I've been toying with the idea of dusting off the ol carbine and "modernizing" it with a red dot. What ya'all think?

IOW I would not do it if it would affect collector value. Otherwise I think it would be fun.

At a recent CSA I realized that a 16" AR is the modern equivalent of the M1 carbine in terms of size, fun, ease of shooting, etc. easy to put a red dot on one of those.

But newer barrel. Not thrilled with the "L" flip sight

Mostly for local gun games. We figured it was nothing permanent so why not. He went with the Ultimak scout mount and an a Bushnell dot sight.

That early rear sight might stun you with what it will sell for these days. You might look into it.

JLF

That ain't a parts gun, any more than ANY surplus carbine is a parts gun. All wartime carbines were a mix of old and new parts, put together as the parts came to the assembly point. And that was before depot rebuilds, arsenal overhauls, etc.

As I recall from the last time I saw it, that is a pretty good example of an early war carbine. It originally had the early barrel band without the bayonet lug. Did you ever put the later band (with the lug) on it? If so I hope you kept the old band.

If it was me, I'd get hold of a later-type ramp adjustable rear sight to replace the flip sight. Many early carbines were later upgraded with the adjustable sight during arsenal rebuilds. Keep the original parts to go with the gun if you ever sell it.

Have you seen what original M1 carbines in decent shape are bringing these days? You could sell that one as it is and buy a Mini-14, put a red dot on it, and buy a case of ammo for it.

I'd have to get another barrel band - the original I messed up getting it off.

The Unimat rail system works perfectly and does not require any changes to the carbine except to remove the handguard and replace the rail system...switch back in a minute...

Mounted a Primary Arms low profile red dot and a upgraded 200 lume Steamlight...

It was as good as a M1 Carbine gets but did not blow my hair back at all...

While soft point ammo makes the Carbine a solid shooter on thin skinned animals under 100 yards it does not do anything a M4gery can do...and the ammo cost twice as much...etc...

Sold the rail to a Sixgunner and the M1 for some stupid money and never looked back...don't miss it a bit...

Byron

Nevertheless, it's worth a lot more un-screwedwith.

I bought from Byron several years ago. They are upwards of a hundred dollars new. I'll beat that for sure.

Bob

it will solve the 30 carbine issue. A good friend has his 30 carbine he used it during the Chicago riots along with a hi=power to defend himself and his family. I won't part with it...

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Of the Troops & For the Troops