marine 97-03
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Any m1 carbine guys I can pm that you know of bernie?
universal m1 carbine thoughts
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dprice3844444
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had one of the later universal carbines, so light when shouldered and very comfortable to shoot than any sks can ever dream of, i also have an sks. had mine for a short while, the only problem which i seldom have shooting my handloads were failure to feed. its a fun,light,accurate carbine to hunker around
tryshoot
Member
Had a universal with factory scope mount. Jammed a lot with both 15 and 30 rd mags. Sold it 5 yrs ago for $225 with 80 rds of ammo, 3 30 rd mags, 3 15 rd mags and tell him it jammed.
Universal carbine
I had one but, shame on me, didn't do enough research on it before i bought it.
The 1st generation, SN 0- 93xxx-104xxx mainly used GI parts and is considered to be the best bet. If you have to have one, hopefully the one you are looking at is in this range. The 2nd generation between 93xxx-104xxx to 176xxx/187xxx is where Universal started to get "creative" redesigning things like adding the second recoil spring and machining their own parts. They also eliminated the bolt locking mechanism all together.
The 3rd generation started between 176xxx & 187xxx and went to the end of production at appx 486xxx. This generation included cost saving designs that started the company's rep for poor quality. Other changes included a trigger housing made of aluminum and several of the safety features were deleted to reduce costs. This resulted in some reports of the rifle to fire OOB. With some second and probably all third generation models, some USGI parts will not be compatible. If memory serves me correctly, the stocks ,op rod & receiver will not interchange and the availability of these parts may be non extant. Another common failure on the later models was a cracked op rod slide which may or may not be repairable and as stated, may be difficult to find. Another problem was that later bolts and hammers weren't hardened to GI specs leading to defacing which could allow the hammer to strike the pin before the bolt rotated into position.
Ironically, the one I bought was practically out of the box. Not a mark on it, it shot great, and fired/ejected everything I fed it. Its just that after I had been educated about it, and mine was one of the way higher numbers, I just couldn't bring it up to my face without that doubt as to whether or not I was firing a potential time bomb. Even started to think the reason mine was in such good shape was because whoever owed it, declined to shoot it. Think about all the GIs who were issued the GI models. They didn't have to contend with the quality of workmanship or safety issues that the Universal became known for. I bought it for $300, used it for a year, and sold it to an individual, with full disclosure, for $250. Took that 250, added another 450 and got myself a GI NPM '43 in great shape and haven't had a problem with it. There's still alot of quality GI ones out there and rumor has it that another 700,000 are coming home this summer. I hope that comes out to be true. I would pass on the Universal and look around if I were you.
I had one but, shame on me, didn't do enough research on it before i bought it.
The 1st generation, SN 0- 93xxx-104xxx mainly used GI parts and is considered to be the best bet. If you have to have one, hopefully the one you are looking at is in this range. The 2nd generation between 93xxx-104xxx to 176xxx/187xxx is where Universal started to get "creative" redesigning things like adding the second recoil spring and machining their own parts. They also eliminated the bolt locking mechanism all together.
The 3rd generation started between 176xxx & 187xxx and went to the end of production at appx 486xxx. This generation included cost saving designs that started the company's rep for poor quality. Other changes included a trigger housing made of aluminum and several of the safety features were deleted to reduce costs. This resulted in some reports of the rifle to fire OOB. With some second and probably all third generation models, some USGI parts will not be compatible. If memory serves me correctly, the stocks ,op rod & receiver will not interchange and the availability of these parts may be non extant. Another common failure on the later models was a cracked op rod slide which may or may not be repairable and as stated, may be difficult to find. Another problem was that later bolts and hammers weren't hardened to GI specs leading to defacing which could allow the hammer to strike the pin before the bolt rotated into position.
Ironically, the one I bought was practically out of the box. Not a mark on it, it shot great, and fired/ejected everything I fed it. Its just that after I had been educated about it, and mine was one of the way higher numbers, I just couldn't bring it up to my face without that doubt as to whether or not I was firing a potential time bomb. Even started to think the reason mine was in such good shape was because whoever owed it, declined to shoot it. Think about all the GIs who were issued the GI models. They didn't have to contend with the quality of workmanship or safety issues that the Universal became known for. I bought it for $300, used it for a year, and sold it to an individual, with full disclosure, for $250. Took that 250, added another 450 and got myself a GI NPM '43 in great shape and haven't had a problem with it. There's still alot of quality GI ones out there and rumor has it that another 700,000 are coming home this summer. I hope that comes out to be true. I would pass on the Universal and look around if I were you.
Steel Horse Rider
Member
I have had an early model for about 12 years. It shoots fine but is finicky about magazines. It works great with the surplus GI mags but not so good with some of the non-GI aftermarket mags. I gave about $200 for it and am satisfied.
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