1ID M1 Carbine Restrictions

[Redeye]

Just wondering what restrictions there are for M1 Carbines, as I've heard some discussion of this concerning RPS early on. My M1 was produced in 1943 by the serial number and it has the bayonet lug. However it does have an M2 stock, called the "potbelly" style. I am going to look for a standard stock for it but am most concerned with the bayonet lug as well as the blank adapter. I have one of those big honking things. I am considering adapting a bayonet to actually be the blank adapter, the knife edge, of course, being dulled completely. Would this be allowed?

[Klaus Schüßler]

No bayonet, even dulled you don't want to accidentally jab someone, or yourself.

[Redeye]

Ok...what if the bayonet blade was rubber?

[Klaus Schüßler]

um ... talk to your unit leader

[Redeye]

LOL

[congofal]

And WWII M1 Carbines didn't have bayonet lugs , only late war M2s had them.

There is a way you can do a blank fire adapter that is invicible , you just need to drill and tap the barrel , the adapter goes inside the barrel and you don't see it , plus it doesn't hurt the rifle , i have that on my M1 Garand when i want to live fire it i just use an Allen wrench to remove it and then re attach it when i want to use blanks on it.

[Redeye]

I've been seeing and hearing a lot of conflicting info on the Carbine. Numerous sources show M1's with bayonet lugs. The only M2 designation I have seen have been for post war selective fire versions. The barrel on mine is stamped 3-44 but is stamped as being made by Underwood. The serial number on the receiver is a WW2 production number, but I suspect the gun may have been one of the post war arsenal remade ones due to the adjustable rear sight.

Drilling and tapping the barrel on this rifle gives me the heebie-jeebies as it shoots so well as is, which is the whole idea behind the fake bayonet blank adapter. Plus, drilling and tapping would obliterate any collector value this gun may have.

[nwmv]

well you could always purchase one the many commercial made carbines. There is no real collector value there.

[AG1944]

If you are worried about collector value, then you should not be using it for reenacting. It will get beat up out there in the field, trust me, I know. No bayonets, real of fake on a rifle, that is a safety policy.

Talking to many people who have blanked adapted their carbines said that having it professionally done will not affect the shooting of the rifle.

Talking to people that know more about Carbines then me have told me that the lug was a very, very late addition and basically saw no action in WWII. Also, most WWII dated carbines out there were rebuilt, like most WWII weapons. When they went back they were stripped completely down, all the parts thrown together and rebuilt, so the parts don't match. I personally don't care if a carbine has a lug on it at the moment. At this time, we need the bodies on the field. BUT, the goal is to be as accurate as possible. We ALL should be striving for that.

[Redeye]

That's a good point, Nick. I was planning on getting an additional stock for both the Carbine and the Garand to use only for reenacting events. I do know a professional gunsmith from my employment at Sharpshooting that I think I will ask about doing the job, as well as kicking around some of my own designs.

Ed, how much of the barrel of yours has actually been threaded?

[congofal]

On mine it's about 3/4 of an inch .
I built my Garand from a parts kit , bought a receiver separate from the kit and then built it , the kit came with a '43 dated barrel but i then bought a '51 dated barrel to have it threaded.

[ktm300exc]

I drilled and tapped my carbine, very easy to accomplish, and the accuracy was not affected, it had a big Blue Sky Import stamp on the side of the barrel so not to worried about collector value, just used it this weekend and man that thing works great! It was sure a lot nicer to carry up and down those hills at Lyle.
Kevan

[Redeye]

So what did you guys use for the adapter stock, size of bfd opening, size of tap and die?

[ktm300exc]

Redeye,
I am at work so don't remember the sizes of tap and die, I used set screws for restricter stock, they must be annealed first to drill them out, I made 3 of them, so that you can adjust hole size to the blank load. I think I got the info as far as what size of tap and die to use off of the ww2 reenactors web site, they have a section on nothing but GI weapons and how to blank adapt. their recommendations worked like a charm on my carbine.
Kevan

[Redeye]

Any info, pics, links you guys can supply would be cool.