I just watched a wonderful Gunblast video...

For home defense I'd go with an AR15 with the proper ammo. More powerful than the .30 Carbine while also penetrating walls less (reducing chance of hitting bystander). You can also easily mount a light and optic on the AR, both of which are basically required on a HD gun (light to ID intruder, optic for fast and night shooting). Its basically today's M1, but lighter/shorter/more powerful/safer/more accurate/more custom/more ergonomic/but not nearly as pretty!

That said, the M1 Carbine appears to be a formidable weapon, one I've always wanted to own at some point. If it was between a M1 Carbine and a PTR91/M1A/FAL for HD it'd depend on barrel length of the .308 and whether or not optics and light could be mounted easily. All things equal, I'd buy/jury rig a light mount for the carbine and go with that with good ammo; I like the fact that it is light with faster follow-up shots.

*Since the M1 wasn't designed to feed HP, I'd definitely try feeding some first.

I have wanted an M1 Carbine for 30 years.....but practicality has stopped be from getting one. I.e. -I believe that an Ar15 in 5.56 better fills it's role as does a 9mm carbine(whether Beretta Storm, Keltec Sub 2000 or Hi-Point).....but I still want an M1 I just keep saying no. GO FOR IT assuming you can afford it.

Nope...have no interest in a commercial M1 carbine....had a original..shot it a while....then sold it.....will just have to get by with my M1A...

and my CZ 22s are much better for "bunny bopping"

I recently bought an M1 Carbine, a 1943 National Postal Meter. For years I tried to make do with cheaper carbines like the Hi Point .45acp and the Marlin Camp 9, thinking that the .30 Carbine was too expensive. Wrong. I paid $750 for mine and it is well worth it. I credit a bunch of advice found on this board for making the decision to find a G.I. M1, thanks gents.

"This is confusing. The 5.56 seems as if it would tend to drastically overpentrate in a quasi-rural setting. what's the logic?"

this has been discussed at length......but you would have known this if you used the search feature...

This has also confused me about over penetration. I am sure bullet selection plays a big part. I haven't done the research on the subject but I'm guessing someone here has. We can argue till the cows come home about the perfect HD choice but anything is better than nothing and I would guess a .30 carbine would do as well as any handgun. JMO.

Captain O said:

This is confusing. The 5.56 seems as if it would tend to drastically overpentrate in a quasi-rural setting. what's the logic?

Click to expand...

High velocity lightweight long for calibre bullets tend to break up on light barriers......So , ironically, a 5.56 while much more "powerful" is less likely to exit an exterior wall than a 9mm pistol bullet.(or a 30 carbine). Of course there are special bullets that are extra frangible or extreme penetrators but this is generally true with common loadings.

IME reliability with even GI M1 Carbines is a crapshoot. (and BTW everyone recommends GI mags except those who actually own and shoot them... GI mags are pretty weak). If you have a good one that's reliable and groups well, hold on to it. I wouldn't buy a commercial M1 Carbine, though I might be talked into one of the new Inland ones as a secondary option to a good GI example.

If you want an M1 carbine, get it. Don't try to come up with a practical use for it. Just buy it and shoot it. "Because I think it's cool" is a perfectly acceptable reason for owning a particular firearm.

I would get a GI carbine, though. The prices are steadily going up. Excellent investment.

My GI mags do fine.

I agree, if you really want it, buy it. It doesn't need to make sense to anyone besides yourself as to whether its "needed" or not! Plus one cool thing about the M1 Carbine is you could get a nice Ruger Blackhawk to go along with it. Definitely not something you could do with an AR-15.

I bought an Inland made in Dayton, OH and ran it all summer using Rem. FMJ ammo. Had a few stoppages in the first 100 rounds then all was good thereafter. It would not feed the Hornady flex tip rounds but did feed hand loads featuring Hornady soft points. 50 yard accuracy was around 2 to 3 inches.
My complaints would be limited to the sights as they are rather coarse despite the peep. Also, they are hard to pick up in poor light for 6 plus decade old eyes. As this is a reproduction, I guess Uncle Sam is to blame for the sights.

Get the M1 carbine.

With soft point 110 grainers, it will do fine for home defense. It will do just as well as .327 Auto Max in fact.