M1 Carbine reborn...not for the purists...

[451 Detonics]

I am going to start by letting you know this carbine was not used by Chesty Puller, it does not of the image of the Holy Mother in the stock, and it was not blessed by the Pope...it is not a sacred relic nor does it have any historical relevance. If I knew this was used by General Douglas MacArthur as his personal firearm and that was documented I would not have sporterized it. As I said it is just one of over 2 1/2 million made by Inland so purist don't get your undies in a twist. Plus it can be back in original configuration in about 20 minutes.

I bought an M1 Carbine s few years back when the CMP got in the last batch of Inlands. I have bought maybe a dozen guns from the CMP and this was the first time I saw a note written on the tag. This one simply said "nice muzzle". First trip to the range it astounded me with 1.25 inch groups of a sandbag at 100 yards with the iron sights. Without a doubt the most accurate carbine I have ever owned or seen.



My eyes do appreciate optic more and more today so I located a "New" old stock all steel Weaver K-2.5 with post reticle. A very old school type of scope that has suddenly been rediscovered. I found an older steel S&K mount with the built in rings and mounted the scope.




now I had another problem...stock was too short so the obvious answer was a new stock, found this very nice Bishop walnut sporter stock that looked as if it never had a gun in it. Perfect fit and now the eye relief falls exactly right. I would call this an old school sporter build...can't wait to shoot it this Sunday.

 

[easy]

Doesn't look so bad. Nice work.

 

[451 Detonics]

i have always liked the old school sporter looks on many rifles...love my 98 Mauser for example

 

[trueg50]

Pheww you had me scared, I was worried you were going to spray paint it black and slap on a $20 red dot!

 

[wlewisiii]

Nicely done job. There's room in the world for good sporters, especially ones done as well as that one.

 

[451 Detonics]

I was slightly surprised at what I had to bid to win the scope on ebay but research showed me I really got a bargain on it, these old Weaver are going high. The stock was a deal on gunbroker as was the mount. I was amazed at how hard the rear sight was to get off..it had been staked in three places. The front sight was a breeze as I own the proper front sight removal tool. This rifle is going to get a lot of use in shoots for the rest of the year. It handles like a dream...lighweight but solid.

 

[Vaarok]

I don't get it. There are tons of Carbines sporterized in pretty much the same fashion. Matter of fact, there's a guy who sets up at the Springfield Mass show who has an entire table full of 'em. Some *really* nice pieces, too.

 

[Nugilum]

OK, that looks good. It's nice that you can revert it back. How does the scope mount work?

The most important factoid: You didn't Tacticool it.

I like it!

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I plan on building one similar to yours but I want to use a commercial carbine. I have a mil-spec carbine that will stay as is. I already have a scope and mount that replaces the rear sight. I would hope to find a stock as nice as that one you have.

 

[stanger04]

I love the ebony "black tip" old school sports. I reminds me of the 303's and such of the day. Gun looks great, you don't see the sport of the older guns anymore and most of the stocks out there now don't have the character.

 

[451 Detonics]

The scope mount simply replaces the rear sight. What I did was to try to use period parts to make this as similar to the ones sporterized in the last century were.

The stocks show up on both gunbroker and ebay, there was even a set from Sears on there recently.

 

[Tim the student]

Way better than I was expecting. I kind of like it I think - and I love that it can go back quickly.

 

[Jason_G]

It looks great for a sporterized M1 carbine. I was really scared when I clicked the thread, but you did a very tasteful job, and it can be reversed pretty easily if you ever want to go back to original. I like it.

Jason

 

[451 Detonics]

A big plus is the fact it can be restored but I will add that this rifle was a perfect candidate. I have had to change the front sights on some carbines that were full 6-pack job to get off because they had rusted in place. I had this one off in about 2 minutes. I won't even need to replace the key on this one if I want to put it back on.

I had originally wanted a thumbhole stock for this build but I missed a couple on gunbroker and other were simply way over priced. I could have gone with a laminated wood thumbhole but that would not have been a traditional look. This Bishop set is great however. Nice figure in the wood, it is a slim stock that feels great in hand, and it adds about 1 1/2 inch to the length of pull which I really like.

 

[VA27]

Holy Fifties, Batman! I haven't seen one done up like that in donkey's years! Looks pretty good! How's it shoot?

 

[Kendal Black]

I'm not an "as issued" purist and think the people who are, are speaking against their own best interests. Every time Bubba gets his saw out, the all-original in your safe appreciates in value. Why not encourage sporterization?

That consideration does not apply in this case, as everything can be put back. The rifle as modified is entirely a practical weapon. It is better for most purposes than the issue carbine. The sight is better and the stock fits the owner, not the hypothetical average.

IMHO military stocks are way too short because the idea is anyone should be able to use them, be he short or tall, or in any garb from tropic to arctic, and that means a short stock. Adjustable is a new and reasonable idea.

 

[Orlando]

Whatever floats your boat

 

[carbine85]

I have one that I built from spare parts a spare barrel, and spare receiver. No need to feel guilty over a customized rifle. I have what appears to be the same scope mount. I can't say that I liked it at all. How is yours working out?

 

[FMJMIKE]

I like it..................

 

[[email protected]]

I inherited an M1 from my late brother in law and at first glance it looked like a few tanks had run over it on Omaha beach.... then I looked past the stock and realized the metal was in perfect parkerized condition....

I know what I did was blasphemy... but could not help myself. this is a nice walking in the woods rifle... (I've still got the original stock if I find a need to be redeemed)

 

[451 Detonics]

The Range Report​

We had a shoot competition yesterday, afterward I gave the little carbine a fast workout. I started at 50 yards because i hadn't bore-sighted the new scope and I want to be on paper first with it. The 1st shot settled things in a bit and fouled the bore then I fired 3 more. All four could have been covered by a quarter, the last three were all touching. The group was low right and after adjusting the scope I fired three more and had to adjust one more time to center the group but left it an inch high.

I moved to the 100 but there were some guys working out with their AR's so I just took some shots at the hanging steel. 5 shots and 5 hits on the 1/4 scale steel USPSA told me I had it pretty well dialed in. I will bench it at 100 just to fine tune things but as it sits I would be confident of hitting a whistle pigs at 150 yards with it.



Most of the guys at the shoot handled the carbine and unanimously thought it was a winner. This is a light little carbine that handles very quickly, the additional LOP makes it a wonderful fit for everyone who shouldered it yesterday. In the past I have had carbines in aftermarket stocks including both fixed and folding but none felt as good as this 60's era Bishop stock does.

The next step for this will be the addition of swivel studs and it will be ready for anything. This is going to be a wonderful rifle for carrying in the woods, steel competitions, bowling pins...just a great all around rifle.

 

[henschman]

I like those 2.5x scopes. They are fast up close, and provide plenty of magnification for shooting out to 500 yards if you need to. Great choice for a .30 carbine. I like how low you were able to get it, too.

It's your rifle -- do what makes you happy with it. You can enjoy it and have something unique to pass down to kids/grandkids, etc. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[CraigC]

I like it, turned out great!

Some folks should really mind their own business. I don't understand how some can take it upon themselves to tell others what to do with their own property. IMHO, nothing is sacred, life is short, do what you want.

 

[451 Detonics]

As I have stated before, I would never alter a rifle that had providenced historical significance. Patton's revolvers, York's 1903, Oswald's Carcano, etc. There are guns that should be left alone, however an arsenal reworked M1 Carbine is fair game in my books. There are enough pristine copies of the M1 Carbine in the hands of collectors and museums that 200 years from now there will still be hundreds of examples of these rifles. Sporterizing a military gun like this one just doesn't matter in the scheme of things.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I have the stock my M1 carbine wore back when it was imported from South Korea in the late 1980's. IBM manufacture with flat top bolt, showing typical post-factory arsenal upgrades--adjustable sight, barrel band with bayo lug, M2 stock, 3 nib mag catch--correct for Korean War to early VietNam issue.

I paid I believe $225 for it late 1980s. I bought a scopemount for it, probably the same as above, which mounts to the rear sight dovetail. I also bought a 49.95 sporter stock and barrel band without bayonet lug, and later paid $90 for an Italian reproduction of the M1A1 paratrooper stock. It is currently configured for vintage military rifle shooting.

As long as it can be restored to issued condition, even a purist has no reason to complain how you want to dress it for the range or for the hunt. And if you want to fully sporterize yours, it only makes a collector's mint piece more valuable so he should not complain. You should be aware though, that today rack grade as-issued beat-up veteran rifles are getting harder to find and more valuable. I'd advise, keep it restorable.