DMK
Member
It was a nice day today and I had the day off from work, so I took one of my AR15s and M1 Carbine to the range for a little side by side shootout.
Actually, I just built the AR-15 this week, and I also just got 5 new Korean 30rd M1 mags from AIM on Thursday, so it was a sight in and function test for the AR, and a mag/ammo test for the M1.
First up was the AR KISS Karbine. I built this using a CMMG 1/7 twist 14.5" Midlength pencil barrel with a permanently attached Phantom flash suppressor to bring it up to a legal 16 1/4" on the nose. The upper is Fulton Armory early M16 style (no case deflector or case jammer). The lower is DPMS with DPMS internals. The stock and bolt/carrier are RRA. It's a FrankenCarbine.
Got it sighted in at 50 yards no problem and then proceeded to stitch out two more mags through it like a sewing machine. All smiles there for its maiden voyage.
Next up was the M1 Carbine. I got this from the CMP a little over a year ago. I replaced all the springs with a Wolf Service pack and put it in a repro M1A1 folder (the Italian stock it came with was very loose). This is the third time I've had it out. First time was a quick sight in and shot about 50rds with no problems (it's right in the money at 100y luckily, since you have to replace the front sight to calibrate elevation). The second time out, it launched the extractor out into the woods on the 1st mag. Now with a new extractor from Numrich it's back in action. I quickly checked my zero with Aguila, Wolf and Prvi Partizan softpoint. No problems with the new mags. It's a beautiful thing.
There were only two other parties at the range today so I had the whole one end to myself. The others were good folks and frequent shooters, so they didn't mind some rapid fire (an AR carbine can get loud under the covered roof and I wouldn't want to distract new inexperienced shooters). I setup four 4" twin bullseyes at 15y, and eight 6" reduced SR1 targets at 50y and another set of six at 100y. The course of fire was standing on the right side of the bench, fire 5 rounds at two of the 15y targets, safe the rifle, finger off trigger, and muzzle discipline, move around the bench to the left side (to avoid an obstruction), unsafe the rifle, acquire a 50y target and fire 10rds standing as fast as I can get a sight picture, drop to one knee and acquire a 100y target and fire the remaining 10 rds, stand, reload while returning to position one and repeat for a second mag, then safe, check chamber and let the barrel cool.
First up was the AR15. The AR has a high sight height, so to get center of the 15y target requires a modified sight picture. Instead of aiming high as some folks do, I put the center of my target right behind the center of my front sight post (imagine your front sight post was cut in half). This works well for me and I quickly put 5 rds, right in the center of each of my two 4" targets, one on each side of the stand. This was something I wanted to practice so it became second nature and the reason for such close targets. Next up, was the 50 yds, no problems there. the AR has minimal recoil and it's just a matter of putting the tip of the sight post where you want the bullets to go. Next drop to one knee, acquire a 100y target and things slow down quite a bit here. Now I needed to pay attention to front sight post, breath, and getting a good relaxed position instead of steering the gun onto the target. But still, firing as soon as I got a sight picture, I was able to keep almost all shots in the 6" black. This was a good gun for this drill, and I need a lot more practice.
Switching to the M1 Carbine, it surprised me when I first fired. It was much quieter and there was even less recoil than the AR15. It was almost like going to a 22LR. I also immediately found that there was no need to adjust my sight picture at 15y. The M1 sights are right on the barrel and the shots were just barely high, but not enough to matter. At 50 yards, it was easier than even the AR15 to fire off a rapid 10 rds, again due to the extremely light recoil. At 100yds, it shot the same as the AR, but that was due to my poor skills. I'd imagine if I could pick up the target fast enough, I would have been able put the rounds on target a bit quicker with the M1. I was also pleasantly surprised by the ballistics of the .30 carbine. I left the rear sight at the 100y mark the whole day and that worked fine at all three ranges.
So what did I walk away with? For one, I need to improve my skills. But that's the fun part and gives me an excuse to burn up ammo for some semi-justifiable reason. Two, the Koreans make some nice M1 Carbine mags. Three, it's interesting that a 65 year old surplus carbine can hold it's own against a brand new, 4 day old AR15. Neither gun had any malfunction or exhibited any undesirable characteristics. Both have excellent sights, good ergonomics, easy to use controls, and gave me no pause of any kind (the 30 round M1 mags even have a bolt hold open on empty). Both carbines handled quickly, weigh about the same and it seems would make excellent self defense weapons, or just fun range toys.
Feel free to rant or rave about either gun platform.
The obligatory gun pron
Actually, I just built the AR-15 this week, and I also just got 5 new Korean 30rd M1 mags from AIM on Thursday, so it was a sight in and function test for the AR, and a mag/ammo test for the M1.
First up was the AR KISS Karbine. I built this using a CMMG 1/7 twist 14.5" Midlength pencil barrel with a permanently attached Phantom flash suppressor to bring it up to a legal 16 1/4" on the nose. The upper is Fulton Armory early M16 style (no case deflector or case jammer). The lower is DPMS with DPMS internals. The stock and bolt/carrier are RRA. It's a FrankenCarbine.
Got it sighted in at 50 yards no problem and then proceeded to stitch out two more mags through it like a sewing machine. All smiles there for its maiden voyage.
Next up was the M1 Carbine. I got this from the CMP a little over a year ago. I replaced all the springs with a Wolf Service pack and put it in a repro M1A1 folder (the Italian stock it came with was very loose). This is the third time I've had it out. First time was a quick sight in and shot about 50rds with no problems (it's right in the money at 100y luckily, since you have to replace the front sight to calibrate elevation). The second time out, it launched the extractor out into the woods on the 1st mag. Now with a new extractor from Numrich it's back in action. I quickly checked my zero with Aguila, Wolf and Prvi Partizan softpoint. No problems with the new mags. It's a beautiful thing.
There were only two other parties at the range today so I had the whole one end to myself. The others were good folks and frequent shooters, so they didn't mind some rapid fire (an AR carbine can get loud under the covered roof and I wouldn't want to distract new inexperienced shooters). I setup four 4" twin bullseyes at 15y, and eight 6" reduced SR1 targets at 50y and another set of six at 100y. The course of fire was standing on the right side of the bench, fire 5 rounds at two of the 15y targets, safe the rifle, finger off trigger, and muzzle discipline, move around the bench to the left side (to avoid an obstruction), unsafe the rifle, acquire a 50y target and fire 10rds standing as fast as I can get a sight picture, drop to one knee and acquire a 100y target and fire the remaining 10 rds, stand, reload while returning to position one and repeat for a second mag, then safe, check chamber and let the barrel cool.
First up was the AR15. The AR has a high sight height, so to get center of the 15y target requires a modified sight picture. Instead of aiming high as some folks do, I put the center of my target right behind the center of my front sight post (imagine your front sight post was cut in half). This works well for me and I quickly put 5 rds, right in the center of each of my two 4" targets, one on each side of the stand. This was something I wanted to practice so it became second nature and the reason for such close targets. Next up, was the 50 yds, no problems there. the AR has minimal recoil and it's just a matter of putting the tip of the sight post where you want the bullets to go. Next drop to one knee, acquire a 100y target and things slow down quite a bit here. Now I needed to pay attention to front sight post, breath, and getting a good relaxed position instead of steering the gun onto the target. But still, firing as soon as I got a sight picture, I was able to keep almost all shots in the 6" black. This was a good gun for this drill, and I need a lot more practice.
Switching to the M1 Carbine, it surprised me when I first fired. It was much quieter and there was even less recoil than the AR15. It was almost like going to a 22LR. I also immediately found that there was no need to adjust my sight picture at 15y. The M1 sights are right on the barrel and the shots were just barely high, but not enough to matter. At 50 yards, it was easier than even the AR15 to fire off a rapid 10 rds, again due to the extremely light recoil. At 100yds, it shot the same as the AR, but that was due to my poor skills. I'd imagine if I could pick up the target fast enough, I would have been able put the rounds on target a bit quicker with the M1. I was also pleasantly surprised by the ballistics of the .30 carbine. I left the rear sight at the 100y mark the whole day and that worked fine at all three ranges.
So what did I walk away with? For one, I need to improve my skills. But that's the fun part and gives me an excuse to burn up ammo for some semi-justifiable reason. Two, the Koreans make some nice M1 Carbine mags. Three, it's interesting that a 65 year old surplus carbine can hold it's own against a brand new, 4 day old AR15. Neither gun had any malfunction or exhibited any undesirable characteristics. Both have excellent sights, good ergonomics, easy to use controls, and gave me no pause of any kind (the 30 round M1 mags even have a bolt hold open on empty). Both carbines handled quickly, weigh about the same and it seems would make excellent self defense weapons, or just fun range toys.
Feel free to rant or rave about either gun platform.
The obligatory gun pron
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