Was wondering if anyone had tried or heard of a wildcat for the M-1 carbine that would be easy to make and easy to modify the M-1 for andpick up the speed a bit. Seems like the 10MM Mag. case necked to .30 might be just the ticket should require a re-chamber and bolt face opening and some mag mods. I don't know what kind of velocity increase would be possible. Maybe somebody with a computer program for wildcats could crunch some numbers.

I have been reading on a terminal ballistics forum that a lot of the 30 carbine soft points don't expand at the normal 30 carbine speed and thought this might be a fairly easy way to soup up the old M-1 without making a new barrel. Bolts are pretty cheap and shouldn't require too mcuh gunsmith labor. maybe we could pick up 300 fps or so. Ideas? comments? fire away!!!!

Was wondering if anyone had tried or heard of a wildcat for the M-1 carbine that would be easy to make and easy to modify the M-1 for andpick up the speed a bit. Seems like the 10MM Mag. case necked to .30 might be just the ticket should require a re-chamber and bolt face opening and some mag mods. I don't know what kind of velocity increase would be possible. Maybe somebody with a computer program for wildcats could crunch some numbers.

I have been reading on a terminal ballistics forum that a lot of the 30 carbine soft points don't expand at the normal 30 carbine speed and thought this might be a fairly easy way to soup up the old M-1 without making a new barrel. Bolts are pretty cheap and shouldn't require too mcuh gunsmith labor. maybe we could pick up 300 fps or so. Ideas? comments? fire away!!!!

Would be a job, but suspect it could be done. the basic .30carbine action has been chambered in 22/30carbine (various names), 9mm, 9mm Win.Mag., .30carbine, and .256WCF (Universal Ferret) as an autoloader. Was/is one company that made some in .45Win.Mag. As a pump (Universal Vulcan) it was made and sold as a .44mag. (and it is in the top 10 of the ugliest commercial rifles).

Haven't had a bit of trouble getting the Speer 110gr. Varminter JHP to expand out to 100 yards in a .30carbine and the Hornady 110gr. JSP's aren't that much less expasnion prone...but none of them work real well at longer ranges where the velocity has decayed.

If expansion is the goal, then getting dies to take the various 85, 90, and 100gr. .312" JHP bulletd down to a better match to the bore would do that trick for a lot less money. No ballistic improvment, but with the thin jacketed, these will expand a lot faster at short range or expand a good bit more at long range.

"Not much gunsmithing labor"...believe it would be a lot bigger job than it looks.

Was wondering if anyone had tried or heard of a wildcat for the M-1 carbine that would be easy to make and easy to modify the M-1 for and pick up the speed a bit.

I have been reading on a terminal ballistics forum that a lot of the 30 carbine soft points don't expand at the normal 30 carbine speed and thought this might be a fairly easy way to soup up the old M-1 without making a new barrel. Bolts are pretty cheap and shouldn't require too mcuh gunsmith labor. maybe we could pick up 300 fps or so. Ideas? comments? fire away!!!!

Part of your work has already been done - a long time ago - the .30 KURZ.

http://www.reloadbench.com/cartridges/w30kurz.html

Another wildcat just a little longer than the 30 M1 Carbine cartridge is the 7mm TCU based on the 223 case. The 7mm TCU/223 could be necked up a little more to 7.62; then trimmed back some to a 30cal M1 length. With a short neck and some very short little 30 caliber bullets like those typically loaded in the old 7.62 Mauser (7.62x25mm) then you're lookin' at velocity well over 2,000fps which will expand ANY pistol bullets.

http://www.reloadbench.com/cartridges/w7mmtcu.html

In fact, if you substituted cast lead or PISTOL bullets with their thinner jackets in 30M1 loads, you would be just about guaranteed better expansion and higher velocity.

Article on the link below is about loading and feeding the 30 M1 Carbine.

http://www.reloadammo.com/30mload.htm

Understand that the Carbine was never intended to replace or substitute for any other rifles, but rather PISTOLS. It was issued to troops as a substitute for a pistol so the troops didn't have to qualify with the skills necessary to use a pistol effectively. It served in this capacity quite well. MOST users of the M1 Carbine can shoot it with pretty good accuracy to 100 yards. The carbine was one of the weapons with which I qualified while on active duty. I came along in the Army just before and during the time the M16 was adopted. I wound up qualifying with a wide range of weapons that the Army was still using... It's a fun little rifle to shoot, but very far from the effective power of an M14 or M16.

Chambering it as a "30TCU" based on a slightly shorter 223 case sounds pretty interesting to me and wouldn't require opening up the bolt as much as you would for the 10mm. We're talkin' about .378" vs .425" - a significant difference but still a lot less than the .30 KURZ @ .473", which comes to more than a tenth of an inch larger case head diameter than the standard 30 M1 Carbine head of .360"... Opening up the standard 30 M1 - .360" bolt face to the .378" of the .223 bolt face would be a (relataively) easy gunsmith job IMHO...


Reeds Ammo lists 60gr, 71gr, and 85gr bullets from Hornady & Speer for their custom 7.62x25mm pistol ammo. These should be very high quality bullets.

http://www.reedsammo.com/default.asp

https://secure16.websitecomplete.com/reed1911/shop/showDept.asp?dept=439

I expect you could get some impressive or even explosive expansion with some of these lightweight bullets loaded into a standard 30 M1 Carbine cartridge... Careful handloads and lightweight, high speed bullets! I've heard of that before lotsa' times! ;)

BRW. Reeds Ammo already offers the lightweight bullets loaded in 30 Carbine if you were wondering...

https://secure16.websitecomplete.com/reed1911/shop/showDept.asp?dept=474


.30 Carbine 85g SP
50 Rounds per box. This soft point bullet is designed for deeper penetration and slow expansion. Velocity of 2350FPS


GOOD LUCK!

Gowge:
I would recommend against the lead bullets, as they have a tendency to stop up the gas port on the M-1 Carbine's. The standard 30 carbine case run into a 218 Bee will give the same balistics, but remember to reduce the powder charge by at least 1-2 grains and work up from there, as the powder capacity will be reduced slightly. Makes a handy plinker and pest controller tho. Brownells had some barrels in 22 Spitfire at one time, and I think Gun Parts did as well.

Lee L.

Was wondering if anyone had tried or heard of a wildcat for the M-1 carbine that would be easy to make and easy to modify the M-1 for andpick up the speed a bit. Seems like the 10MM Mag. case necked to .30 might be just the ticket should require a re-chamber and bolt face opening and some mag mods. I don't know what kind of velocity increase would be possible. Maybe somebody with a computer program for wildcats could crunch some numbers.

I have been reading on a terminal ballistics forum that a lot of the 30 carbine soft points don't expand at the normal 30 carbine speed and thought this might be a fairly easy way to soup up the old M-1 without making a new barrel. Bolts are pretty cheap and shouldn't require too mcuh gunsmith labor. maybe we could pick up 300 fps or so. Ideas? comments? fire away!!!!

Garth - it sounds like an interesting notion...

www.gmdr.com/levern/30-10mmmagEtc.jpg

just as the 32-20 is ~2gr larger than the 30 carbine, your 30-10mmmag would be yet another 4 grains larger, or, half way btwn the original 30 carbine and the 30 tcu - an interesting/useful velocity range.

do shoot straight,
greg
www.gmdr.com

Garth -

I've added another drawing to our website - comparing your 30-10mmMag vs a 30-357 mag, 30-41rem mag and a 30-44 mag... in case you'd rather headspace off a rim vs a shoulder. A 30-41rem mag would be "different".

www.gmdr.com/levern/30-10mmmagEtc2.jpg

do shoot straight,
greg
www.gmdr.com

Ballistically, it would be very close to the .30 Streaker.....there's an article on the round at my website. Good luck.

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

Ballistically, it would be very close to the .30 Streaker.....there's an article on the round at my website. Good luck.

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com


That's a nice article, Lee. Good work! :)

I wonder how that cartridge might work in a '94 Marlin Lever?

Thanks.....I've never tried it, but the .30 Streaker would definitely work in an 1894 Marlin.

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

Check this out! A .30 Carbine necked down to .19 caliber for Varmints - called the Calhoun BADGER! Kewel! :)

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_224598.html

".....Just exactly what is the 19 Calhoon Badger, and what can it do that the 19 Calhoon Hornet can’t do? First and foremost, the 19 Badger’s case can be considered rimless, and as I mentioned, that was a problem that plagued the 19 Calhoon Hornet. Secondly, the slightly larger case could push a 32-grain Calhoon bullet out of the muzzle at 3550 feet per second. This is a bout a 250 fps gain over the 19 Calhoon Hornet. The additional velocity also increased the effective field shooting range by at least 50 yards over the 19 Hornet. In other words, the 19 Badger is a 300 yard varmint cartridge........"

GOOD LUCK!

Thanks for the input guys.!!!