www.patreon.co... This is part two of our two part series reviewing the new manufacture Inland M1 1945 Inland carbine. If you haven't already watched part one, please check that out first here: • Review: Inland M1 Carb... Enjoy!
My Grandfather fought in Burma during the second world war and he swore by the M1 carbine. He said it had a real advantage over the Lee Enfield that he had used at the start of the war, because the semi automatic action, the reduced size and weight and the fifteen round boxes were much more useful in close range, low visibility jungle combat. He reckoned that you couldn't beat a combination of the carbines, sub machine guns and grenades for that kind of situation, things that the Japanese had relatively few of, at least in his experience.
To add to that review with more of the same in identical terrain and foliage: The ARVN forces of south vietnam LOVED it....on one hand, the matter of the size and weight (for their small stature), combined with the reasonable close-in firepower from the 30 and 40 round mags and select fire configuration of the m2's they would have been using.
The ricochet between Ian's attempts to remain objective and optimistic vs Karl's salt factor and raw experience where it failed him had me slowly laughing more and more. Great review, guys, sorry Karl didn't get his medal. We all know Karl's one bad-ass guy in them action matches.
in the 50s my friends father purchased a Winchester carbine without a stock that had been smuggled home, and never been fired ! my friend and i bought a stock for it. Many years later when he was 91, i bought it from him for $400. In the early 60s i bought from the NRA 6000 rounds at 4 cents a round in stripper clips in bandoleers in vacuum sealed cans. I still today (2019) have one can still not open. I can't bring myself to open it. I reloaded a lot of it for shooting steel targets with lead rounds. Barrel is still perfect and very accurate. No jams !
I have watched maybe hundreds of your videos now. I live in Australia, and will probably never ever own a gun, but I find the mechanics, history and human-component of firearms enormously interesting. Thanks for these great videos!
Fellow Aussie here. There's a common misconception that firearms are hard to obtain in Australia. This is only half-true. It's next to impossible to legally acquire semi-automatic rifles with relatively high power cartridges, and magazines beyond 10r are practically impossible to get. However, if you can prove that you have a legitimate requirement (varmint control, club recreational or work-related etc), then it's relatively easy to acquire a firearm as long as it isn't something akin to an AR15. I actually own a reproduction M1 Carbine, which I use for pest control on my property, and for work-related carry as an NPWS employee. I am of course limited to 10r magazines despite being a government employee, but the rifle is perfect for what my job entails, hence why I requested one over any other rifle on offer.
Buy a cheap a cheap single shot shotgun some cheap birdshot and go have some fun. practice on paper then pests, rodents and evasive species like rat's, rabbits, kangaroos, kooalla bears, poisonous snakes. you live in an outdoorsman's paradise. take advantage of it
I owned one of these when they first came out. My serial was below number 50. Had some issues but the biggest issue of all to me was that the gun isn’t made by the new inland company. These inland carbines are made by Auto Ordnance for inland, 100%. Even the box and manual is made by AO for them, I got that direct from inland themselves. So what they’ve done here is taken a $600 AO Carbine, rubbed a little oil on the stock, paid AO to re badge it and bumped the price up double. If you want a new inland M1, get an AO and rub a little oil on it yourself and save yourself 50%.
I bought one of the new Inland Cal.30 carbines earlier this year. It was advertised as a mil-spec rifle. When I got it, I decided to test that claim by mounting an M4 bayonet on the carbine. It didn't fit, which I thought was curious because it fits my WWII Underwood carbine. I called the company and I was told that failure of the bayonet to lock on the bayonet cleat is a known issue with the model carbine that I received. The problem is that the stock is just slightly too long and this problem will be corrected in the next production run of carbine stocks. There was no offer of a remedy to those who had already purchased the defective rifle. After test-firing the carbine and getting numerous misfeeds and double-feeds, I sent it back. Caveat emptor.
My dad carried one during D day invasion and talked about it a lot. He was 29 division 111th field artillery and loved how much lighter it was than the Garand.
+velocity550 Lighter is a great attribute for someone carrying a gun mostly for last ditch defense rather than for front line rifleman combat, which we did touch on in the video. Thanks for sharing some family history, there are less and less vets around every year. :( ~Karl
Thank you for sharing the story with your dad. I had 9 different uncles and great uncles were WW2 Veterans and they all passed away from the past 20 years. One of my many great uncles was also on the D-Day invasion on Utah Beach. As far as I know he had the M1- 30-06 Garand. Other 8 uncles and great uncles not sure on what WW2 rifles they had.
I have a Rock Ola M1 Carbine. And while I agree that it is only good for 6"-8" groups at 100 yd (shooting quickly during two CMP matches that I happened to win...), mine has been 100% reliable using any commercially available ammo. Actually, the few handloads that I have tried are also reliable.
I remember my late grandfather talking about using these in Korea, he said you could load a full 30-rd mag in full auto (M2/M3 Carbine) and basically cut a man in half with them. My late-war GI one has issues of its own usually near the end of the mag it stovepipes around the last round. Does make a useful way to know the mag is empty though.
I had an Underwood M1 Carbine, never had a malfunction. I used surplus ammo and PMC. Found the surplus to be hotter, maybe the newer ammo is a bit too light on?
Matthew Moses That is the problem I hand load my ammo I load it hotter as a result no problems either . I still have a lot of WW2 carbine ammo all of it hotter than commercial ammo made today! load your own that's the secret, I also cast my own bullets for my carbine.
all the surplus M1 Carbine receivers I have have stalking on the rear sight bases, it is a known fix and in the armourers TM manual... so it's very original 😀
I have a Plainfield non-original. Came with a comical "automatically telescoping" stock. I sold the stock on ebay for what I paid for the gun! Never had any luck with 30 round mags (misfeeds, loose fitting pos!). 15 round mags=the best. Got a Bishop stock with a cool machined front band and put a cheap 4X Tasco on it. Loaded up a variety of cast bullet loads and cleaned after 500 rounds. No lead, only carbon fouling ( from bullet lube ?). Very fun gun to shoot and cheap to shoot with cast. Best cast bullet was Lyman 113 grain pointed bullet followed closely by Lee 120 gr. round nose. Worst cast was 130 gr. 311410 plain base (supposedly made for M1 carbine). One of best cast bullet guns ever! Accuracy=3-4"@100 yds. Everyone has fun shooting this gun. Thanks for all your great reviews. Your reviews are definitely in the "grade -A" category.
Nice how you guys touched on that subject on how you start hating a gun if it doesn't run in high pressure situations. I've talked about the Carbine with a friend of mine, he was issued one as a lieutenant in an 81mm mortar platoon in the 94th Infantry Division during WW2. When he got the Carbine (he pronounces it "carbean") he thought it was a nifty, handy little weapon. But he really started noticing the reliability issues only later on when they went into Germany and got into some close combat situations. He mentioned that for some reason it got worse in very cold weather. He picked up an M1 rifle as soon as the opportunity presented itself. "In the end the most important thing is that the damn thing shoots when you pull the trigger, that's why I dropped my carbean."
I can completely relate to that special smell you guys refer to. It's one more thing to add to the experience of firing, field stripping, cleaning or holding an M1 Garand or G.I. M1 Carbine.
Uh, Ian? Karl? I'm no expert, but I have been using an M1 carbine for a lotta years. The only time I ever had problems with mine was when I used el cheapo magazines, rather than USGI, in an attempt to ease my costs...yes, we live and learn. I've used Inland mags only on mine (an original that was bought in the Pacific for 2 bottles of Scotch by my uncle, then a Merchant Mariner) for the last ten years and no problems yet.
+Stephen Woods It's that combination of linseed oil on the stock being heated by the firing, the cosmoline the guns were shipped in, the smell on the bore cleaner and oil, plus the lingering scent of GI ball ammo. There are old tanks that have been in museums for 50 years and when you get it one it still smells like a tank!
The Fulton Armory carbines are quite a bit more expensive, but they're supposed to be very well put together from a mix of new and surplus parts. The receivers are machined from billet, but those billets are forged first so the steel around the rear sight dovetail might have less of a chance of loosening up like the Inland did. Just my two cents.
I had an Iver Johnson model repo. (early model) Had one problem with it in 15 years of very frequent use, the firing pin broke. Bought an original M1 USGI bolt to replace the factory bolt, the one that is flat on top, the factory being round. Rock solid for me. Had to go through quite a few 30rnd mags to find ones that work, the 15rnd mags world flawlessly. Used all types of ammo, mostly reloads(IMR4227 110grn) the gun just kept shooting. Guess I was just lucky.
If you have malfunctions with a original WW2 carbine. Check the extractor spring. When its feed jamming check the magazine height in the trigger housing.
I have 3 original GI M1 Carbines. I don't shoot them much anymore, but when when I do, it is a lot of fun. I realize that I'm holding a weapon with 78 years of history and can only imagine where it's been. If this carbine could talk, it might tell me that it's been on Omaha Beach on D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Market Garden or even Berlin. Or, it may have served in the Pacific Theater, Saipan, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima or Okinawa. One of mine was imported from South Korea and almost certainly it served in the 1950-1953 Korean War. Thank you for keeping this unique weapon alive.
I have an original 1944 springfield carbine that has the same features (adjustable peep sight, push button safety, and bayonet lug) so I believe that they got the attributes for a late-war carbine correct. For posterity's sake I have very few malfunctions with reloaded ammo on mine, also on the mags I have my grandfather welded a spent case in them which I believe reduces the mag malfunctions for the last few rounds and also causes the bolt to hold open on the last round fired.
Sounds like these new M1 Inland 30 carbines needs some major improvements from their Inland quality control section of their gun factory, like the Ruger mini 14 did some years back. I just bought the Ruger mini 14 in the 5.56 mm a few weeks ago. Main reason's on why I bought this gun is cause it was on a clearance sale and I got it brand new and got the gun for a steal at $667.00 out the door tax included, and the normal asking price for a Ruger mini 14 now days is just $800.00 on up to around $1,000.00 new, and that is without NO sales tax added. Then the other main reason on why I bought this new Ruger mini 14 is cause it is also a copy combination and based off this WW2 style .30 carbine and the M1, 30-06 Garand, which are American icons. I just love the style of WW2 guns. And agree do think Inland gun company is asking a little to much money for this this reproduction of this new WW2 Inland copy of the 30 Carbine.
Back in the day, by best friend and I picked up two M1 Carbines at a gunshop for $300 each - one Inland, one Saginaw, and we got a bucket full of magazines and loose ammo that probably dated back to the Korean War. We've put all kinds of ammo through it, even our own reloads. Yeah, I don't remember any reliability issues, but we attributed any malfunctions to questionable magazines or a dirty gun. I can't recall, but I think we've had the most success with regular old Winchester white box, 110 gr. I don't shoot a lot of S&B, as our guns have WWII receivers, and Sellier & Bellot is kind of hot, in general. My rear sight did come loose soon after I bought mine, but my local gunsmith fixed it up in less than five minutes, and didn't charge me anything. He said it brought back memories for him, and I think that's why I love the M1 Carbine. They mean so many different things to many different people.
My Dad carried one in Germany during the early 60's. When I bought mine a few years ago at a gun show, I almost couldn't get it away from him when he carried it out for me.
I have a 3rd gen. Universal and a late, 1944 matching USGI Inland. You guys are right on. Reliability can be improved with the Universal w/complete spring set (2 slide returns, extractor, ejector, trigger group). The Inland does not seem to have any ftf or fte problems w/ GI mags. I always deburr followers and feed lips on all mags and check for spring strength. Never shoot steel cased ammo in the M1 Carbine, producing blowby. Filipino, Mexican and European brass is OK; it's not resin/poly coated The oiler is to hold the sling. I use synthetic on metal surfaces and dry moly-lube for rails and slide. YMMV.
I just did a 1-day carbine class earlier this month and a small-statured girl showed up with one of these Inlands. She'd never shot it before and it didn't work all that great for her. I think part of the problem might have been that she was left-handed and kept riding the rear part of the op rod with her support hand. Or maybe, as you guys experienced, these guns just don't run well. It's too bad, because for a smaller person with less upper body strength it seems like a great way to go.
ty guys, i love the M1 aesthetically, and always thought it was cool.I love the nostalgia of the rifle itself, also those who used it during a life or death situation; it saved many lives. That being said, id like an original GI weapon even if it cost more than its most modern duplicates.
I purchased a Winchster M1 Carbine that was brand new and never fired ! Back in the early 50s my friends father bought it from a guy and he never shot it. My friend and i bought a stock for it. Many years later when he was 91, I bought it from him for $450. In the 60s i bought 6000 rounds from the NRA in vacuum sealed cans. I still have one can i cant bring myself to open it. Paid 4 cents a round. Since then i shoot only lead bullets with standard powder loads. Shooting steal targets. Never had a jam or misfire. Barrel still looks new. Love the gun !
My dad served in the British army in Burma. The Brit officers got a spirits ration and he swapped half a bottle of brandy for an M1 with a US soldier. He said it was well suited to jungle warefare and gave him a decent fire arm that was less heavy than the Lee- Enfield. Officers tended to carry rifles so as not to stand out to Japenese snipers. He eventually turned it in during one of the amnesties in UK in the early seventies.
I tuned all my magazines to feed reliably for both my Plainfield M1's, gone threw 300 rounds with both without any problems, the ammo I used was Wolf and Tul Ammo. I tuned them like you would tune a Lee Enfield magazine. I just keep them clean when I'm done shooting them and keep them lubricated.
Wonder if modern industry could fix that? My guess is probably very easily but no one wants to because of the "sacred WW2 historical gun" thing. Which did not stop Springfield Armory from making the M1A. Which is a beautiful weapon.
I can't speak about your reproduction, however I've put a lot of meat on our families table in the 70's to the early 80"s with a vintage M1 carbine (a Inland GMC) and found that if there were any problems, the corporate would be those 30 round magazines. I loved that carbine because it never failed me with a 15 round mag, it also hook down my record best 230lbs boar on the run with one shot, plus it was my dad's gun. In the 80's I took a bad fall into a gulch and broke the stock. I purchased a Universal M1 to replace my dad's vintage M1 and had so many malfunctions with the Universal carbine, I ended up switching the Universal stock on to the Vintage Inland stock with a little bit of carving. I've never had to defend myself with the M1 Carbine in combat but it fed my family well in my younger days when money was tight. Many of you younger generation have access to much better modern firearms then the M1 Carbine of yesterday's, but like a old Ford or Chevy you tune or repair old Betsy to get around the town. So don't bash on my old hot rod the M1 Carbine cause she's got a lot of history in that there back seat.
My father has a surplus Inland he bought through his ROTC unit in the late fifties. It is not reliable enough to be a "working gun", but man is it fun as a range toy and I have very fond memories of it.
Hey Ian and Carl, the most common instance of cast vrs forging is (nowadays) anything made by IO inc. you are correct in the fact of chamber pressures. But as for the rear sight, it’s happened to friends of mine that bought repros with cast receivers, What we figured out is they don’t hold a press over time, there isn’t much nickel instead of scilica. Usgi adjustables are supposed to be incredibly tight appx .004” press into the dovetail
My new manufacture Inland shot to the right, so I moved the rear sight left as far as possible. Then I had to rasp out wood from the hand guard in order to see the sights properly. Now I think the front sight leans somewhat to the left. It is accurate. Zeroed at 50 yards, it is still zero at 100, and will hold a 2.5 inch group at 100. I get a lot of failures to feed with soft point ammo.
My grandfather served as an artillery creweman in Korea and was issued an M2 carbine from what I can gather. Like most veteran testimonials; he liked the weight of it. Though, my grandfather was and still is a very small man, all of 5'4". Given how barrel chested he is, I think it would be an admirable sight to watch him handle an M2 in F/A against a squad of ambushing Nork Sappers, as he told me he had to do once.
I've got a Inland M1 Carbine. Used in Korea from what I'm told. It has reliability issues same as you guys are mentioning. I've wondered why. Now i know. It's just the way it is. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
i owend a postal meter version of the M1 carbine it was isued to the police in Ede in the netherlands and it also had the site getting lose every once in a wile but had no problem with blockages on DAG and privi partisan ammo and on reloads with speer 100 grain plinkers or even copper plated 110 grain. nice work guys, hope to see more soon.
My dad has the M1 Carbine his father carried throughout Europe in WWII, then brought home. He was a gunsmith/armorer for the Army under Patton so that is what he was issued. My dad recently entered a rifle action match against a bunch of younger guys with fancy AR15's and totally smoked them with his dad's old beat up M1 Carbine, I saw the match scorecards. He got 20/20 on almost every course with zero malfunctions. But, he was taught by his dad how to maintain them and he has put all new springs in it... I think they can be reliable. I have no doubt that the design is more prone to issues than a Garand, but I also believe most of the reliability issues have to do with age/ammo/spring wear/improper maintenance. I was surprised mostly because my dad has macular degeneration, so he has a lot of trouble seeing iron sights. Pretty impressive that he beat a bunch of guys using red dot scopes. Grandpa also brought home a stripped receiver and I have the exact same issue with the rear sight needing peened/staked. I am planning to shim it because I don't want to stake it myself.
One teeny tiny upside of the Carbine is the excellent ergonomics for a Lefty. I shot my buddies' m1 carbine at the range and his mags sucked they were falling right out of the rifle. The rear leaf-sight also straight up FELL OFF. *Despite* all of this I was absolutely obliterating a steal silhouette at 50 yards. If the kinks were ever worked out or if you scoured for mags that work well with your specific piece this rifle is extremely accurate and FAST at close to mid range.
I really wanted to like these. After your review, I have to say my desire to own one is greatly diminished. I want a war horse, not a horse with a limp.
the carbine is not and never was a main battle rifle. if you want a light, handsome, relable intermediate caliber rifle you would like a M1 carbine. if you want a war horse, what ever that means, this is not the rifle for you.
My grandfather was an artillery man with an M1 carbine and loved it. But he didn't just have it as a 'backup'. Although artillery, he cleared houses and castles (yup, castles) with an M1. "kick in the door and shoot everything that moved". He liked the handiness and even did a modification that I have never heard of before. He said him and some of the guys 'welded them together'. I thought welded them side by side for a jungle mag type of deal. He said no, welded then together to make a 30 round magazine. Guess someone did some tinkering and took two 15 rounders and created a 30 rounder before 30 round M1 mags. He said kept that one in the gun and a 15 round mag in his pocket for backup. Go figure.
You guys do great work in analysis and commentary. The conversation is not always this funny, but it's always worth watching. FYI: I don't have an emotional attachment to this particular carbine. It's pretty neat, but that's the limit.
I've got a parts gun with a Springfield receiver and a para stock, and it works just fine. I agree with the comments on the rear sight, too much 'stuff' for my liking, but reliability seems fine, and I love the lever safety over a cross-bolt safety. Then again I don't soot it much, because the barrel band is loose (gotta get that fixed). When it's up and running well, it'll be my truck gun.
Hi Guys, thanks for the honest review. My question come to this: Why would I want to spend 1100 bucks on a rifle that is not 100% reliable, when I could spend that on say a Ruger mini 14 in say 7.62x39 or 300 blackout? Or maybe a good old AR-15?
The rear sight issues you had on this rifle remind me of my first dabble into the carbine world with a Federal Ordnance I purchased years ago. Couldn't stand that weapon and hated the carbine for years. I know have an early war Underwood and a late war Rockola and have found a degree of appreciation and respect for the rifle. They really are a joy to shoot.
Back in the early 90's I bought a IBM manufactured M1 carbine for $150 as a house gun. It had an M2 bolt and a Choate folding stock so it wasn't anything special. It shot OK and I never had a problem in the 100 rounds I fired through it. It was surprisingly easy to fire with the stock folded. It is hard to argue with the effectiveness of the .30 Carbine round during the Battle of Okinawa but many if not most of those shots were under 75 yards. Yes the bullet could have been better designed but the thinking was in the right place, a light round in a light rifle with a high capacity magazine effective out to about 300 yards. There are a lot of stories about enemy soldiers being 'shot' with the carbine and not slowing down but there is some question of those even being hits as out past 150 yards or so it takes some concentration to hit with a short rifle. There are also stories of people being hit with .50 BMG and running away. Heck my own father was hit 3 times with Jap 7.7mm and was back at the front lines in less than a month.
My family swears by them for deer hunting. Ideal for climbing up into a deer stand. Add a red dot and it's a really great hunting platform. I don't hunt but I kinda love them.
I just bought the Inland repo today, haven’t shot it yet. I also have a Gen 3 Universal I picked up at a gun show 4-5 years ago. I replaced two recoil springs with wolf springs and it runs great now.
To the best of my knowledge the M1 Carbine that I have had for the last 17 years is a genuine GI issue. It probably has a few replacement parts though. I bought it because this is what we were taught to use in the USAF in the 60's. We had to qualify with them once a year and I never got through qualifications one without a minor malfunction It was never a big deal though. After watching the video I pulled mine out and noticed that my rear sights were also loose. I could see that there are two punch marks at the front of the keyway that were intended to keep them in place. It looks like I should be able to use a punch to secure them again.
My dad bought an M-1 (Winchester) in 1960 for $20 from the DCM. The rear sight came lose just as yours did, with the 1/8" wobble. He had it re-staked several years ago and we shoot it to this day.
I have a February 1944 M1A1 Underwood carbine, and other than a ring in the bore that puts excess pressure on the extractor ripping the case out, it runs like a beast. It's one of my favorite collections, but I would just grab the mossberg or the AR if I needed them.
The reason I like my M1 Carbine is this: There is no other rifle that is this light, this small, firing an intermediate cartridge in a box magazine. It's 3 pounds lighter than an AR, 4 pounds less than an AK, SKS or Mini 14. I have numerous PCC's and none are lighter than my M1 carbine...and they shoot a pistol round with less performance than the .30 carbine. Until I see a 4.5 pound rifle shooting the 5.56 round, I'll keep my old G.I. M1 carbine (which has been reliable for me)
Just hope from the feedback here and other reviews that Inland can make corrections so their M1 can work without malfunctioning! It kind of stupid for them not to recreate the exact copy of the 1945 model. The patent is public domain. Inland seems to want to make more money and cut corners in the design and production and it backfired on them! This not the way to get a reputation for success!
Called Inland Firearms and the customer service guy said it the first time he heard of any problems? I told him to view the RU-vid reviews and he said that he not allow to do stuff like that! LOL! Totally useless company! It not part of GM either; it a private company that started a few years ago! Just to let everyone know!
I had an iver johnson w the ventilated metal top hg and it ran fine. I dont think it had 5 malfs in years of use and thousands of rounds until the extractor broke. New bolt fixed that.
A US GI M1 Carbine in standard armory condition is VERY reliable. Mine has NEVER malfunctioned. Audie Murphy carried the M1 Carbine by choice over the Garand. He did well with it. BTW, NutnFancy did a review on this repro Inland and found it to be a POS compared to his GI Carbine.
A few things on some comments you all made. I have an early production Standard Products Carbine and the rear sight DOES still walk out of its slot, so it does happen on the WWII vintage guns, at least in my experience.I'm honestly not sure if its endemic to the design or if its just lazy manufacturing tolerances because I have an M1903A3 which has a similar rear sight design that does not have that problem (and, imo, is far better than that crazy ladder-sight on the original varients). Also the mix of parts is kind of accurate as I seen the mix of safety,mag catch, and bayonet lugs on several (including my own). I'm not even close to as experienced as you guys are, but that's just some things I've noticed. GJ to Karl on his medals btw :)
+Edward Ross We've now heard from *a lot* of people regarding their USGI Carbine rear sights having this same windage issue. It's apparently another reason to be generally unimpressed with the M1 Carbine, IMO. ~Karl
Enjoyed the video, and I agree with your conclusions. I picked up a lovely GI Rock-o-la last year for less money than this. Maybe once the surplus rifles get crazy expensive Inland will have a market with this thing, but right now I really don't know who this repro is marketed to. If you're going to make it expensive, then fix the carbine's issues. If you're going to reproduce it's issues, then make it cheaper. Certainly don't add more issues.
My USGI Inland has been 100% reliable for the years I’ve owned it. I trust it so much that it has been my home defense weapon, and I have kept it handy with a magazine of Critical Defense. Recently, I was thinking of buying a Ruger 9mm Carbine... I ended up getting a slightly used Auto Ordnance folding stock Carbine, for less than the Ruger would have cost. If it checks out at the range, it will move into the HD role, and my GI Inland will go in the safe. Ian seems to have a bias against the Carbine.
I had an original Winchester, with a serial number of over 6,000,000. The rear sight would fall off by sliding sideways out of the dovetail. It was reliable with ball ammo. I now have a National Postal Meter. It had the new type rear sight, and the front sight for a flip rear. I had to change the front to get it sighted in. Very accurate with PMC ball ammo. About 1/12" groups at 100 yards. Will not feed soft point ammo. The only problem is that people can shoot it faster than I can pay for the ammo.
I had one the was a bluesky import that said US Army on the top of the receiver ,it had 2 springs, I shot over 5k of rounds, maybe half mag dumps with old 15 round mags and never had 1 malfunction, my brother liked it amd and bought i think a universal. His was nothing but problems and had 1 return spring. Mine was parkerized. He sold his and bought mine for my cost of 300.00 from a range ,then sold it for 600.00
Thank you for making this review. I saw M1 Carbine with para stocks replicas in France (at over 1850+€... where a vintage inland goes for 860€) and I'm glad to know it's really not worth it.
I’ve wanted an M1 carbine, or something with a garand action for a long time, but I couldn’t justify spending the amount of money for one. A friend is selling me a 1980’s Mini-14 at a very good price, so I’m hoping that will give me my garand action fix, while using ammunition I already have and shoot. For me, it’s close enough, especially with a wooden top hand guard.
Great review. I inherited a Universal and have no $$$ invested and few expectations of perfection. To me it’s a fun little plinker nothing more or less. I’ve had the best luck with Aquila ammo. I don’t plan on using it as a PDW.
I have a new 1945 repro inland and out of the box it had severe feeding issues( Rounds jam just short of entering the chamber) and another weird issue is the m4 Bayonets do not fit. Inland has offered to me to send it back but I have not as of yet to rectify both issues. I guess the feed problems could be due to the new thick parkerizing on the bolt and rails but out of the box it would not shoot a complete factory 15rd mag or even korean military 15 and 30 rounders. I do agree these should not cost more than an original USGI carbine. Maybe mine needs broken in a lot more. Will see but right now with 30 cal ammo costing 4 times as much post Covid, its going to have to wait. I really miss buying cheap bandoleers of korean surplus before the covid fiasco. It really makes you wonder though how they botched something as simple as making sure an M4 bayonet fits on the included lugs before they started distributing these for sale. As far as the old storiews of Universal carbines being unreliable, I think much of those stories come down to us through a lot of die hard USGI carbine collectors that will not accept anything but originals. Gun collecting has its own disinformation problems on its own. Its much like the AR15 and AK crowds that dislike the opposing rifle and put out disinformation about them.
I had several of these in the 80s in the original crates in the original packing grease, packed in brown oil soaked paper, I gave $200 a piece then and later gave them to my son and daughters, I'm not a fan of the M1 carbine though I respect the historical part this rifle played, sure, it killed a lot of folks so has the 22cal though it still doesn't make it a proper combat round . The smell comes from the oil used in the forging and milling, they were greased at the bottom of the barrel before installing the stock so between the oil and grease soaking in the wood gave it that old machine shop smell... yep, I miss them old mill smells ;)
While I certainly wouldn't want to take it to the boogaloo, I honestly get such a giddy little smile shooting the M1A1 Para. Like y'all mentioned, casual plinking for sure. This is the one I would take hiking to keep coyotes at bay, but I have other things that go bang that I would choose over it if someone yells "cowabunga".
i own a early parts kit universal and it works prity well for just blasting and then i went and got 2 30 round gi mags and a wolf spring for the mag it came with its awesome
I bought a universal with dual recoil springs. Unfortunately, it was a jam-a-matic. Every other round was a FTF. Got rid of it as fast as I bought it. I've owned several M1 carbines and am well aware or their strengths and weaknesses, and the problems associated with them. On the advice of a Korean war vet who carried the M1 carbine during the war, was get the best magazines you can and fire them wet. Ammo quality never hurts either.
I just bought a universal carbine and it’s more reliable than the real GI or reproduction carbines I’ve shot. Granted it’s a plinking gun, and no matter what or who made it I would never want to carry this gun in combat.
Well guys, you probably saved me about $1000 :-) I love US WW2 firearms and regret the day I sold off my Rock-Ola carbine (90% original). I did have the older flip-type sight and it was not only period correct but worked fine for plinking and reenacting (back when I still had a waistline). I have "kind of wanted" a carbine for a while and had great hopes for the Inland. It seems that if they put half the effort into producing a better product that they have into their marketing they might have had a winner. I remember that Kahr Arms imported some repro carbines that did have the "1944" features, but I also heard some mixed reports on the quality of that firearm as well. The carbine is an iconic American wepon and deserves better from US gun makers.
I have a quality hardware with a rockola barrel made in sept of 43 and I have deer hunted with it since 1968 and it has never failed......but a few years ago I had a chance to buy a IAI from Houston Tx and it was a POS....jammed after about 3 or 4 rounds....fte and ftf was the norm with that POS....I got rid of that gun as fast as I could ...took it to a pawn shop and traded it for a ruger p95.....I got the best deal there...went back a few days later and some poor sap bought that POS, I feel sorry for them.
Looks like the op rod is also the "curvy" type (the part that cams with the bolt) which was introduced post war. So if you are doing WW2 related stuff to make the gun "right" you'd have to swap that out too. The adjustable sight is correct for late war, plenty of pics put there, but I haven't seen a wartime pic of bayonet lug in use
I am on my second Universal carbine. (I traded my first one and wish that I hadn't) Both were reliable and only a little wonky. I think the receiver might be cast aluminum if that helps any... With the factory 4 round magazine, it isn't that reliable. With the cheapest surplus/gun show "gi spec" magazines it shoots like a champ. The stock is made with, what I can only assume, recycled rotten pallet wood. It's sort of brown and not as solid as hackberry. BUT I am not going to trade it off as it does what it is supposed to as a plinker. I reload, so I will be looking for some Aguilla as it is generally "reloadable" brass. I also have the Inland paratrooper reproduction. I have no idea why the US government would design such a folding stock. My best guess is that it was the first attempt by a first time designer and nobody else wanted to try. Or the new contractor "hijos de basura". Finding an original is getting harder so I will probably look at a James River in the near future. As always Thanks Guys.
My dad was in the Air Corp in Burma. On night he and a brand new officer were in a jeep checking out the check stations around their camp. They saw a large object ahead in the dirt road they were on. As they came to a stop they saw that it was a tiger! Dad was wearing a 1911 in a holster but he also had a poncho on. He desperately tried to get under his poncho to get the pistol. By the time he got the pistol the tiger had wondered off. He then looked down and remembered that he already had an M1 carbine in his lap!
For what it may be worth I owned an original 1944 30 cal carbine with an adjustable rear sight that moved from side to side a full quarter inch. The gun had not been abused and the sight appeared to have been peend in place. I have owned perhaps a half dozen of these. Only one had this defect.
I had a universal the sight never moved. But it was about shot out I which didn’t know and it had a metal heat shield with holes in it. It was surprisingly reliable except for that same heat shield flying off while shooting and almost taking my ear off
Do you notice that the brass comes out dirty? Every carbine I have shot seems to spit out sooty brass and I wonder if that has something to do with the famous Carbine malfunctions. When I got my '42 USGI Rock-Ola, I went through about 300 rounds before getting my first double feed. I had a Universal M1 which was Horrible. It was a jam-o-matic! I traded it for a CZ-52, got a USGI Carbine, and never looked back.
My father owns an original US GI M1 Carbine produced in 1945 and it had the exact same problem with the rear sight like you did with the Inland model, as I was shooting it all of the sudden my shots (on paper target) went more and more to the left and upon inspection we noticed that the rear sight was lose, and we were even able to take it completely off by hand. Apart from that we rarely have malfunctions with it, our ratio of failures to feed is more like 1 in 500 shots using the standard GI 15 round mags.
+Nasen affe Yep, we've heard from a lot of people about this. Apparently it's a flaw inherent in the design. That means if you're making a repro you should do whatever it takes to prevent it from happening on your unit, no? ~Karl
