M1 Carbine Re chambered

emsfire

Hello everyone, I recently acquired a barrel for an original, WWII M1 Carbine that has been refinished to fire .22 hornet. What is the value of such an item? Is this conversion common?

rufe-snow

.22 Hornet is a rimmed cartridge. Not likely it could be made to work reliably, through the magazine and mechanism of a M 1 carbine. Without a lot of work.

The 30 Carbine brass, was first necked down to .22 caliber. By Melvin Johnson, in the 1940's. Both he and Universal, made .22 caliber carbines. My guess, that is what our barrel is chambered for. Don't have a clue, as to it's current value?

emsfire

.22 Hornet is my best guess. .30 Carbine does not fit and neither does a standard .22 round.

Hangfire

quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
.22 Hornet is a rimmed cartridge. Not likely it could be made to work reliably, through the magazine and mechanism of a M 1 carbine. Without a lot of work.

The 30 Carbine brass, was first necked down to .22 caliber. By Melvin Johnson, in the 1940's. Both he and Universal, made .22 caliber carbines. My guess, that is what our barrel is chambered for. Don't have a clue, as to it's current value?


I agree..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Spitfire

Mobuck

google 5.7 spitfire and take a look

62fuelie

In P.O. Ackley's 1964 Pocket Manual he lists the ".22 Carbine" and says that there are several versions. The most common being the 5.7 Spitfire by Johnson and the Casull version, which he says is more radical. I'm sure the maker info he furnishes is way out of date, but he lists Johnson Guns, Inc at 152 Temple St. New Haven, Conn. and O. J. Oresky at 28 Orton Drive, East Northport, NY. According to Ackley the kits were furnished for the "Do-it-yourselfer. The full kit would contain the barrel loading dies and instructions. The .30 carbine case won't fit because it can't go into the chamber any further than the shoulder where it necks down to .22 cal.

Apparently everything else used straight G.I. parts.

nmyers

New USGI M1 carbine barrels were short chambered. Re-using a used carbine barrel, even in .30 carbine, is often unsuccessful due to excessive headspace. I doubt that a questionable barrel, lacking reloading dies or any evidence that it ever worked in a carbine, is a worthwhile project.

I don't think that you can find anyone willing to pay anything for the barrel. Any type of carbine conversion is uncommon today, as parts are either expensive or unobtainable. It's been years since I have seen a NOS USGI carbine barrel for sale at any price.

Neal

kidthatsirish

Just read up on 22 spitfire...actually sounds like a cool little round...seems like it has pretty similar ballistics to 556 out of an M4 length barrel.

22 spitfire sounds way cooler than 556 nato though[8D][:D]

Riomouse911

You should Cerrosafe-cast the chamber to determine what you have.

It will probably be the 5.7 Spitfire, those were a common wildcat option for the M-1 Carbine as the others have said.

Grunt2

Back in the 60's...the .256 Winchester magnum was a common conversion...I believe Universal produced them also..Basically a necked down 357 Mag...(Just a thought)...

quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
.22 Hornet is a rimmed cartridge. Not likely it could be made to work reliably, through the magazine and mechanism of a M 1 carbine. Without a lot of work.

The 30 Carbine brass, was first necked down to .22 caliber. By Melvin Johnson, in the 1940's. Both he and Universal, made .22 caliber carbines. My guess, that is what our barrel is chambered for. Don't have a clue, as to it's current value?