What else fires the M1 Carbine cartridge?

garandman

garandman

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Sorry if this is a repost - hard terms to search on.

The M1 Carbine round was developed from the ".32 Winchester Self-Loading cartridge," which was a commercial product. But it differs substantially.

Were any other firearms developed that fire the M1 Carbine cartridge? I found a few listed on the Wiki page, but I've never seen one or even seen one for sale.
 
The only two I have heard of are the Ruger revolver, and the "Automag" semi-auto pistol, which looked like something Dirty Harry might carry. Also heard of a Marlin 62 lever rifle, but that's about it.

I'd stick with the m1 carbine for this round. For a pistol-caliber rifle, there's a choice of rimmed cartridges like .357 and .44 which are similar and work in classic lever rifles. I have a Rossi 1892 in .357 for example.

I've found .30 carbine available from the CMP for a while, but otherwise it's hard to find. The price used to be about the same as .357 magnum. But there is a lot greater variety of .357 available. Of course now during 'ammopocalypse', you can't hardly find anything in a pistol caliber.
 
Fixxah said:
Thompson Contender.

-Trolling via S3.-
Click to expand...
From WIKI

A number of handguns have been chambered for .30 Carbine ammunition. In 1944, Smith & Wesson developed a hand-ejector revolver to fire .30 Carbine. It went through 1,232 rounds without incident. From a four-inch (102 mm) barrel, it launched the standard GI ball projectile at 1,277 ft/s (389 m/s), producing a large average group of 4.18 inches (106 mm) at 25 yards (23 m); the military decided not to adopt the revolver. The loud blast is the most oft-mentioned characteristic of the .30 M1 Carbine cartridge fired in a handgun.[7]

In 1958, the short-lived J. Kimball Arms Co. produced a .30 Carbine caliber pistol that closely resembled a slightly scaled-up High Standard Field King .22 target pistol. The Ruger Blackhawk revolver chambered for the .30 Carbine round has been in the catalogs since the late 1960s. Standard government-issue rounds clock over 1,500 feet per second (460 m/s), with factory loads and handloads producing similar velocities.

Universal Firearms made a .30 caliber pistol from 1964 to 1983, it was named the Enforcer. Built similar to the M1 carbine it lacked the stock, therefore, making it a pistol or a handgun. Sold to Iver-Johnson in 1983 The Enforcer continued to be made until 1986. Other handguns chambered for this cartridge include the Thompson Center Contender, Taurus Raging Thirty, and AMT/IMI AutoMag III. Of the .30 carbine pistols available today I believe the Ruger New Model Blackhawk listings in Ruger’s catalog, the .30 Carbine is still there: Model No. BN31, 7 1/2-inch barrel, blue finish is the only pistol (revolver currently being made/sold today.

You can still get the AMT/IAI Automag III in 30 carbine on the used gun sites (gunbroker) for around $600 to $1200. IAI and AMT were owned by the same person, "Harry Sanford the designer and manufacture of the pistol ( among other pistols". He spilt up his operations because of the big lawsuits going around at that time and wanted to make sure if one came his way they couldn't take the "whole" pie. So not to confuse this, AMT was first, then he split it into AMT and IAI, then once lawsuits settled out he dropped the IAI operation name and went only under the AMT name then.



IAI was the first company name to be stamped on the Automag III 30Carbine, later they added the 9mmWinMag caliber to the Automag III. They are different specs to many of the parts between these pistols.
 
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I have a Blackhawk in this caliber, firing factory rounds from it isn't much fun, unless you like lots of muzzleflash.
The problem is, in factory form, it's loaded to function the action of an M1 Carbine with an 18" barrel.
Pressure and burn rate of selected powder is calibrated for reliability in this rifle.
Run the same round through a pistol length barrel and most of the powder charge burns after the projectile has left the tube, hence the large fireball.
To get the most out of this in a revolver, you really need to roll your own.
I've experimented with some handload data for this caliber which are more akin to .32-20/.32 H&R Magnum loads for charge weights and powder selections. I find these to be more accurate, with far less muzzle flash, and offer a range of bullet weights beyond the standard 110 gr FMJ of the factory .30 carbine loading.
One more thing I'd like to stress about this cartridge is it's VERY picky about trim length.
I discovered this when I was only loading it for the rifle, but found it to be even more critical in a revolver.
Since it's a semi rimmed cartridge, it headspaces on the case mouth.
If they're a hair too long, the cylinder will bind up, but of you trim them a bit too short, they'll sit too deep and you won't get a good strike on the primer.
 
I was wondering if there was another interesting carbine or short rifle.

There's plenty to play with on the M1 anyway....
 
I saw a fellow shooting an Enforcer at my club once. It was huge for a handgun and not very accurate as well. It seemed quite pointless to me.
 
jaypap said:
I saw a Wilson Combat 1911 chambered in M1 carbine at the range early this spring.
Click to expand...

Huh? I don't see how that could be. The M1 Carbine round is far longer than the magwell of a 1911. Are you sure it wasn't an AMT Automag III?

300px-MY_AUTOMAG_III.JPG
 
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Wow I just stumbled across this thread after searching for previous 30 carbine threads. I had no idea Ruger makes a SA revolver in 30 carbine, that would make a nice combo with my Inland M1 and have another gun to shoot all of the 30 carbine reloads I made last weekend.
 
andrew1220 said:
Oh nice. Pretty fun gun to shoot? Expensive I'd assume? Somewhat accurate?
Click to expand...

I know a fellow that has one. It didn't look fun to shoot at all. It was awkward to hold and had surprisingly high felt recoil for what is essentially a cut down M1 carbine. It wasn't very accurate in his hands.

- - - Updated - - -

one-eyed Jack said:
You would have to say that. Half a lifetime ago I bought a new one ($500 dealer), transferable, and sold it for the same price 'cause I never shot it much. Jack.
Click to expand...

Doh!
 
joshk1025 said:
Isn't 30 M1 Ammo harder to find than 300 blackout - and more expensive?
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with 300 blackout but 30 carbine is readily available online. I bought 300 rounds a couple months ago for about $19-$20 per box shipped. It costs the same as 45 or 357 magnum I'd say. But I've been reloading for it lately.
 
Zappa said:
I have a Blackhawk in this caliber, firing factory rounds from it isn't much fun, unless you like lots of muzzleflash.
The problem is, in factory form, it's loaded to function the action of an M1 Carbine with an 18" barrel.
Pressure and burn rate of selected powder is calibrated for reliability in this rifle.
Run the same round through a pistol length barrel and most of the powder charge burns after the projectile has left the tube, hence the large fireball.
To get the most out of this in a revolver, you really need to roll your own.
I've experimented with some handload data for this caliber which are more akin to .32-20/.32 H&R Magnum loads for charge weights and powder selections. I find these to be more accurate, with far less muzzle flash, and offer a range of bullet weights beyond the standard 110 gr FMJ of the factory .30 carbine loading.
One more thing I'd like to stress about this cartridge is it's VERY picky about trim length.
I discovered this when I was only loading it for the rifle, but found it to be even more critical in a revolver.
Since it's a semi rimmed cartridge, it headspaces on the case mouth.
If they're a hair too long, the cylinder will bind up, but of you trim them a bit too short, they'll sit too deep and you won't get a good strike on the primer.
Click to expand...

Excellent post Zap. Info I wouldve elluded to myself after doing extensive research on the subject. For some reason I've been infatuated with the Blackhawk in .30c for many years now. Someday I'll buy one just to play with and add to the collection.
 
saltydude said:
Excellent post Zap. Info I wouldve elluded to myself after doing extensive research on the subject. For some reason I've been infatuated with the Blackhawk in .30c for many years now. Someday I'll buy one just to play with and add to the collection.
Click to expand...

Current on gunbroker:

Ruger Blackhawk 30 Cal. Carbine....starting $425

Ruger Blackhawk 30 Cal. Carbine. starting $490...buy now $550

So now you have no excuse! What you waiting for???? [smile]
 
Interestingly enough, BK Sales in Natick has an Automag III chambered in 9MM Winchester Mag, NOT .30 Carbine. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it - I've never heard of that chambering for the Automag III. He's got a couple of boxes of ammo for it, too.
 
I was thinking of getting a ruger Blackhawk 30 carbine but I've since changed gears and now deciding on a Redhawk 44 mag or a super Redhawk 44 mag. I'm hopefully trying some fellow NESers RedHawks this weekend to see which one I like best.
 

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