M1 Carbine Shopping

[Des547]

How do you like your Auto Ordnance Carbine? They are made to mil specs? I have an old Universal that only looks like a real one. Mine shoots good but it is a different gun.

I would have no problem getting the Auto Ordnance Carbine. It would be new for around the same price as a 50 year old USGI.

I had always wanted an M1 Carbine and the Auto Ordnance fell in my price range and got good reviews around the Web so I bought one. I have a couple hundred rounds through it with no problems at all. No FTF, FTE or FT fire. This model is a copy of the first issue models in that it does not have a bayonet lug and has the flip up two position rear sight. I've had mine a couple of years and paid just a tad over $600 plus tax at Sports World in Tulsa. I put on a canvas sling and of course the double mag pouch on the stock. I've found it to be a reliable, handy and fine shooting carbine. A word of caution however, if you want magazines try to find original GI issue rather than the made in China mags usually found. I bought two and then spent hours tweaking the follower and feed lips to get them to work right. The original mags that came with the gun worked great though.

Des

 

[Des547]

Oh, I forgot, accuracy. I put it to paper at 50 yards and from a rest it was one ragged hole for five rounds, about 1/2 inch. Beer cans at 100 yards are no problem. Trigger has a bit of creep but let off is crisp, I haven't weighed it.

Mil-spec ? I don't know and it really makes no difference to me. It is a nicer looking and more authentic than the old Universal and GI M1 Carbines were just too expensive to pay that much money for mil spec.

Des

 

[okietom]

Thanks for the info on your carbine Des547. Things I have read about the Auto Ordnance led me to think they are mil-spec. That doesn't matter much to me as the one I have is considered the worst copy you can have and it has fed great. Universal has the worst rep of all copies.

A lot of companies made copies of the carbines and would buy GI parts which were available cheap and make the rest of the parts. If you know what you are looking for there are some Universals that are mostly made with used GI parts and the rest of the parts ARE mil-spec.

I got the one I have from a friend that needed money and I got it cheap. For what was wrong with it I could not believe the 2-3 inche groups I could shoot. It had a bent barrel and rear sight. My friend was up front about it. I looked for years for a new barrel even though it would hit what I aimed at after I mounted a scope and bent the mount enough. I found a new barrel finally.

I would be happy with an Auto Ordnance after reading your opinion of them. It isn't in the top spot on my list of guns I will buy next but it is on the list.

 

[Sanford]

As I understand it, early Universals were built using "mostly" USGI parts with the remainder of the parts reproduction to closely mimic the military design. Later models departed from that with redesign, and suffered as a result. The AO is a decent gun, but it's a far cry from milspec at this point. Fulton Armory and James River Armory both make milspec reproductions but even though they're built to the original design they use largely reproduction parts, including receivers, and so aren't generally allowed in military rifle matches if that's what you're interested in.

Unfortunately commercial reproduction parts have been available for these so long that they're sometimes difficult to spot by other than a trained eye, and I don't have that - thus why I asked the original question in the thread. At a minimum the receiver would have to be USGI for the rifle to be considered USGI, IMHO. General consensus I read from the folks who at least seem to know what they're talking about is the worst USGI is better than the best reproduction. Don't know how much of that is fact and how much is snobbery, but it seems to be a pretty prevalent opinion even from those who own both.

 

[okietom]

The friend that I got mine from I knew from first grade until he killed himself and his ex wifes ex husband in a drunk driving accident. Ya, he was friends with her ex, that is how he met her. I guess I should keep it.

I would not be afraid of another Universal Carbine. They made some of them in .256 Winchester magnum. A .357 mag necked down to .256.

I am thinking that even AMF Harleys may be interesting some day, so why can't crappy fake carbines be interesting too.

 

[Sanford]

I am thinking that even AMF Harleys may be interesting some day, so why can't crappy fake carbines be interesting too.

Tend to agree there - a good shooter is a good shooter, regardless - and the value of all of them will increase as soon as the dems outlaw them. Hmm, maybe I'm on the wrong side of the 2A argument then; a bit of extra cash could always come in handy ... umm ... nebbermind!

 

[AKguy1985]

I've had two IBM carbines. The last one was a bavarian return and Sam Weygand tried to get it for next to nothing because the germans had reblued it.

 

[stuannette]

there is a 1 gen universal w/ usgi parts for sale/trade in altus on fb groups Jackson county guns and hunting stuff.

 

[okietom]

Tend to agree there - a good shooter is a good shooter, regardless - and the value of all of them will increase as soon as the dems outlaw them. Hmm, maybe I'm on the wrong side of the 2A argument then; a bit of extra cash could always come in handy ... umm ... nebbermind!

Several years ago during one of the "assault Clinton weapons ban" I told a coworker about my bent barrel universal and he wanted to buy it because I had some 30rd magazines for it. He was afraid that he could no longer get one. Any version of the carbine is a high capacity gun that is easy to shoot and capable of even being used a a hunting rifle that would be good for smaller people. They don't look as "scary" as an AR.

 

[Des547]

I was reading around the Internet last night and read an article in an old copy of Guns or Gun World about the AO carbine when they first came out. Seems they used a Saginaw Gear M1 carbine as the production model. Copied each part, lock, stock and barrel, as it were.

Des