I think that Ball ammo wise ARMSCOR is inline with most other 110 Grain ball all within 10 FPS, There are other choices for self defense as have been discussed here previously. Cap'n O likes the Underwood Extreme Cavitator, 85 Grain, and I have a couple of 50 round boxes of that, I also have Hornady's polymer tipped soft points that are meant for hunting

 

[Captain O]

As a man-stopper, Ball ammunition is mediocre, at best. Believe me, soft point or specialty ammunition is the way to go. Say what you will, Ball ammunition penetrates well, but tissue disruption is minimal.

Not good.

 

[Mikej]

Well, I just got back from shooting it for the first time. Before going out, I gave a good look over. The rifle appeared to be clean, but bone dry, so I gave it a light lubrication with Rem Oil. I also ran an oily patch, followed by a dry one, to make sure the bore was good to go. There was a light rain, but not enough to stop an Oregonian, so I headed up to the home range to give it a go.

Impressions:

• Very light and fast handling. It comes to the shoulder very well.
• Accuracy was good enough for informal shooting I was doing. I was shooting, mainly, at a range gong and had no trouble making it dance.
• I was using, relatively, inexpensive Armscor ball ammunition. I could see using this for plinking, but have the better stuff tested and ready for preparedness purposes.
• The sights were good, though I would like to make the front standout a little more. Maybe a little paint or high visibility aftermarket type would work.
• Felt recoil was, for all intents and purposes, non-existent.
• Reliability, however, was pretty bad. Lots of failures to feed (most of them) or to go completely into battery (some of them). I'm 99% sure it was the magazines:
  • The rifle came with one (1) 15-round magazine and it fed flawlessly every time. I'm planning on ordering some more from AO later today.
  • I brought five (5) 15-round magazines from Keep Shooting and ran them all in this session. They ranged from a few failures to a bunch. One of them fell out of the rifle and sprayed cartridges all over the ground. In examining it, the follower was stuck in the magazine body. It was tossed.
    
  • I have three (3) 30-round magazines, but only took one (1) with me to the home range. It jammed nonstop.
• The magazine release was stiff at first, but loosened up fast.
• The safety is really stiff, but I reckon that is going to loosen up with use.
• I think I'll add a sling soon. This carbine should pack easy.

All and all, I like it, but I'm likely going to have to do some experimentation and replacement of the magazines.

Cheers.

I don't have time to go back and look.....Did you get the new Inland?

I've got about 200 rounds through my new Inland and have not had one issue. The only thing is on disassembly the little cut that allows you to tilt the bolt carrier out and off is miss-cut a little bit. The mag that came with it, no problems. And another GI mag I got from a board member no probs. Haven't had a chance to try the non-GI 30 rounder I got from a gun show.

 

[CountryGent]

"There's something about an M1 Carbine, man". (Sung to the "Aqua-Velva Man" jingle).

LOL! I just had a mental image of that jingle remixed accordingly.

Anywho, I went ahead and ordered four Auto Ordnance 15-rounders and two original (still in wax paper) USGI 15-rounders from J&G. When they come in, I'll give them a spin.

 

[CountryGent]

I just got back down from the family range and did some more shooting with the M1, as well as a wheelgun. I'm now even more convinced it is magazine dependent.

• Again, with the original AO, it ran like a top. Zero malfunctions. Loaded it up, blasted away, rinsed and repeated several times, and no issues.
• With one of the USGI magazines, ditto, no problems.
• With one of the USGI magazines, one (1) malfunction (FTF). Otherwise, no issues.
• With one of the 30-round Korean magazines, zero problems. Ran like @Captain O aptly put it like a "sewing machine".
• With one of the 30-round Korean mags, nothing but but problems (bang, jam, clear, bang, jam, expletive, clear, bang ...).

The handful I bought from AO haven't come in yet, so I couldn't test those. Assuming those work, I think I will keep/load AO and GI magazines for primary purposes and the junkers either for plinking or if they are bad enough, just toss'em.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Just watched a recent M1 video by Hickok45, he had a few mags, including one that the follower spring wasn't stiff enough for, fails to feed as the rear oft he feed plate was not pushing the round high enough to be caught by the bolt.

 

[Captain O]

I just got back down from the family range and did some more shooting with the M1, as well as a wheelgun. I'm now even more convinced it is magazine dependent.

• Again, with the original AO, it ran like a top. Zero malfunctions. Loaded it up, blasted away, rinsed and repeated several times, and no issues.
• With one of the USGI magazines, ditto, no problems.
• With one of the USGI magazines, one (1) malfunction (FTF). Otherwise, no issues.
• With one of the 30-round Korean magazines, zero problems. Ran like @Captain O aptly put it like a "sewing machine".
• With one of the 30-round Korean mags, nothing but but problems (bang, jam, clear, bang, jam, expletive, clear, bang ...).

The handful I bought from AO haven't come in yet, so I couldn't test those. Assuming those work, I think I will keep/load AO and GI magazines for primary purposes and the junkers either for plinking or if they are bad enough, just toss'em.

I have always understood that the commercial A/O magazines that were little more than trouble. I'm glad to hear otherwise.

 

[CountryGent]

I have always understood that the commercial A/O magazines that were little more than trouble. I'm glad to hear otherwise.

Granted, my sampling size right now is just the one that shipped with the rifle, so that might not be indicative of them in general. I'll know more when the other batch comes in. The USGI ones seemed to run pretty good.

 

[Pandaz3]

I intended to go out Friday to sort my magazines, taking masking tape to mark what's what. I'll try this next week.

 

[CountryGent]

I intended to go out Friday to sort my magazines, taking masking tape to mark what's what. I'll try this next week.

I do something similar when I've got to test mags. I have three small rolls of tape (white, green, and red). Those that I know are rock solid get the green, white if I want to run it some more later, and the red are those that once I get back to the house are tossed. When it is all done, the bad ones are gone and the others can have the green removed. Some systems I really didn't need to test at all (e.g., AR, Mini-14, etc.) and some a lot (e.g., vz61 SBR) before getting it narrowed down.

 

[Pandaz3]

Yes I engraved the last batch I bought so I would at least know a little more about the origin, should have done that with my ProMags. I never had a problem with AR Magazines. even those in Vietnam, I must have a dozen models, all work.

 

[Phred]

I had some mag issues with some old GI mags, which were cured with Wolff extra power mag springs. Probably std. power would have done the trick. Wolff also carry's most other carbine springs. Really no surprise, I guess you can't expect 75 year old springs to be as strong as they were when new.
phred

 

[Pandaz3]

Makes me wonder if that would work with ProMags...

 

[Diamondback]

The handful I bought from AO haven't come in yet, so I couldn't test those. Assuming those work, I think I will keep/load AO and GI magazines for primary purposes and the junkers either for plinking or if they are bad enough, just toss'em.

I do something similar when I've got to test mags. I have three small rolls of tape (white, green, and red). Those that I know are rock solid get the green, white if I want to run it some more later, and the red are those that once I get back to the house are tossed. When it is all done, the bad ones are gone and the others can have the green removed. Some systems I really didn't need to test at all (e.g., AR, Mini-14, etc.) and some a lot (e.g., vz61 SBR) before getting it narrowed down.

Actually, there's a VERY good reason to keep those bad mags--mark them and keep them in your range bag so they can't be confused with Combat Grade, and you have instant malfunction trainers--especially in tandem with having somebody randomly load a few snap-caps or dummies in with the live ammo in your practice mags.

Sometimes good mags go bad in SHTF--better to learn how to clear a malfunction on the range than in action.

 

[skey]

I don't have time to go back and look.....Did you get the new Inland?

I've got about 200 rounds through my new Inland and have not had one issue. The only thing is on disassembly the little cut that allows you to tilt the bolt carrier out and off is miss-cut a little bit. The mag that came with it, no problems. And another GI mag I got from a board member no probs. Haven't had a chance to try the non-GI 30 rounder I got from a gun show.

On the 30s, most of them that I have seen, used, bought had to have the springs replaced with Wolf springs before they fed right every time. Most of the Korean ones work just fine after they have had the springs replaced.

 

[CountryGent]

Thanks for the info, @skey . Looks like a three pack of 15-round springs is only $17.29 and the 30-rounders $18.49. Worth a spin.

 

[skey]

Thanks for the info, @skey . Looks like a three pack of 15-round springs is only $17.29 and the 30-rounders $18.49. Worth a spin.

Next time you do a complete tear down. Get the full kit and do the entire rifle. If the throat and headspace is good, you would not believe how snappy and reliable they are. I have rebuilt about 6 of them including new barrels on three. I love those things. I know some folks like using other types of ammo, but if you have a Mil model, I would not use anything that was not a.) a factory load. b.) anything other than the FMJ 110 gr they were meant for. Aguila is a good choice and reliable. S&B also makes a good 100 gr. At issue would be the over pressures on a 70 year old receiver. But that is just MHO. Wolf and others, not so much. BTW, when something pokes a 30 cal hole in you.....you will probably lose interest in whatever you were doing that earned you the 30 cal hole to start out with.

 

[Captain O]

Next time you do a complete tear down. Get the full kit and do the entire rifle. If the throat and headspace is good, you would not believe how snappy and reliable they are. I have rebuilt about 6 of them including new barrels on three. I love those things. I know some folks like using other types of ammo, but if you have a Mil model, I would not use anything that was not a.) a factory load. b.) anything other than the FMJ 110 gr they were meant for. Aguila is a good choice and reliable. S&B also makes a good 100 gr. At issue would be the over pressures on a 70 year old receiver. But that is just MHO. Wolf and others, not so much. BTW, when something pokes a 30 cal hole in you.....you will probably lose interest in whatever you were doing that earned you the 30 cal hole to start out with.

He has a new A/O not an old Inland. He can shoot modern ammunitions without as much as a passing thought. He just needs to have magazines that function reliably in his rifle.