M1 Carbine - Are They Worth The $$$

[Worsley]

I’ve been watching a ton of M1 Carbine YouTube videos and I’m seriously considering buying one from Fulton Armory right here in MD. ~$2600 for one of these handy carbines seems steep so I figured I’d ask the MDS community their opinions. Are they worth it?

Fulton Armory

Your Source for Service Rifles: M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, M14 / M1A & AR Types

www.fulton-armory.com

 

[joppaj]

Do you have the money for a fun, not terribly accurate plinker? They're very cool, fun to shoot. Ammo isn't cheap.

 

[tjiann]

I love mine. Really fun to shoot. But that price seems pretty steep. I got mine off GunBroker in great shape and ready to shoot for less than half of that.

 

[Dan44]

Kind-of, must have for any collectors

 

[Trepang]

I have two.

One is a 1943 Inland from the CMP that was turned over to the Bavarian Rural Police after WWII. We took Wehrmacht troops and turned them into police shortly after WWII and armed them with the same rifle that we were shooting at them with months before.

The other is a Fulton Armory Match M1 that I had built with a WWII Winchester receiver & bolt.

I wouldn't part with either.
Fun, soft shooting guns.
They weight next to nothing and are as handy as hell - I fully understand why they were so popular in WWII & Korea.

I am a big fan of Fulton Armory, as a matter of fact I have Fulton Armory rebuilding a CMP Garand Rack Special mix-master now. I hope to have it back soon.

1943 CMP Inland / Bavarian Rural Police

1943/2022 Winchester/Fulton Armory

 

[Worsley]

I have two.

One is a 1943 Inland from the CMP that was turned over to the Bavarian Rural Police after WWII. We took Wehrmacht troops and turned them into police shortly after WWII and armed them with the same rifle that we were shooting at them with months before.

The other is a Fulton Armory Match M1 that I had built with a WWII Winchester receiver & bolt.

I wouldn't part with either.
Fun, soft shooting guns.
They weight next to nothing and are as handy as hell - I fully understand why they were so popular in WWII & Korea.

I am a big fan of Fulton Armory, as a matter of fact I have Fulton Armory rebuilding a CMP Garand Rack Special mix-master now. I hope to have it back soon.

1943 CMP Inland / Bavarian Rural Police
View attachment 405247
View attachment 405249

1943/2022 Winchester/Fulton Armory
View attachment 405250
View attachment 405251

Love these! I’m thinking they’re great all around, do it all little carbines that fought in several major conflicts and a war. A 30 caliber bullet traveling around 2000FPS is no slouch and our soldiers loved them.

 

[joppaj]

I have two.

One is a 1943 Inland from the CMP that was turned over to the Bavarian Rural Police after WWII. We took Wehrmacht troops and turned them into police shortly after WWII and armed them with the same rifle that we were shooting at them with months before.

The other is a Fulton Armory Match M1 that I had built with a WWII Winchester receiver & bolt.

I wouldn't part with either.
Fun, soft shooting guns.
They weight next to nothing and are as handy as hell - I fully understand why they were so popular in WWII & Korea.

I am a big fan of Fulton Armory, as a matter of fact I have Fulton Armory rebuilding a CMP Garand Rack Special mix-master now. I hope to have it back soon.

1943 CMP Inland / Bavarian Rural Police
View attachment 405247
View attachment 405249

1943/2022 Winchester/Fulton Armory
View attachment 405250
View attachment 405251

I remember when CMP had those Bavarian guns. I wanted one, just couldn't afford it.

 

[mikeasu]

My FIL acquired one recently from CMP and absolutely loves it - and he's got a big collection of firearms to choose from - fired it a few times, and seemed pretty solid, reasonably accurate, fun to shoot.

 

[joppaj]

Love these! I’m thinking they’re great all around, do it all little carbines that fought in several major conflicts and a war. A 30 caliber bullet traveling around 2000FPS is no slouch and our soldiers loved them.

Our soldiers in Korea were much less impressed. Marines from the Chosin Reservoir campaign complained about the guns freezing up and the bullet failing to penetrate the winter clothes of the Chinese soldiers.

 

[Trepang]

Our soldiers in Korea were much less impressed. Marines from the Chosin Reservoir campaign complained about the guns freezing up and the bullet failing to penetrate the winter clothes of the Chinese soldiers.

My 89 year old Father was in Korea. He confirmed the freezing up issue, they had the same problems with Garands. Lighter weight oil instead of grease helped. He indicated the failure to penetrate was largely urban legend and a convenient excuse for missing. He did say it was obviously "less harder hitting" than the guy next to you shooting a M2 .30-06 ball but then again it didn't weigh 10 lbs either.

 

[Worsley]

Our soldiers in Korea were much less impressed. Marines from the Chosin Reservoir campaign complained about the guns freezing up and the bullet failing to penetrate the winter clothes of the Chinese soldiers.

Yes I heard that as well - and have watched a lot of videos where those conditions were recreated and the rifles tested. I haven’t seen anything pervasive. Kind of like how bad the AR15s were in Vietnam.

 

[K31]

$2600?

Do they at least give you a fan belt to bite down on?

 

[calicojack]

I have heard that the Fulton Armory models are really, really, really nice. A guy I used to work with says they just ooze out quality when you pick them up. The only reason I have not bought one is I have been focusing on AR's and I was lucky enough to get a CMP M1 Carbine. Yeah, I say buy it.

 

[calicojack]

$2600?

Do they at least give you a fan belt to bite down on?

Oh wow - they have really gone up in price. Hmm. Well I guess it depends on your budget.

 

[wpage]

A marine friend waived me off of buying one. He said the receivers did not hold up.

 

[K31]

Oh wow - they have really gone up in price. Hmm. Well I guess it depends on your budget.

Calicojack complains that his wallet is too small for all his hundreds and his diamond shoes are too tight.

 

[calicojack]

I have two.

...

The other is a Fulton Armory Match M1 that I had built with a WWII Winchester receiver & bolt.

I wouldn't part with either.

I am going to go out on a limb and say these were less than $2600 when you bought one.

 

[ken792]

They’re fun shooters if you manage expectations for such an old design. I’ve been shooting mine a lot lately since it’s fairly cheap to reload .30 Carbine. They’re very soft shooting compared to straight blowbacks and the cartridge doesn’t have much blast. My handloads mostly group about 3,” at 100yd, but it frequently throws fliers, probably just due to the receiver moving around in the stock.

Theres’s not much bolt velocity or impulse cycling the thing. After a few hundred rounds of H110 loads without cleaning or adding more lube, mine now short strokes the first few rounds from USGI 30rd mags when it was really cold a few weeks ago. Cleaning the carbon buildup off or adding light oil should help.

Our soldiers in Korea were much less impressed. Marines from the Chosin Reservoir campaign complained about the guns freezing up and the bullet failing to penetrate the winter clothes of the Chinese soldiers.

https://www.theboxotruth.com/threads/the-box-o-truth-36-frozen-clothing-and-the-box-o-truth.360/

 

[TheOriginalMexicanBob]

Love these! I’m thinking they’re great all around, do it all little carbines that fought in several major conflicts and a war. A 30 caliber bullet traveling around 2000FPS is no slouch and our soldiers loved them.

Thread drift…but my uncle hated the Carbine. He was a platoon leader in the first wave on Omaha Beach and also in the hedgerows. He was invalided out of combat at St. Lo when a mortar round took him out.

His own experiences with the Carbine boiled down to “I hit that sumbitch three times and I bet he’s still running!” He said he found an abandoned M1903 and tossed the Carbine.

I agree with others about them being fun to shoot but I never had to defend myself with one…lots of different experiences and opinion. Audie Murphy loved his “Lucky Carbine” and wired it back together when the stock was broken by a mortar round. Murphy was also deadly accurate with it which speaks to his skills and abilities.

 

[RFBfromDE]

As cool as it is, having a cool gun too valuable to shoot makes as much sense to me as a cool car that isn’t driven.

My Tisas 1911A1 US Army was about 4 hundy.

It scratches my itch….