I took on a project for a friend to put a new stock on an M1 Carbine, but upon field stripping beyond taking the barreled action out of the stock I discovered a piece that has a broken weld forward of the op rods. In looking at photos on the internet, it looks as if the M1 carbine only has a single op rod and it looks like the whole thing is jimmy rigged. Can you help me? Is this thing jimmy rigged and unsafe to fire?
6F6E4281-683A-4C26-A355-4B6DD10AE0EB by David Gosiewski, on Flickr

Let me guess, it is made by Universal?

M1Guy,
Yes, it is a Universal. I assume that is bad...

the worst.....

While I have no personal experience with the late two spring Universal Carbines, I can't recall ever reading anything positive about them.

The part welded to the barrel in front of the operating rod is the gas cylinder. Is that what is cracked? The welding on the slide doesn't look real hot either. The late Universal slides themselves are known to crack around the window the right bolt lug rides in.

About 5 pages of info on Universals here, including pictures of a failed gas cylinder: http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal.html

Well that’s bad news...the gas cylinder is completely broken off from the barrel. Didn’t notice it until I went to remove the op rods and the thing jos fell off the barrel. I guess this will be a show piece only...

Yup. Universal. It's trash.

The early Universal were more GI like and not bad guns. They changed the design some with later guns, things like the dual recoil springs, and the quality went to the dogs.

quote:

Originally posted by jaybirdaccountant:
The early Universal were more GI like and not bad guns. They changed the design some with later guns, things like the dual recoil springs, and the quality went to the dogs.

I had an early Universal. It was a fairly good carbine. It was reliable and fairly accurate. I sold it to fund a real M1 carbine, I don't have that one either. I sure wish I never sold that one. A month after I sold it the price of a real M1 carbine skyrocketed!

ARman

I have a first year Universal, and it is very reliable. The only parts that look different than GI parts are the trigger guard and stock, and the Reciever, which is identical to my Winchester’s, Rock-Olas and Inland, but stamped Universal. I kept it because it functions well.

I owned a later Universal, and can only recommend it as a fence post. I would give it back and tell the owner that even when rebuilt, they are not worth the cost of repair, IF you can find parts. Perhaps he can trade it in on a Ruger 10/22 or something. No kidding, total garbage.