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A friend brought me over a Crossman M1 carbine to get working.
I was able to tear it half down and find some minor problems like a bent mainspring.
I have it working , but wonder if this is a item that I could tear down and possibly re blue.
Are parts still available for these rifles.
Does anyone have any experience with this model and think that they can be restored.
Also are there any issues that I have to watch out for ?
I have mine from when I was a boy, hurts to think that was probably around 50 years ago or so. Can't say about parts availability or tear down.
Edit: Got me to wondering and did a little looking, first made in 66-67 with wood stock, plastic stock after that. Site has some pics and it also has a PDF of both the owners manual and service manual. Figure that service manual might give you what you need for take down. Saw another site that had sold one for over $300, knowing my families situation at that time I'm sure it cost one heck of a lot less then in 66! http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_crosman.html
This rifle had a plastic stock.
So I figure it is a Later Version.
The bluing isn't rusted , but just worn.
The owner will probably just be using it to teach kids in the 4H to shoot.
So my next task is to rebuild the rear sight so it works reliably.
Starting off teaching kids to shoot a BB gun may be safer and doesn't have to be done at a range.
I found the copy of the manual on the net.
It may be a smart move to pick one up for both my use and the owner to maintain the airgun for the kids use.
The cover for the magazine is missing.
I doubt if I could ever find a replacement.
So I will just make one so the rifle holds extra ammo as designed.
Working on these kind of projects is fun for me.
Especially if it can be used to promote the shooting sports in the future.
I have one around here some where, works good but missing the magazine. They are hard to find and very expensive. I believe Crossman made another model called the 350?, that had the same style mechanism, and maybe a source of spare parts. Very cool gun,what kid wouldn't want one after being raised watching good old WW2 movies!
Since that magazine is only for carrying spare BBs you can probably make one carved out of wood or even plastic.
Oh man! I grew up shooting my dads from when he was a kid. It’s the wood stock version. It had/has the mag somewhere. Dad put it up so we wouldn’t loose it. Lol so it’s gotta be somewhere right?
A 3D printed mag would probably sell well for those looking for replacement.
It IS very nifty!
3d printing would really be the way to go.
I didn't mention that because , I don't do computers.
That was my first one also, a year or so later stock broke in half at wrist and Dad had me write my first letter. A couple weeks later a new free replacement stock arrived and Dad and I swapped guts and back into action I was. The rules were, no dogs, cats, people, especially your little brother and windows, one strike, no gun, pretty simple rules! I don't know how many critters that thing removed the life force but we had bacon wrapped dove and wild rice about once a month. I cannot for the life of me remember what happened to it but I have the trigger guard and front sight. Years ago I had to have another one and found one really cheap (with mag, no cap) but it will not transfer from well to chamber but it does pop. I have muzzle loaded and she slings them. I have rebuild kit and instructions I found somewhere, I think there is a guy on EvilBay that sells stuff and he may be able to steer you. Those plastic stocks are very weak and brittle and will break looking at them. I would pick up a cheap Daisy Ryder lever for the kids!
Now there's a back story!
I just made a cap for the Magazine on the M1 I am working on right now.
I made it out of aluminium flashing sheeting.
It wasn't that hard.
I just cut it with scissors bent it to shape and used a punch and hammer to make the lips to hold it on the magazine.
I also had to rebuild the rear sight because the windage adjustment screw was flopping around.
I made it fit by using JB weld in the hole of the body for the site base.
And I put release agent , ( Johnson's Paste Wax ) on the screw to keep it from binding while it cast new threads.
The rifle now shoots good at 15 feet.
A little low, but windage is adjustable.
It was a great day when I got mine, know now that money was pretty tight for my folks back then but happy kids are happy kids. Hard to believe that was over 50 years ago, still hangs over a workbench and I'll pop a can with it from time to time.
Attachment 306853
About 40 years ago I repaired the Crosman M1 that had belonged to my little brother. He died young in an accident and the gun had been in my older brother's basement for decades. It was completely rusted solid. I stripped it and soaked the metal parts in penetrating oil then hung the barreled reciever up on a wire and occassionally tapped it gently with a rawhide mallet so it vibrated. After several days it worked free.
The stud that engages the ball bearing to position the barrel when in battery had wallowed out. I dovetailed a piece of a nut into the barrel and made a threaded replacement for the stud.
The mainspring was very weak and rusty but luckily I had a similar much stronger spring in my parts bin.
The bore was badly crusted with rust so I polished it out.
It worked okay but was not as accurate as I remembered it being when new, plus it had a tendency for about one in ten shots flying wild.
I kept it for awhile then returned it to my older brother.
PS
It is the wooden stock version, probably one of the first to leave the factory.
I'd like to see this gun re issued as an airsoft gun. It would be a cool back yard plinker.
These are both airsoft and BB semi auto CO2 replicas of the M1 Carbine but they are expensive and prone to malfunction and breakages.