My First Carbine

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Hey guys


tenOCEE ... a few questions ...

- I'm sorry but please remind me when we communicated about Universals. I get so much e-mail sometimes I can't keep track of who is who without a reminder

- Was the one you have shown in the pics with the damaged receiver the one you contact me about?

- It would also help to know the serial number. You can pm me with it if you don't wish to put it on the forum

- Was the receiver like this when you bought the carbine, or did it happen while you were firing it?

A little background....

One of the reasons I started working on the history of Universal and the carbines they made was all the info on the internet about how bad they were, how unsafe they were, etc. This made them a primary target for a good deal of my research efforts.

Part of the research was I searched the internet for stories, pictures etc of people who had experienced problems with a Universal. What I found was many people had heard or read about the issues somewhere other than first hand. The few I could locate that had experienced a problem none had taken it to a gunsmith to determine the cause, none no longer had the carbine (as to be expected), none had photos, and the list goes on. Not faulting anyone but getting to the source of the problem requires details.

Over time I've obtained info with details on about a dozen Universals that have had issues. Keeping in mind they made carbines from 1962 - 1984 with about 360,000 of them being the hybrid design that started at s/n 100,000. Also keep in mind there are certain things with the design of all semi-auto center-fire rifles, not just carbines, that can go wrong for a variety of reasons unrelated to who made the gun. Inevitably some people look at who made it and draw conclusions unrelated to finding out exactly what went wrong and why. So I look and ask for details.

Universal did have a run of poor decisions, changes and quality control 1969-1972 after a group of investors bought the controlling interest in Universal and started implementing changes focused on profit without regard to function and safety. A few months back I expanded one of the pages on Universal to include the issues 1969-1972.

Scroll down to Changes & Dark Days 1969-1972. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom. http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal2.html

The investors were bought out and things were put back on track 1975-1984. One reason why I asked about the serial number. I don't have the exact serial number cut off of start and finish for the investment group. The restart in 1975 started with s/n 300,000 to separate the new ones from the prior ones. The lowest s/n I'm aware of that had problems is in the 165,000 range.

I've personally owned and/or examined and fired a number of Universals between s/n 107957 and 137120 without any issues. Many more with s/n's above 300,000. Having personally safety inspected each one before firing as I do with almost every carbine before firing. Even new commercial carbines and GI carbines. To include checking the headspace. A critical element for every center-fire semi-auto rifle that most people don't do or have done. If it hasn't been safety inspected and something goes wrong there is no standard by which to judge what was right or wrong in the first place.

Now, to the carbine in the photos that has the damage....

The bulge along the top of the track the slide moves back and forth on is something I've encountered before. But not specific to any one manufacture and not just with commercial carbines. There are a couple of things that can cause it.

Improper hardening of the receiver. Take a look at the receivers on the following two pages. By Ermas Manufacturing in Steelville, OH. They didn't harden their receivers.

http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_ermas2.html

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

Then take a look at the next page on the current commercial Inland Mfg carbines. Different issue and not as obvious as those by Eras, this issue was improper casting of the receiver that resulted in warped receivers. With the warping not consistently in the same spot.

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

The #1 cause for the bent slide track with other carbines, GI included, has been damage either building up over time or immediate from improper headspace, out of battery firing, or a number of other things related to a pressure build up in the chamber that overcame the locking bolt lugs and bulged the receiver to various degrees. Where the receiver bulges is where the notch that travels in the receiver slide channel was when the burst vented or the round went off. With too much headspace usually there is also damage to the receiver where the right and left bolt lugs sit locked but not always. Too little headspace can cause the out of battery firing as can a number of other things.

Longitudinal cracks along the top of the receiver are a rarity. Would like to see a couple close ups from different angles of what looks like a crack.

I'm gonna stop for now. One last thing. As you pull the slide handle to the rear note at what point the slide's left lug reaches the dismount notch on the left side of the barrel and where the slide's lug at the handle is while traveling backwards down the right side of the receiver. Sorry, tired. Been up all nite.

tenOCEE ... is the barrel still attached to that receiver?

Jim

Then have yours tested and magnafluxed. You missed where I posted why he brought it. Are you saying I'm lying?

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Another thread with questions on cracked bolts and receivers

http://www.uscarbinecal30.com/forum/cracked-bolts-slides-and-receivers_topic3672.html

@Chuck, not what your looking for but some info and catalogs

http://www.uscarbinecal30.com/forum/universal-teflon-coated-m1-carbine-in-6970-catlg_topic1220.html