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Posted: 7/24/2026 7:27:36 PM EDT
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After decades of getting mil-surplus and vintage military rifles, I finally got around to acquiring an M1 Carbine. Some pictures are below. The receiver is Rockola and the barrel is not import marked, but may have been replaced. But due to the very good condition of everything, I imagine it has to have been assembled from parts at some point. The stock must be a replacement, it looks nearly new. But that does not matter to me much one way or another, I just want it as a shooter, and all the metal parts looked clean and good condition. I have to order some ammo and spare mags. If anyone has any input I'd appreciate it. I see Privi Partizan, Sellier Bellot and Remington are making ammo. I just want basic ball ammo for shooting with good brass. I'll save up the empties and eventually reload for it. I see KCI and ProMag make aftermarket magazines, and the KCI seem to have decent reviews. 15 round mags are fine for me. For years I passed the M1 Carbine by because I already had ARs and did not want to go down the road with another caliber. But I finally came around to get one just for the collection. Attached File Attached File |
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Congrats OP, looks awesome!! Keepshooting.com for mags but they appear to be OOS on 15-rounders at the moment. KCI’s have been largely OK. ProMag is a hard pass. .30 Carbine ammo has gone way up. 50-cents/rd is avg. S&B, PPU, Aguila, PMC have shot fine for me. I stumbled into a ton of brass & 110-gr bullets so have been loading over 14.3-gr of H110 w/ great results. |
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That's a beautiful carbine! Congratulations!  Keep Shooting 15 round Mil-Spec Magazines are good to go, but are currently out of stock: https://www.keepshooting.com/mil-spec-m1-carbine-15rd-magazine.html Their 30 rounders are in stock: https://www.keepshooting.com/m1-carbine-30rd-magazine.html Fulton Armory recommends Sellier & Bellot M1 Carbine Ammo https://www.sellierbellot.us/products/rifle-ammunition/rifle-ammunition-fmj/detail/147/ https://www.sellierbellot.us/products/rifle-ammunition/rifle-ammunition-sp/detail/251/ Welcome to the club! 
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A socialist may indeed be academically superior.
And yet, they are most certainly emotionally retarded.
Public education is the opiate of the masses.
And yet, they are most certainly emotionally retarded.
Public education is the opiate of the masses.
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Thank you guys for the replies and suggestions. Keep any ideas coming please. But I'll be placing an order for a case of ammo and some more mags very soon. Now that I own one, the M1 Carbine is really a very handy rifle. It does not have the power of an AR, but is very light and handy, and useful in many situations. |
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S&B is good stuff when it comes to .30 carbine. Nowadays, it would be my first choice. And grab a few boxes of decent soft/hollow point ammo, it really ups the cartridges defensive capabilities considerably. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
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Nice carbine! Has the older style push button safety ( later changed to a flapper type as the issue came up with the mag release and safety similar and close together troops were hitting the mag release instead of the safety in the heat of battle. ) I remember old 15 round GI mags still wrapped in oily paper or greased waxy paper at gun shows for a couple dollars each - those days are long gone, but they still pop up here and there. Steer clear of pro mag. I think the KCI / Korean mags are GI spec and good to go. Considering how costly carbine ammo is reloading is the way to go. I would suggest anything but Remington. Remington quality is piss poor ( although it has seems to improve since bought by vista ) |
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Thanks for the information everyone. I'm ordering a case of S&B ammo for it. I have a good collection of other rifles already, and my ARs are always going to be to my go-to shooters. I assembled variants in 7.62x39 and 9mm, and they are both some of my favorites and are so cheap to shoot. I stacked it (modestly) deep when that ammo was cheap. The carbine will not be my volume blaster, but it is such a unique and interesting carbine and looks like it will be great to shoot. While inspecting my carbine, it has a variety of parts on it. I have no idea how or who assembled it, or when, but as I mentioned, I like it as a shooter, so as long as it functions well I will be happy. I can't figure it out, the receiver and op rod have no wear, all the edges and machining marks are sharp, so I don't think it was a used rifle that was simply re-parkerized. I'll never know, but at least I should be shooting it in the next few weeks. |
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OP, it looks like you have a Type III Magazine Catch (MWA marking?) I can't tell from your pictures. If you plan on using the 30 round magazines, I'd buy a Type IV Magazine Catch with the extra nub for the 30 round magazines Mag Catch Types Like this: Attached File Attached File |
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Congrats! Yes, the M1 Carbines are great shooters. I actually used one as my HD gun for many years. 110gr soft points are serious medicine. For reasons we won't discuss I've wound up with five of them at this point. Mags have been covered well - USGI are best, KCI are fine, and PROMAG is best viewed as an acronym reading Please Remember Our Magazines Are Garbage. I'd stick with 15rd mags. The 30rd mags are okay with the late-type mag catch (see above) but I still view them as finicky novelties and nothing I'd actually rely on. Ammo - S&B, PPU and Fiocchi are good, but I've honestly not had any issues with the US makers or Aguila. One thing I will note is to be careful of surplus .30 carbine ammo. It does pop up from time to time, and while U.S.-made stuff was always non-corrosive, the French ammo was corrosive, and there exists spuriously-headstamped LC52 ammo from China that is also corrosive. Corrosive .30 Carbine ammo is very bad as the Carbine's gas system is not easily cleaned. You probably won't come across any of this - this ammo has become rather rare over time - but it is out there. Another nice add is to pick up a magazine pouch for the stock. This was a sort of field-expedient solution - soldiers found that the pouch fit on there, so they put it there. Actual surplus ones have a stud to attach the pouch to the pistol belt that can scratch up the stock, but repros like this one from At The Front do away with it. Enjoy the carbine! |
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