Tightening Up The .30 Carbine

If there has ever been a tribute to American manufacturing ability it is the .30 US M1 Carbine. Over six and one half million carbines were manufactured and they are generally reliable and trouble free. The single most common complaint was poor wound potential, but this occurred when the rifle was pushed beyond its role as a PDW (Personal Defense Weapon), a term not coined in 1942 when the rifle entered service. This carbine is a very neat little rifle.

It has a traditional look with the exposed barrel and cut down stock of a carbine in Krag and Springfield style, however, the M1 Carbine uses a low power rifle cartridge rather than the same round as the service rifle. Tank crewmen, truck drivers, ammo bear ers and officers had previously been armed with a handgun. The idea was to give the troops a service weapon superior to the handgun but not as heavy and difficult to manage as the M1 Garand.

Winchester succeeded admirably with the .30 carbine as it remains popular for personal defense, some forms of competition in certain side matches and for recreation. While normal repairs sometimes center on a lack of lubrication and a need for cleaning, some shooters will wish to have the rifle accurized. Accurize a M1 Carbine? Sure, it can be done and with proportionately greater improvement that seen with the M1 Garand or M1A1 Springfield.

It isn’t often you are able to shrink rifle groups in half but in the case of the .30 Carbine such improvement is possible. Just remember you are beginning with a rifle that is less than a tack driver. It is interesting that some of the standard checks do not always predict the accuracy potential of this It can be made more accurate. M1. You have to actually fire the piece to check its accuracy and loose rifles sometimes fair well. In its favor is the fact that all ammunition ever produced for it was noncorrosive.

This was partly in order to preserve the low maintenance gas system that was not meant to be routinely cleaned and disassembled. The first step in improving accuracy is to check the carbine over for obvious trouble signs. Let’s start at the beginning. First, a function test. I always do a rough safety check of any carbine before firing. I make certain the rifle is tripled checked unloaded and empty. Next, I depress the trigger while working the bolt.

The hammer should not fall but he held back unless the trigger is released and then pressed. I own several carbines including an original World War Two Inland carbine. There is really no such thing as matching numbers as the carbines had to have completely interchangeable parts. Just the same, this rifle is as tight as any of the other six million plus carbines produced during World War Two. I also own a commercial model manufactured by Plainfield.

The action seems tighter than the Inland but the magazine catch and other controls are not as crisp. The carbine is a bit rough around the edges in accuracy. Another well known military rifle, the AK 47, suffers from much the same problem. However, the carbine may be helped and the advantage gained is often worth the effort. You have to shoot good ammunition.

South Korean military ammunition, jacketed loads from the major makers, and the new Cor Bon DPX loading were test fired to confirm the accuracy potential of several carbines. Three shot, one hundred yard groups typically average around four and one-half to five inches. An exceptional rifle will go three inches or a little less. For long range work let’s hope your aspirations are recreational. Tightening the carbine is not difficult but demands attention to detail.

Study the details of the rifle and how it fieldstrips and you will understand the fit and harmonics of the wooden furniture and metal barrel. There are not a lot of barrel harmonics to consider when the rifle is such a low powered example but they do exist.

The rifle is field stripped by removing the barrel band and simply lifting the action from the stock. Once removed, take a look at the receiver. Featuring a rat tail tang in the rear, this tang engages the recoil plate which is in the stock. The design is different from the one piece receiver of the Garand or M14. It works without complaint but this system is not the best ever designed for accuracy. Check the rifle. If the recoil plate fit is loose the rifle will probably be inaccurate.

If the fit is good when assembled and there is a need to depress the barrel into the stock when fitting the barrel band, you may have a more accurate rifle. The are means of tightening the carbine up that are worth a look. First, and simplest, is simply to tighten the screw holding the recoil plate to the stock. If it is loose poor accuracy may not be noticeable at close range but the results will be noticeable at 100 yards.

The recoil plate is the source of the problem in many inaccurate rifles but also the source of an easy fix if we are lucky. Be certain the recoil plate is fully fitted into the stock. A method I am familiar with from the by "God and by gosh" school is to take the recoil plate out and peen it. Peening involves hitting the part until it is longer and producing a tighter friction fit. This often results in a tighter rifle and better accuracy. Next, examine the stock itself.

Remember, the M1 Carbine is primarily a triumph of mass production having been produced by the millions yet always working. works. This is a very reliable instrument, but mechanical precision took second place. The more we look at it the M1 Carbine the more it looks like the American AK! Take a look at the stock and be certain it fits the carbine well.

Route the mortise in the stock that holds the recoil plate out if necessary until the barrel, with the rifle assembled, floats about a half-inch above the barrel channel in The original was sometimes confused with the magazine release in the heat of combat. the stock. Remember a few shavings off of the back of the stock results in a greater effect at the barrel end. Understand this geometry and take it easy with wood removal. Take care and frequently drop the barreled action in the stock to check your progress.

At this point the rifle should be tuned for maximum potential accuracy. Barrel bands area fertile field for experiments. There are several types and I will not pretend to be an expert, but the narrow half-inch bands seem to be the worst for accuracy. They often mismatch the stock and simply do not appear to get the job done. The alternate types that are an inch thick are much better at snugging up. The best type of barrel band by all reports seems to be the bayonet lug type but this is a bit difficult to find.

I would check with Fulton Armory first, then

the pages of Shotgun News and good luck. You will probably be able to obtain decent accuracy with the standard barrel band if you check the recoil plate mortise but the superior wide bands do help. After working with the recoil plate and the recoil plate mortise, then making certain the barrel is free floating as much as possible, you should be able to observe a difference in accuracy. At this point barrel wear becomes a question.

The use of noncorrosive ammunition in the carbine is a great aid in barrel life and few carbines will be found with rusty bores, however, overly aggressive cleaning has shortened the life of many issue fire arms. There are gauges available to test the muzzle to see just how much damage the GI bore cleaner brush, which feeds from the muzzle, has done. A simple test with a centerfire rifle cartridge is adequate to test the carbine before it is purchased or to gauge the carbine on hand.

The This is an indication the carbine may be a good shooter. The stock on the right is in the more accurate rifle. This stock is inletted ideally for a free floating barrel. Carbine cartridge is too short to use as a gauge so use a .308 Winchester or .30-06 Springfield cartridge instead. Once certain it is unloaded and the action locked back, attempt to fit the ball portion of the cartridge into the carbine muzzle. If the bullet goes to the cartridge case

mouth your muzzle is pretty much shot out. If the bullet is stopped at about 1/8-inch you have a shooter. In between these extremes will probably exhibit so-so accuracy. I admit the gauge is more scientific but this simple test will work well enough in estimating the carbine’s accuracy potential. There is little point in addressing the trigger action. The military two stage trigger usually breaks at 4.5 to 6.0 pounds and I would never attempt to file hardened parts to produce a clean break.

In any case, those few competitions which are specific the M1 Carbine also demand a 4.5 pound or heavier trigger action. What is beneficial is to carefully clean and lubricate the trigger action. You may find that the rifle has never been cleaned and the action never lubricated. The .30 caliber carbine is a versatile little rifle, normally completely reliable, accurate enough for personal defense and pest popping and, above The recoil plate has been removed for this illustration.

This barrel is good to go and should provide good accuracy. all, user friendly. While not as inexpensive as it once was the M1 Carbine remains an excellent addition to anyone’s tactical repertoire. This is a design with no flies on it. With a few simple procedures you will be able to produce good accuracy and keep a customer’s carbine running for another decade or so. AG