Inheriting an M1 Carbine

I got the carbine home and cleaned it up. What I thought was rust, making me think it looked rough turned out to be dust (maybe sawdust) sticking to the gun oil. Cleaned her up and she really looks nice. It appears to be as issued in 1944. All parts are marked SG and there are no other marks or dates on it except for the P proof mark on the barrel. Unfortunately, Scott's is not accepting any new work, and Albrights said they would take about 30 days. I really don't want to wait that long. Any other suggestions for smiths? The gun appears to function perfectly. I am considering getting a set of headspace guages and checking it myself.

Personally, if it appears good , I would

1) Perform a function check (this is a good practice whenever a semi-auto firearm is reassembled).



http://www.armystudyguide.com/conte..._common_tasks/perform-a-function-check-.shtml



(Of course there's no burst fire to check on your Carbine)



Then take it to the range and

2) Load one round and fire it. Release the trigger slowly, paying attention to the reset after firing the shot. You're doing another quick function check to be sure the hammer didn't drop when the bolt closed, which would have fired another round, machine-gun fashion.

3) Examine the spent case for cracks, splits, bulges, soot around the primer- anything dodgy looking.

4) Load two rounds and fire them. You're just making sure it doesn't "double" - fire two shots with one trigger pull.

Once it passes those safety checks (I'm pretty confident it will), then go ahead and load your magazines full, and enjoy shooting your carbine.


Number 1, the function check, is a good check to run on any semi-auto from time to time, and whenever it's been disassembled, as for cleaning.

Number 2 I do with any new-to-me semi auto, even brand-new out of the box guns. Also when introducing a new shooter: some are startled by that first shot and drop the gun, or spin around and sweep the whole line, so I always start them with only one round in the mag.

Now I'm just some idiot on the internet, so Clandestine or any other knowlegable person is welcome to constructively criticize what I've said here.



By the way, I once encountered a used pistol that had the firing pin stick in the forward position, protruding from the breech face. It was frozen with old crud. If someone had chambered a round, it would have slam-fired (possibly with the slide not fully closed). If more rounds had been in the magazine, the pistol would have kept firing like a machine gun.

Fixing it was just a simple matter of cleaning the crud out of the firing pin channel.
Not a big deal as long as you're careful and vigilant.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a plan.

Cheesehead said:

I got the carbine home and cleaned it up. What I thought was rust, making me think it looked rough turned out to be dust (maybe sawdust) sticking to the gun oil. Cleaned her up and she really looks nice. It appears to be as issued in 1944. All parts are marked SG and there are no other marks or dates on it except for the P proof mark on the barrel. Unfortunately, Scott's is not accepting any new work, and Albrights said they would take about 30 days. I really don't want to wait that long. Any other suggestions for smiths? The gun appears to function perfectly. I am considering getting a set of headspace guages and checking it myself.

Click to expand...

I wouldnt be too worried, though headspace gauges are pricey.

SG's are one of the more interesting variants. Is it a Saginaw or the S'G' the apostrphe guns were the Irwine Pederson contract that was picked up by GM/Saginaw and are one of the rarer makes and command a slide premium.

Jimbob2.0 said:

I wouldnt be too worried, though headspace gauges are pricey.

SG's are one of the more interesting variants. Is it a Saginaw or the S'G' the apostrphe guns were the Irwine Pederson contract that was picked up by GM/Saginaw and are one of the rarer makes and command a slide premium.

Click to expand...

I believe it's a S.G., not an S'G'. It's hard to see the name under the sight, but the serial number puts it in the second batch of Saginaw (not Grand Rapids). All the parts I can see, bolt, slide, trigger group etc. are marked SG. It has a Type 1 barrel band, but is missing the sling swivel. It has a milled adjustable sight, but a pushbutton safety. Kind of a mix of new and old Approximate date of manufacture roughly corresponds to when my father in law went to the South Pacific. He was a transport pilot. Stock has H.O in sling well. Handguard is 2 rivet also marked H.O. Any idea what H.O signifies?

Try giving frank och a call at accuracy clinic

Cheesehead said:

I believe it's a S.G., not an S'G'. It's hard to see the name under the sight, but the serial number puts it in the second batch of Saginaw (not Grand Rapids). All the parts I can see, bolt, slide, trigger group etc. are marked SG. It has a Type 1 barrel band, but is missing the sling swivel. It has a milled adjustable sight, but a pushbutton safety. Kind of a mix of new and old Approximate date of manufacture roughly corresponds to when my father in law went to the South Pacific. He was a transport pilot. Stock has H.O in sling well. Handguard is 2 rivet also marked H.O. Any idea what H.O signifies?

Click to expand...

Not sure about the H.O. The only thing that would make me questions if it came back from the south pacific is the upgraded sight, though I am not sure when they did that conversion. Bayo lugs were added between WWII and the Korean war, which is a good sign. But I thought the safeties were upgraded much earlier, but I guess it was an armorer's decision, for example, my father has a Century Arms import (Greek) that has a pushbutton safety but all of the other late upgrades.

That's a great looking carbine and it looks like it has a lot of "character". I have an M1 Garand that I got my hands on that wasn't fired for about 25 years. I broke down the entire gun, cleaned, and cleaned some more. Reassembled and then had a gunsmith look over prior to shooting. The gunsmith did a thorough examination of the gun, gave me the ok to shoot and it shoots beautifully. I would take your time cleaning and checking for safety. I'm sure you are eager to shoot it, but definitely take your time.

I love the sling. Kidding. Nice gun.