30 carbine

[shaggybull]

I have a universal 30 carbine have some feed issues every 3 or 4th round hangs up. It seems the bullet nose is hanging up. I have 2 15 round mag and 2 30 rounds mags that came with the rifle. The 15 round ones feeds better. I have a buddy that has a 15 round GI mag I tried it out and didn't have any issues. Any suggestions for a fix other than buying more mags? sell the rifle?

[Old School Big Bore]

The feeding part of the cycle of ops for ANY autoloader is very magazine driven. The other factor is the feed ramp. The ramps on M1 Carbines can vary from beautiful to atrocious. Take a good, magnified look at the feed ramps. They are the two little half-funnel ditches that lead up from the front of the magazine well into the entrance of the chamber. If they are rough, they need polishing by someone with experience in doing so. If they're pretty, you have to either tweak or shuffle your mags. Bad mags get passed off on unsuspecting new shooters all the time. If you have a bad one that won't respond to adjustment efforts of a knowledgeable carbine nut, get rid of it and score some good ones. Remember rule, lemme see, 2c or 2d I think - 'there is no such thing as too many magazines or speedloaders, until you need a wheelbarrow'.

[zomby woof]

Aftermarket 30's are notoriously bad. The GI 15's are the best. Make sure your springs are installed correctly. The spring is installed with the spring pushing up on the back of the follower.

http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/pdfs/Carbine_30_Round_Magazines_September_2007.pdf

http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/pdfs/CMP_Carbine_Notes_2007.pdf

[Mk42gunner]

You could try reworking the feed lips on your current magazines to match your buddy's GI mag, but be prepared to buy some new ones.

I have a couple of GI 15 round mags that work fine in my Universal, so I haven't bought any of the aftermarket ones. I have been seeing some new ones that were made in Korea at the last few gun shows I have been to; but they are priced a bit too high for me to buy for a trial, and I haven't heard if they work like GI magazines.

Sadly, the prices for GI mags has gone up tremendously in the last couple of years.

Robert

[shaggybull]

I wondered is possible if I changed the bullets might make difference. I was shooter lead bullets with half jackets.

[Larry Gibson]

Polish the feed ramp and perhaps throat it. A picture of the "jam" would be helpful?

Larry Gibson

101959

[rondog]

Also make sure your carbine has the right magazine catch for 30 round mags. The 30's are twice as heavy, so they have three latching nubs instead of two, like the 15's. So the M2 style mag catch has a support on the left end. Putting a 30 in a carbine without this catch can affect function.

Also, as mentioned, there's genuine USGI 30's and aftermarkets. The GI mags work well, the AM's tend to be ****. I've heard there are Korean GI's that are OK. Look at the latching nubs on the mags, GI mags will have well-formed, sharply defined nubs that engage the latch positively. The crappy mags have nubs that aren't much more than a pimple-looking bump. Compared side-by-side they're like night and day.

[shaggybull]

Thanks for the input, got a busy weekend ahead when I get a chance will try all your advice and take a picture.

[RG1911]

The 15- and 30-round mags made in Korea are of excellent quality and remarkably inexpensive. I think $12 for the 15 and $15 for the 30. I have a bunch, and they work as well as my USGI mags in my M1 carbines and my M2 carbine that is pretty picky about what mags it likes. Check AIM Surplus.

[jeepvet]

I had the same problem with my Universal 30 M1. I had the feed ramp polished and that did not help. I tried several different mags and did not get reliable results. So I started loading with Seirra 110gr Varmiter bullets and have not had a single FTF since. I have since found that as long as I use a bullet with no exposed lead I have no problems feeding.

I am going to try casting for the 30 M1 using wheel weights and see if they will feed. Those bullets should be much harder than the exposed lead on commercial bullets and will hopefully feed better.

[jimb16]

Try the longer nosed Lyman 130 grain boolits. They often feed better because if the long taper.

[MDphotographer]

I wondered is possible if I changed the bullets might make difference. I was shooter lead bullets with half jackets.

Shaggy I have shot 2 different kinds of bullets like you describe both were 100gr half jacket bullets one from Speer and the other Hornady one of them had a rounder ogive and fed well the other had a less rounded ogive and acted almost like a swc bullet they wouldnt feed well for the first 2 or 3 rounds then would usually be ok until the mag was empty.I have been using them for breaking in my new barrel that James River Armory put on my '43 Inland so I wouldnt burn my good 110gr Mil Spec bullets for barrel break in.

Try the 110's

[RobsTV]

Botach has the Korean 15 round mags priced around $10 everyday, shipped free. These work excellent.

http://www.botach.com/products/kci-m1-30-carbine-15rd-magazines.html

Also confirm brass length. Picked up couple hundred rounds of new Armscor loaded 110gr FMJ to later use the brass, and had many FTF. Inspection later confirmed that they were out of spec, too long for M1 but fine for Ruger Blackhawk. After trimming, the brass worked fine in M1.

[Scharfschuetze]

I've no experience with the Universal carbine, but in the two GI carbines that I've owned, the RCBS 30-115-SP when cast from COWW or harder alloy feeds and functions like GI FMJ ball ammo with any good 5, 15 or 30 round magazine. It will also shoot the same size groups as jacketed bullets do in the carbine.