Ive been working for a smith for a little over a year now and have had about 6 universal M1 carbines come in jamming rounds during feeding and the charging handle popping off the bolt lug. Also the entire bolt group sticking all the way back. We have not got one to work.
First Generation Universal Manual (7 MB PDF file) - Thanks to Jim at for this great example of an early.
Ive replaced extractors, hammers, and ejector/springs to no avail. Also massaging the rough receivers with dremmel tool and files. I think the problem is the charging handle/bolt carrier with its sloppy hole for the bolt lug. Will a GI or other commercial brand handle/carrier fit on the universal? Please help as im sick of telling the customers their gun just sucks! I don't want to suggest you or your smith aren't familiar with M1 carbines, but first to consider would be a good cleaning and to make sure the gas system runs free.
It's a tappet system and if the lttle piston moves there is no need to clean it. One way to tell if the piston is moving freely is to take the STRIPPED action, put your finger over the breech end and blow into the muzzle like a balloon. The piston should move and more than likely it will only need new springs and a good cleaning. Don't use grease for lubrication, use lightweight oil.
Check the recoil and magazine springs, they may be quite old.Carry On!Gary. Im pretty savvy with the M1 carbine and a good percentage of problems with the guns that come in are lack of cleaning and over lubrication. The first thing I do with a M1 carbine is a deep clean and clean the piston and clear the hole. The thing with the universal commercial M1 is they are different than the GI version and they had lots of problems and constantly made changes to fix said problems.
From the research Ive done its the bolt carrier and the track it rides in on the receiver. And trust me, I still am considered an apprentice and am always looking for advice. VBulletin Security provided by-Copyright © 2019 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.This site contains information on legal 1919 semi- and full-auto firearms. The information in these web pages is not intended to be used to construct illegal devices, nor is it intended to be viewed by minors.
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I know this has probably been asked a gazillion times. I just purchased my Bavarian carbine. I don't want to re-finish the wood finish sincei t has a very nice cartouche; I merely want to clean it up a bit and bring some of the shine back. Anyone have some suggestions for doing this?I do have some birchwood-casey Tru-oil, which is a linseed based oil that is clear, not a stain. I also have some min-wax (which I would think would help yo protetc the orginial finish as well as luster it up a bit).Thanks for the help!
Well, I do not recommend the Tru Oil. It will put a solid, very shiny coat on the stock, like a polyurethane of sorts. Not at all correct for a carbine. If you're just wanting to clean it up a bit use Tung Oil (pure) or BLO. Check back to the old forums, I believe there is a sticky on the carbine page and/or on the carbine sales page. It has good info regarding this.
If I have a very cruddy stock I will clean it with Formby's Antique Furniture Cleaner (Refinisher)?? It is green colored and thin as water. After wiping it down a couple times with this using cheesecloth and letting it dry for a couple days I start using the pure tung oil. You'll get several methods on this but just a cleaning to bring it back to life you'll probably find most folks are doing tung or BLO only. Bubba, I use a highly diluted degreaser for cleaning. Some folks will tell you a water based solution shouldn't be used, other will say its okay.
Degreaser treatment may be all you need. Don't disregard the Tru Oil, either. I agree with the other poster in that the solution gives a high gloss, non-military shine. The spray, on the other hand, if applied sparingly, provides a good water proof base for a follow on treatment such as the BLO, etc. But that's just me.
![How To Clean A Universal Carbine How To Clean A Universal Carbine](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125616065/316021150.jpg)
I have purchased a bunch of guns from CMP and am still experimenting with the refinishing challenge. I may have received dnikkor's twin, Austrian returned Rock-ola, back in July. It too has a shiny 'varnish' type finish.
At first I thought, like dnikkor, I'd keep it as I received it, looks pretty good. I have just refinished my original HRA garand stock, and a nice Winchester stock - with cartuches - on my Underwood carbine. I used pure tung oil, buffing out with bronze wool between coats. Finish came out beautiful.
Nice warm glow - not shiny. After seeing how these look, I've decided to remove Austrian varnish, and restore with tung oil. It will still retain important Austrian markings, trigger guard has LGKK over 0835, also slingwell marked with 0835. To me these are still USGI carbines, they just had a side mission to help the Austrian's.
My Rockola is so heavily and obviously marked all over as an Austrian, that it just makes sense to me to keep it that way. Luckily for me, the Winchester not pot bellied M2 stock really looks more boned than varnished. Weber, the last person this carbine was issued to, treated the stock with a little love.or at least a lot of handling. In the rack with its brothers, it really doesn't stand out as varnished. You can see a photo midway down on page 2 of the M1 Carbine Pictures thread: http://www.thecmp.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6&page=2.