Citadel M1 Carbine .22 LR

[LloydXmas250]

Saw this at Cabela's yesterday. Seemed like a fun little gun but I've read bad things about Chiappa who manufactures the gun. Anyone here have one or has spent time with one. What do you think about it? Worth owning?

[Jason_G]

I'm kicking around the idea of putting a Ruger 10/22 into a beater M1 carbine stock, myself. Add some Tech Sights, and maybe rig up a faux carbine mag.

Jason

[Jo6pak]

These rifle were just recently introduced. There may not be much experience yet with them. I saw my fist one today at a gunshow. Seemed like a solid, very close representation of a real M1. Pretty cool little rifle. Wish I had $400 to drop just to test it out. Guess we'll have to wait and see what the reviews are.

[LloydXmas250]

Originally Posted by Jason_G

I'm kicking around the idea of putting a Ruger 10/22 into a beater M1 carbine stock, myself. Add some Tech Sights, and maybe rig up a faux carbine mag.

Jason

I've looked at getting a 10/22 and then putting an m1 stock on it. Could be fun as well but this would be cheaper in the long run.

[jimmythegeek]

I'm not sure I will get around to one. I have a few .22lr rifles already, and am planning on a S&W m&p15-22, and a Marlin 39a mountie. So that's about as much room in the gun safe as I can spare. I have two real carbines.

[Jo6pak]

Originally Posted by Jason_G

I'm kicking around the idea of putting a Ruger 10/22 into a beater M1 carbine stock, myself. Add some Tech Sights, and maybe rig up a faux carbine mag.

Originally Posted by LloydXmas250

I've looked at getting a 10/22 and then putting an m1 stock on it. Could be fun as well but this would be cheaper in the long run.

Like this?
http://www.shootersdiscount.com/cart...productId=1529

A buddy also has a stick mag for his 10/22 that is pretty close to the carbine mag. Next time I talk to him, I'll ask when/where he got it.

[Scribe]

Got a Chiappa .44, 92 action. Very pleased with. I saw a write up of this .22 which was positive. If the quality is the same as my .44 I'll have one.

[Jason_G]

Like this?
http://www.shootersdiscount.com/cart...productId=1529

A buddy also has a stick mag for his 10/22 that is pretty close to the carbine mag. Next time I talk to him, I'll ask when/where he got it.

I hadn't seen that. The color of the wood looks a little funny, but yeah, that would work, and save some chiseling/dremmeling on a USGI stock.

Jason

[Jo6pak]

They also offer a sight conversion kit. I just noticed it, below the stock on that page

[Jeff22]

So I had been intrigued since these first came out in 2012 or so.

I have a shooter GI M1 carbine that I bought about 20 years ago. I haven't shot it in five years or so, and one of my projects this summer is to get out and get some trigger time with it.

I have .22 equivalents or conversion units for many of my handguns and rifles and so I was potentially interested in the Citadel carbine. I finally saw one for sale on the rack at my local gunstore last Friday. They had one with the black synthetic stock and one with a wooden stock, and I got the synthetic.

This gun is actually made by Chiappa in Italy and they have an iffy reputation for quality control. That being said, so far I think I like this gun.

The manual says that it runs best with .22LR ammo that is 1200fps or faster.
I have quite an assortment of .22 ammo on hand, but so far I have only tried two kinds -- Federal LRN at 1200 fps and CCI Mini Mag HPs at 1230 fps. The rifle functioned with both but clearly liked the Mini Mags better.

I cleaned it and lubed it before I shot it and again before the second trip to the range. (I lubed it with "Snake Oil" that I got from Dillon Precision which I have found to be a pretty good lube although a little thin for some applications)

The rear sight is not the most robust sight I have ever seen but I think it will work for what I need. The magazines hold 10 rounds. If the mags are loaded with 9 or 10 rounds the last round usually doesn't feed, but as the gun and magazines get broken in I think that issue will take care of itself. When loaded with 8 rounds and using the Mini Mags the gun reliably locked open after the last round was fired.

[Orion6]

A certain fairly popular online vendor has them for $229 with the wood stock.

Ruger also released a special-edition 10/22 recently with the M1 Carbine furniture.

[ThomasT]

The ruger carbine. I wonder if they will sell the stock seperately?

http://www.ruger.com/products/1022Ca...ts/21102.html#

[johnwilliamson062]

How many chips did you find in the action when you cleaned it after your first outing? Mine had all kinds of shavings. I'd say the rear sight is plastic junk. It actually grouped quite well off the bench all things considered. Ran the bulk federal I put through it without issue.
Once the weather warms I'll try to put a few more rounds through it and see what happens.

[Jeff22]

So I shot further with the Citadel carbine and determined that the front sight blade was crooked. (The front sight is plastic)

So I ordered a couple of new ones. The front sight blade in the new sights looked straight. I was able to install a new one in about 90 seconds, using a really small hex wrench to loosen the set screw.

The rear sight is not the most durable thing ever made but it's serviceable.

One of the indoor ranges I shoot on has spooky lighting with some shadows. It's not a problem when shooting on tan IPSC targets with a Glock 22 with big sights, but it was kind of a problem with the sights on this gun.

The gun definitely runs better with plated bullets of higher velocity.

I bought the Citadel carbine as a plinker and I think it will work fine in that application.

[gyvel]

Isn't the Citadel the latest incarnation of the old Erma "M-1 Carbine?" (And made out of the same pot metal?)

[SaxonPig]

Got one off gunbroker 2 years ago at the starting price of $199. Shot it a couple times. Had 3-4 misfeeds the first time, 1-2 the last time, so it seems a little breaking in settles it down. Never shot paper but reactive targets show it shoots pretty straight. I like mine.

[SaxonPig]

Oh, here's a photo...

[Quentin2]

I ordered one with the wood stock a couple weeks ago and it should be here next week. At the price it's not a huge gamble for a .22 plinker that looks and operates a lot like the Carbine. I've never owned a Chiappa but read many horror stories. I have heard the recent ones are pretty good, early production problems have largely been ironed out. I hope!

Nice looking rifle SaxonPig! Hope mine works as well as yours.

[HankC1]

So you guys removed the bolt for cleaning yet!

[Quentin2]

My Citadel M1-22 finally came in today, took about 4 weeks. The wood stock is dark but that kind of adds a semi-authentic look, old wood soaked in oil, etc. Really, it looks better than expected. Not too bad at all. Now to see if it shoots well, anyway for only $230 it's worth the gamble.

This one is new old stock, the rifle was made in 2013 and the box was marked Legacy Sports, though Legacy hasn't distributed this rifle for a couple years.

One magazine follower snagged often but taking it apart and smoothing out some rough areas solved the problem. A tan repro sling looks nice on it. Yeah, I'm happy with it so far.

[Quentin2]

I finally gathered up the new Citadel M1-22 along with a few ARs, handguns and my son-in-law and 11 year old grandson and we all had a great time shooting up the desert. The little M1 Carbine reproduction in .22lr performed like a champ! One magazine had feeding issues but my five other magazines kept the rifle busy peppering plastic bottles and beer cans.

We put over 300 rounds of Federal valuepak through the Citadel with about 10 malfunctions, 5 due to the bad magazine. The other five malfunctions that I blame on the rifle were two misfeeds and three light strikes. All ten rounds fired after a second try. Chiappa recommends using 1200 fps ammo but the slower Federal cycled fine and locked the bolt back on the magazine follower after each last round. With the sights at mechanical zero we were hitting pop cans at 30 yards. It was windy so we didn't try to do a real zero on paper targets. I marked the bad magazine and will check it out later.

Anyway, we all loved the little rifle. All six firearms we took worked fine but the Citadel was the most fun. It looks so much like a real M1 Carbine but is so much cheaper to shoot. I know Chiappa is hit or miss and the first production of this Citadel M1-22 was recalled but they got it right with this redesign. The wood stock was drab out of the box but a coat of Tung oil brought out the grain and it actually looks pretty good now. For about $244 out the door I'd say it's a winner!

[AirForceShooter]

You can get a .30 cal commercial carbine for $400 any day of the week.

Why get the .22

AFS

[Quentin2]

You get the .22 because it's a .22!

[ThomasT]

You can get a .30 cal commercial carbine for $400 any day of the week.

I am interested. What commercial 30 carbine rifle are you referring to?

[4V50 Gary]

Any confirmation if they are potmetal or zinc like the old Ermas were?