Could someone tell me what kind of accuracy to expect from an M1 Carbine made by Inland GM. Would it be comparable to a Ruger mini 14 ranch rifle? I don't guess either come close to the AR-15. At 100 yards for instance,with 10 rounds fired at the bull's eye,what kind of group could be expected? Thanks, James

None of those are barn burners, but for what their designed for they are about perfect. Fun plinkers. I'd say your going to be comparable to the mini 14 and you'll have fun with it.

Carbines average about 3-4" @ 100yds in my experience.
However, my old IBM used to duplicate this performance at 200 yds with Winchester FMJ.

Old blued Mini 14's used to struggle with 5-6" groups @100. My Stainless Rancher (scoped), and that of my friends, delivered 1 MOA with 62gn FMJ.
That was more accurate than my wifes AR15.

Kirby.

It often depends on the quality of the rifling at the muzzle. Since they had to be cleaned fom the muzzle, and it was often done fast and in poor conditions, the rod often dragged across the crown.
After 60 years of this, there is going to be some wear.
It was somewhat common for armorers to counterbore the muzzle a short depth to "clean up" the crown- essentially giving it a recessed crown. In other words, don't be too shocked if you should find no rifling at the muzzle.

Bedding seems to be important to M1 Carbine accuracy (like everything else, I guess). The barrel band must be tight and not allowed to loosen. Careful- the band's threads can strip- I know!
Some guys have experimented with the part called the "recoil plate". This is the part screwed into the stock, right behind the receiver, that the action hooks into when reassembling. They have found that, ideally, the action should hook into it and not have to be pulled down into the stock the last 1/4" or so for the barrel band to go on. They either shim this plate to create that tension, or, since different plates fit differently, they will buy a handful and try them all.

There is a lot of info at Culvers Shooting Pages, but you may have to do some looking. www.jouster.com It's my first stop when I want to know anything about US Military weapons, whether it's shooting or collecting.

Could someone tell me what kind of accuracy to expect from an M1 Carbine made by Inland GM. Would it be comparable to a Ruger mini 14 ranch rifle? I don't guess either come close to the AR-15. At 100 yards for instance,with 10 rounds fired at the bull's eye,what kind of group could be expected? Thanks, James
--Depending on condition, four inches is probably a good average. Some will do better. The little thirty does seem to be picky what goes through it. I have an older Winchester made Carbine that's been rebuilt a couple times that perfers reloads. My Universal likes the Winchester ammo. Experiment with a few brands.
--You mentioned the AR, FN states their M-16 rifles are acceptable with a 4 MOA group. That is on a par with most AK-47 also. So as a comparison, at 100 yards the .30 Carbine does quite well. The low recoil and low muzzle blast makes it fun to shoot too.

Thanks guys!! I realize many things affect accuracy like the condition of the rifling at the muzzle, how well the M1 is bedded, even the type of ammunition. You've given me a good idea of what to expect! It looks like a fun little unit to shoot! Thanks, James

I am having one of those weeks or I would have posted this sooner.

I have drawn and used this target quite a bit over the years. This is from a carbine repair manual.

The target is easy to draw and quite useful. I have fired carbines that would not pass the test. The front band does have a great influence on accuracy.

I always have to grin when I hear someone say 30 carbine was designed for plinking. They were designed just before war to replace the 45 pistol and make a combat officer a better contribution to his squad,in short they were designed to kill people.the little carbine spits it's 110 grain bullet out at approx 2000 ft/sec. and is loaded to about 40,000 cup. I'll always remember the time at a friends farm when this blow hard was shooting a peice of 1/8 steel plate at 50 yrds and was dissatisfied with only denting the steel with every single factory load he had. I jokingly asked him after he gave up if he would let me put some holes through his steel plate! he sneered at my little carbine and replied what with that pop gun? then he said go ahead I don't care if you want to try. I whent prone with a 15 round clip of milsurp fmj's and as fast as I could aim effectively and fire I dumped the clip into the plate. swiss cheese all in a circle about eight inches in diameter.easily a hit on a torso sized target with every round all in about ten seconds. blowhard went dowm there and said,**** I wouldn't have wanted to have been standing there! no the carbine isn't a deer rifle but excells at it's intended role as a light rifle with excellent sights and very good shootability. mine is an underwood and quite accurate at 100 yrds or so. averageing approx 2" groups of 5 at 100 yrds. sorry for the long post. oh yeah the guy who couldn't quite get his bullets through the steel was shooting a 44 mag.

I just received 3 Inlands from the CMP this week. One went to my dad...he got the only one with a USGI stock, and one to my brother, and one to me. Took my new carbine out this morning and was amazed. All I had done to it was to clean, lube, and run a dry patch through the bore.

My first three shots went low. While they were fired at the target I was more concerned with the rifle functioning. After marking the target I fired three more concentrating on the sights and to my amazement they formed a 1/2" cluster.

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/8408/carbinetarget1copyvs1.th.jpg (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=carbinetarget1copyvs1.jpg)

After adjusting the sights ( I had to set them up to 200 yd mark at fifty and moving the windage a bit I had it pretty well on at fifty and moved to the 100 yard line. Got my sand bags set (just using 3 shot bags filled with corncob media, not a lead sled) I shot another three shot group.

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/7320/carbinetarget2copyca8.th.jpg (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=carbinetarget2copyca8.jpg)

This group measures 1 1/4 center to center. This is the single most accurate carbine I have owned or shot. I will say that between my brother, father, and I we have owned at least a dozen CPM rifles and this was the first time I have seen a tag marked "Nice Muzzle".
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/1166/m1tagyl6.th.jpg (http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m1tagyl6.jpg)