M1 Carbine conversions??

[Cavtanker]

Okay, first I have to throw out this disclaimer. This is not my idea. I love my Inland Carbines and have no desire to butcher them.

This comes from.....

A buddy of mine sent me this link where the author basically opined about why you would want an M1 Carbine, which is expensive to shoot, versus an M4 or the like where you can buy a conversion kit for it to shoot cheaper ammo.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/201...in-30-carbine/

Then my buddy asked me if I knew anyone who did conversions on an M1 Carbine. My immediate response was...no.

But I figured if anybody out there knew....they would be found in this forum (i.e. Tim).

So.....thoughts??????

[timshufflin]

I'd love to convert a carbine to a less expensive ammo. I must say that I can't even begin to imagine what round would be good and cheap.

[Eli]

There was a company named LeMat (I think) in MI that converted M1s to .45 Win Mag.

Eli

[grumpyoldretiredcop]

Wasn't there a 9MM conversion out there somewhere?

[timshufflin]

Wasn't there a 9MM conversion out there somewhere?

That's exactly up my alley if it's simply threading on a new barrel and maybe changing the slide spring.

[dpd3672]

As rifles go, .30 Carbine is pretty cheap to shoot. The CMP, AIM, and a few others have 500 rounds for about $200.

It's not Mosin ammo cheap, but it's really not that expensive, relatively speaking.

[timshufflin]

See, I consider the carbine about as useful as a bb gun. BB's are pretty cheap to shoot and I can shoot it a lot. I want a POS rifle like the carbine to be very very cheap to fire, 9mm cheap at least.

[jak]

22 long rifle is cheap to shoot.

http://www.legacysports.com/products/cit_m1.html

[seaninmich]

As rifles go, .30 Carbine is pretty cheap to shoot. The CMP, AIM, and a few others have 500 rounds for about $200.

It's not Mosin ammo cheap, but it's really not that expensive, relatively speaking.

mosin ammo isn't even that cheap anymore. AIM used to get it to my door for 7 cents a round. It's in the 20's now, isn't it?

[Cavtanker]

22 long rifle is cheap to shoot.

http://www.legacysports.com/products/cit_m1.html

Yup, damn cheap. You can still get a box of 550 rounds of .22 ammo at Wal-Mart for less than a twenty dollar bill last time I checked.

But rather than just buy a different rifle, what's the possibility, and is it economically feasable, to take an existing M1 Carbine and create a conversion kit for it to shoot a cheaper round much like you can do by swapping out the upper on your AR or the slide on your 1911? I'm all about stretching my annual ammo budget by using conversion kits. I'm just not smart enough to figure it out with the Carbine. And I'm not quite ready to start yanking barrels out of my WWII era Carbines unless they are shot out and ready to be swapped anyway.

Seems to me like it might be an interesting idea if someone can make it work. It seems like it's not possible without changing barrels.

Just a quick google search produced this short write-up about a 1978 patent from Universal Firearms Corp for a "Conversion kit for semiautomatic carbines" to be able to shoot .22LR, but I think it was still with lots of component changes and parts swaps. Scroll down all the way to the bottom of this site for info on the patent:
http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal2.html

And google actually has the patent available for public access:

"A conversion system for .30 caliber semi-automatic carbines permits selective use with .22 caliber ammunition. Modified barrel, bolt, operating slide and magazine sub-assemblies easily replace the corresponding original sub-assemblies to provide for direct blow-back operating slide actuation with .22 caliber ammunition. The replacement parts are of such simplified construction as permits manufacturing and sales as a conversion kit at a fraction of the original cost of the .30 caliber carbine to be converted. The conversion technique also provides for the independent manufacture of a unique .22 caliber semi-automatic carbine having the general appearance and "feel" of the standard .30 caliber M1 carbine."
http://www.google.com/patents?id=tSI...BAJ&dq=4220071