Universal M1 Carbine

[Hdonly]

A friend of mine is selling his Universal M1 Carbine. I am discovering that there is a lot know about these rifles. I never paid much attention to them until now as I never had an opportunity to buy one until now. Seems the Universal made carbines are considered less desirable and command less money? He hasn't given me a price yet and I am trying to figure out what to offer him. I have only seen it once, but did get to fire a few rounds through it a couple of years ago. It wasn't for sale then so I didn't look it over real close. Supposed to talk it over with him later this week.

[imashooter]

People can say what they want, however, Universal has been around forever with great success. Had one during the 70s with never an issue. No idea of today's values.

[Hdonly]

Just got a message from him. He wants $500 for it. From what I've seen, I think that is a fair price.

[Smoke & Recoil]

Depending on the condition, it seems a fair asking price. Nice thing about the Universal M1 is that military GI magazines run good with them. Watch out for the lexan magazines...they tend to stretch open, causing feed issues. Many Universal M1 parts DO NOT interchange with GI M1's.

[44 AMP]

The Univeral M1 Carbines were decent enough copies of the GI gun, but most parts won't interchange. They will run on GI mags just fine (assuming everything is in proper working order).

They were never in demand by collectors like the actual GI guns were, and are, so market value was always less, particularly when they were still in production.

Essentially they were made for the guys who wanted an M1 carbine to play with but didn't want to pay carbine collector prices. And that's still what they are today. In today's market, $500 is not a bad price. If it were an actual GI gun $500 would be a steal these days.

Enjoy!

[Dfariswheel]

The earlier Universal's that were made using some USGI parts or the later versions made with GI-TYPE parts are often good shooters.

The later versions that changed the design were well known for being junky.
These have a different gas system, and an operating rod that's made of stamped metal and welded together.
These undesirable Universal's can be easily recognized by an open slot on the op rod through which you can see the right hand bolt locking lug.

If it's one of those Universal's it's best to stay away.

[tangolima]

Does it have the newer dual recoil springs, or the conventional single spring? I would avoid the dual spring.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[veprdude]

I've owned a few (never shot them). The older ones are probably better. The older ones were cobbled together with surplus parts and when that ran dry Universal either started making their own parts or had them made for them.

[chris in va]

This thread kills me. I went to the CMP north store back around 2010 to get my M1 and I saw dozens of M1 carbines sitting there for $400, some dealer bought pretty much all of them before I could blink.

[tangolima]

Originally Posted by chris in va

This thread kills me. I went to the CMP north store back around 2010 to get my M1 and I saw dozens of M1 carbines sitting there for $400, some dealer bought pretty much all of them before I could blink.

Not sure cmp would sell to dealers. They don't have to. Qualified individuals would buy them instantly at that price.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[44caliberkid]

There is one on GB right now that has 31 bids, at $550. There are several others with no bids around 650, so I’m gonna guess the top end for these is $550 - $600. So $500 would be a good price, especially without sales tax or shipping. Jump on it.

[Hdonly]

We talked and I agreed on $500. Will go get it tomorrow. I will update this thread when I get it.

[Hdonly]

Made the deal today. Not sure if it was the best one to buy, but I think it is almost brand new. Got a box of bullets with it and I think that what is gone out of the box is all that has been fired through this rifle. He got it from an old man that lived behind him on the next street. The gun looks brand new. Not a scratch anywhere.

[Smoke & Recoil]

Very nice looking rifle, and a 15 round military style magazine to boot...you done well.

[Dfariswheel]

Unfortunately, that's the last version Universal made with the double recoil springs and stamped op rod.

These had a significant history of quality problems and that's what put them out of business.
Watch for problems with the non-original gas system, and op rod breakage.

[Hdonly]

Well shat. That sure makes me feel good. Do they just fall apart or what?

[Smoke & Recoil]

Don't sweat the negative...I let my 15 yr grandson and a pal of his, (supervised) blast the crap out of mine and prior to those 2 clowns, I have shot it well over 2500 times myself with never an issue. We also blast an original G.I. issue.

[Dfariswheel]

"Well shat. That sure makes me feel good. Do they just fall apart or what?"

To be fair, not all of the later Universal's had problems, just enough to give them a pretty bad name.

Going on memory, something would break in the non-original gas system, and the stamped and welded op rod would come apart.
As I recall the gas system used a pinned-in gas piston instead of the original threaded system, and it tended to break.
When it did the barrel was ruined.
Since the later Universal used a double recoil spring instead of the original single, replacing the barrel with an original type wasn't possible.

All you can do is shoot it to see if it's good or not.
I would give the op rod and gas system a very close inspection.

[taylorce1]

Yours is way nicer than mine, I bought mine back around 2008. However, it is a fun rifle to take to the range and it's surprisingly accurate as well. If the gas system ever goes bad, I'll sell it as a parts gun and buy a new production M1 Carbine as the USGI carbines have surpassed what I usually want to spend on a shooter.

[Hdonly]

Lots of confusing, conflicting information out there. I am pretty sure this gun is a 2nd Generation Universal with serial# 137xxx. Some say this is the generation with the most problems. Some say it's the 3rd Generation that had all the problems. Even saw one site that claimed a 4th Generation. No cracks in my op-rod. Going to tear it down further and inspect the area forward the gas piston for damage. Those seem to be the two failures most people talk about. Learning!

[Shadow9mm]

Had a universal. Was not reliable. Definitely not mil-spec. 15rnd mags only, the 30s did not feed reliably. S&b ran well, armscore was filthy abd under powered. I would not do it again.

[rc]

Hdonly,

I think you should stop teasing us about your lucky purchase and shoot it with some fresh ammo and report back here. Save the old peters ammo for nostalgia. It's a nice looking gun for sure and I would bet if you don't shoot it a lot, it will be fine as a home defense carbine for many years to come. I would bet the ones that broke down had a lot of rounds on them before something went wrong. I have read the GI mags were pretty flimsy on M1 carbines so if you have any issues, I'd try a different magazine which should be easy to find. Its too bad these don't take all GI parts.

[Hdonly]

Got new ammo on the way.

[Hdonly]

My new to me Universal M1 Carbine shoots like a dream. I bought an extra magazine (Promag CAR-A1) that I am disappointed in. The way it's made, it will not hold the bolt open after the last round fired like the original Universal magazine does. Why would they do that?

[44caliberkid]

Promag products are notoriously POS. Get an original GI mag.