30 carbine question

For you pro smiths, I’m having some FTE and FTF on my carbine. It’s not top of the line. I have a Universal. I know they like to run wet so I have been doing that. I know they are very picky about mags. I am using some 30 rd mags that I bought from “Buymymags.com”. I am using Mag Tec 110 grain jacketed soft points. I have cleaned it as good as I can. I get 4 or more failures from each mag. Do you think this is something that a pro can rectify? I don’t really want to get rid of it, but it is of no use if it doesn’t work.

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Universal carbines were notorious for failures. I had one years ago and couldn’t make it work with any mag. it would run better with smaller mags but not much. I don’t know what to tell you to make it work, just know what I did with mine.

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Thanks. I had an original 10 round but it would hang up so I thought it was the mag and gave it away.

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I ended up trading mine for an Winchester carbine. it works. but 30 carbines are crazy priced now.

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See if this gives information on your gun

http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal.html

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I am no professional. Having said that in my experience’s the m1 carbine is very picky on ammo, magazines and likes to run clean.


So you might be asking why I have 4 carbine extractors? Because they can and do break so check that. Also check for it to be worn out or rounded at the area the extractor meets the rim of the case.
One more note cleaning the gas port and area is just good preventative maintenance. I also believe that changing out the operating rod spring and extractor spring is extremely beneficial.
Let me know what you find!
Getting a magnifying glass is helpful too.

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The older carbines were completely interchangeable with GI parts, the newer one wasn’t. they changed a bunch of things on them. basically made them cheaper. mine was the newer models.

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Thanks, I’ve seen that link before. Good info there.

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Definitely something to look for. I know it’s not a tell all but when it doesn’t fail it slings the brass a good ten feet behind me.The Universal has two springs, unlike the gov’t models. I cleaned the gas block last time I had it down and only have a few rounds thru it since. I’ll check it again. And thanks for the heads up on the extractor spring and extractor.

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No problem Brother. I wish I could take a look at it to give you the answer but right now I’m just giving you my experience’s with them. Good luck and please let us know what you find!

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than don’t - just get good at stoppage drills

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Just a thought on some fixes I’ve done for a few
Polish feed points/ramp and use FMJ
Stretched mag springs too
I’ve found some that hang SP run well on FMJ

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Well, I took that baby apart today for a good cleaning and inspection. The extractor looks good and the spring is strong. That spring is why I didn’t remove the extractor for more cleaning, but I did shoot “Gun Scrubber” in there to get as much as I dare. The ramp looks like it could use some work so I’m going to hit it with some carbide impregnated rubber thingeys for my drimmel. Guy here has some GI issue mags for me to try. So after I polish the ramp I’ll go put a few mags thru it. If it still fails I’ll try his GI mags. I don’t want to do both the clean and the mags at the same time because if it works I wouldn’t know which was the fix. I’ll be in touch.

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Keep us informed, hope you get it working.

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The verdict is in. I brought it to a pro. He polished the ramp to get a gouge out of it and to even it out. He removed and cleaned the extractor. Then one of the mags had a really weak spring and the follower had some rough edges on it, so he fixed that. Fires like a charm now. All is well. It’s a fun little gun to shoot. Thanks for the help along the way.

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Next is to try to lighten up the trigger.

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awesome

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I had a Plainfield M1 clone.
It was an excellent running rifle.
Never a failure of any kind.

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I had a 1944 Inland when I was young and dumb…a guy I worked with kept offering me more and then I sold it to him…it ran flawless…I was young and dumb…lol…

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I pulled the carbine apart today and studied the trigger for a while. I decided that all I would do was to use a stone to smooth and somewhat round the end of the sear. The trigger is still harder than I would like but it did help.

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