statesman

I swung by one of my favorite gun stores today, and they had their Auto Ordnance M1 Carbines on sale for $428. Around here, that's a super deal. I needed another commercial M1 Carbine like I need a hole in my head, but I bought one anyway. The owner said that he had about 15 or 20 left in inventory. He said that he bought a big lot, thinking that they would sell fast. He said the sales on M1 Carbines are dead. So if anyone is interested, here is the information:

McBride's Guns
30th St @ N. Lamar
Austin, Tx. 78705
512-472-3532

PS: I have no connection with McBride's, other than being a long time customer. I thought that passing this information on to fellow board members might help someone save a little money. Most of the serial numbers are in the 3 digit six hundred range. Mine was MA6XX. Hope this helps!

1st Maine

Congradulations on the purchase, and thanks for the post. My dealer has had a hard time getting her hands on these rifles, but she's got a small shop & only orders one or two of an item at a time. As an "oh, by the way", the serial # range you mention are the earlier production run rifles - which appear to have had less problems than the 700 - 900 range rifles. Enjoy!

statesman

1st Maine: Thanks! My carbine was filthy, with a lot of rusty metal particles in and around the receiver. A good scrubbing revealed a decent looking carbine. The bolt to receiver fit looks good, and it is very apparent that there was a substantial amount of handfitting of the bolt to the raceway, based on the disturbance of the parkerizing. After proper lubrication, the weapon handfeeds without a hitch. AO obviously has not been advised that the gas piston nut needs to be staked, as it was loose and removeable by hand. The front sight is retained by a roll pin, instead of a solid pin. There are no visible contractor marks on any of the parts except the magazine, so I suspect that they are produced inhouse by AO. The barrel appears properly indexed, and the remainder of weapon appears properly assembled.

Based on the above, it appears that this might be a solid, functional carbine. The proof will come soon on the range.

LivewireBlanco

I think I just might make a trip to Austin...