.30 carbine...

Ummmmm...........

.30 U.S. Carbine??

I believe the T/C single shots are, or at least were, chambered in .30 Carbine. and some of the low cost, single shot "break open" rifles like the NEF.

I never got around to doing this, but I've long toyed with the idea of building a .22/.30 carbine bolt gun on a .223 length action, with a medium-weight 16 inch barrel and 1/14 twist for 40 and 45 grain bullets.

Marlin 62 levermatic.

Detachable box lever action that is very unconventional. I have both calibers and I like them both. The 30 carbine is fun in that gun. I still want a m1 carbine, but my 62 is keeping that itch at bay for now. It’s quick, handy, and well proportioned for what it is. I paid $100 from an individual about a year ago. They show up on gunbroker occasionally.

I plan to get one more and rebarrel it to .357 like Marlin claimed that they would do but never did. I just haven’t found a cheap .256wm donor gun to use so that the bolt and extractor are already properly sized.

Good luck with Ruger making a .30 carbine long gun. Not enough popularity, really, for a new gun in that caliber. Even the ammo is not really universally stocked anymore, although I did --surprisingly -- note 4 boxes of it at Academy Sports last visit.

I have an Inland carbine my father brought back from Korea. It's in good shape and I have a few thousand rounds for it .... but I haven't shot it in years. M4orgeries & lever actions get my love recently.

Plainfields go for not too much and, while I can't speak for all of them, mine has been nice.

contender is all I can think of

Texas10mm said:

I'm getting the itch for something in .30 carbine. Actually two somethings. One would be a Blackhawk in .30 carbine and the other a long gun.

Why? Because I want it. It's something else to reload and cast for and should be fun to shoot.

What's out there in .30 carbine long guns that's functional and not going to break the bank?

I wish Ruger would do a .30 carbine long gun.

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There isn't much out there that's new. I hear some sad stories about the new AO and Inland carbines. I've looked the AO carbines over closely and I wouldn't have one. Mostly because I own an original Inland. Some people get good results with them but it sounds more like a crap shoot.

I just purchased a Mini-14. If Ruger had built it in 30 carbine I would have bought that instead of .223. Not because I dislike .223, I shoot one often and it's a great cartridge, but I like the 30 better for a carbine.

Honestly, I'm not sure why Ruger doesn't chamber the Mini in 30 carbine. They practically reinvented the piston carbine and brought the design into the modern age of CNC and investment casting. The design is every bit as good as the original M1 carbine and much cheaper to produce. If they ever produce a Mini in 30 carbine I'll buy one, but I'm not holding my breath.

Tommygunn said:

Good luck with Ruger making a .30 carbine long gun. Not enough popularity, really, for a new gun in that caliber. Even the ammo is not really universally stocked anymore, although I did --surprisingly -- note 4 boxes of it at Academy Sports last visit.

I have an Inland carbine my father brought back from Korea. It's in good shape and I have a few thousand rounds for it .... but I haven't shot it in years. M4orgeries & lever actions get my love recently.

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The ammo isn't the problem. Ruger builds the Mini in 300 BLK. Have you ever looked at the price of 300 BLK? If there ever was a niche carbine cartridge that would have to be it. 30 Carbine runs about 30% cheaper than 300 BLK.

The Auto Ordnance and Inland (new) M1 carbines share many parts from the same sources: receivers, barrels, etc... The Inlands use the early M1 Type stocks and have adjustable sights while Auto Ordnance uses the flip style sights and M2 “potbelly” type stocks that are dimensionally slightly different from GI, but not visually noticeable from what I remember.

I had early problems with my Auto Ordnance because of a Promag magazine and the factory piston nut kept coming loose and causing jams. After procuring some GI and new Korean magazines, and replacing and restaking the piston nut with a GI nut, all the problems disappeared. Since then I’ve run about 1000 rounds (factory steel and brass, FMJ, JSP, and various handloads) through it without a single issue.

I don’t have an Inland, but since they are internally pretty much the same, I would imagine they can share the same initial issues. A-O runs about $750 , and Inland runs about $1000. They are a lot of fun, and after a little break in, they seem to be pretty solid. At least mine is.

I would LOVE if Ruger released their new PC Carbine takedown as a 30 carbine. I think I read that the intent of the 30 carbine was an improved pdw rather than a scaled down rifle so I feel that would be more the way for them to go than a mini 14 in 30.

I'd buy it right off.

They'd have to rename it.

CoalTrain49 said:

The ammo isn't the problem. Ruger builds the Mini in 300 BLK. Have you ever looked at the price of 300 BLK? If there ever was a niche carbine cartridge that would have to be it. 30 Carbine runs about 30% cheaper than 300 BLK.

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Ammo is not "the problem": it's the symptom. If lots of people everywhere were shooting M1 carbines it would be a more available cartridge. Look at 5.56, it's everywhere, because it's popular, and ARs are everywhere (save where the pc crowd has eliminated them).
If M1s and .30 carbine were that popular, a LOT of guns would be out there competing.
Sadly it's not the case.
I really wish these newer repros had a better reputation ....if they did I'd happily buy one and save my father's carbine. As I said it hasn't been used in a long time, but the carbine is a very pointable and easy to use arm.
However, my new Ruger PCC will satisfy that itch I guess.

Rock-Ola carbine works

Probably the cheapest way to enter the .30 carbine long gun arena is to find one of the 2nd Gen Universal carbines. They are relatively unloved because many internal parts are not GI compatible and the slides were notorious for cracking- but with they look good and feed well with quality magazines.

For many years, replacement slides were unobtanium, relegating many rifles to the scrap bin, but there are now brand new US made slides available.

With a little hunting on GB or Armslist you should be able to find one of these between 4-500.

IMO, of course the BEST carbines are a reconditioned GI or one of the JRA/Rockola new forged guns. I'm rather fond of them.....

GM Inland works also...

Fulton Armory sells new GI spec M1 carbines, but they are $1600-1700. You can buy a new complete barreled action from them for about $850 and add a stock and trigger group, but that would run about the same unless you already had access to the parts.

Howa of Japan made M1 Carbines for the Japanese military and police and M1 parts for the US occupation force. Howa carbine stocks had a rough non-reflective.finish. They also made a sleek sporter version decades ago (there are/were a few thousands of deer hunters in Japan). I am surprised they wouldn't make M1 Carbines for US military rifle buffs.

I have an Auto Ordinance M1 Carbine and a SG GI Carbine. The AO is every bit as reliable as the GI. It is slightly less accurate, but that is probably due to a couple factors that can be remedied:
-Rear sling mount on the AO is non-GI spec, so I need to dremel it out slightly to get a sling in there.
-The GI has the bayonet mount front band, which is known to increase accuracy.

I was looking for a carbine for a while, and stumbled across the AO for $550, so I got it. No regrets whatsoever. The mag that came with it is out of spec, but Korean mags work fine.

Here's my M1. 1940s production Winchester action. Someone screwed up the original stock so I went with an old commercial "paratrooper" stock. The optic is a Weaver Quick Point mounted on the hand guard. Kind of a retro look.

IronHand

Almost looks like a prop from the old "MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." series; they used an M1 carbine dressed up a bit like that for a THRUSH weapon.

Like I said Retro. Still shoots good. Old tech ain't necessarily bad tech

IronHand

I’m a Carbine fan, and have owned a CMP Inland for a few years. I’ve kept it handy with a loaded mag of Critical Defense for home defense.
Recently, I was looking at Ruger 9mm carbines, when I found an Auto Ordnance Carbine for $500 out the door.
It is the version with the Choate folding stock.
I haven’t shot it yet, but it seems to hand cycle ok. If it checks out at the range, it will be my new HD longarm, and the Inland will be put in the safe.

I'm storing a Universal Carbine for my B.I.L., passed down from his grandfather who died several years ago. After having access to my brother's almost new G.I. carbine, I have little desire to shoot this one. Don't know if he'd sell it either.