back in the 80"s our history teacher brought his carbine and garand to class and passed them around. I can't imagine any teacher doing that today.

Much respect to Ian for mostly keeping quiet and allowing his guest to speak. Mr. Hackathon is an absolute treasure of firearms knowledge. Many hosts on KZfaq talk just to hear themselves speak. Respect to both of you.

When I was in Vietnam, I was always in the field with the M1 Carbine. Yes, my security that came with me had M-16s. I always went to the local firing range before the field assignment. As an officer, I was assigned a 45 pistol, so I would pickup a carbine before leaving for the field. I liked the carbine because of its lightness and ease of exiting the chopper on landing. I was assigned to the II Field force, Nha Trang, in II Corps and my assignment as a geologist meant I was in the field allot looking for good basalt to mine and crush and mix with tar when we were paving the roads. So I was usually in the western area of the country but never had a problem as I had good support troops and I do not think the VC wanted to fool with us. I found many good locations to source the road material. After paving the roads, they could not mine them. This was the days when one could only mine by digging a hole and burying them. Great assignment and had a real Thanksgiving in 1969 as I was back in CONUS!

"When I was 15 this was the AR-15 of my generation" This doesn't get said enough! The M1 Carbine was THE go-to tactical gun for ordinary Americans for decades. You'll still encounter older shooters who think of the Carbine this way. Before the mid-90's you really didn't see ordinary recreational shooters with ARs. Regular folks who wanted a fighting gun had an M1 Carbine.

My dad was issued the M2, he carried it and used in combat. He had a few things to say: 1-NEVER use the full auto feature 2-See rule 1 3-The 15 round mags were waaaay better than the 'banana' mags 4-keep the damn thing clean 5-See rule 1 My dad fought at the Naktong River area (where he was never supposed to be, but that is another story), Pusan perimeter, 1950, then linked up with his correct division. He was there thru 1951, and shot NK's in summer and winter dress, and according to him, it worked really-really well. Dad passed away 1998 Max Lee Brannon 57th Ordnance Recovery Godspeed, Daddy, will see you again.

When my dad had to do his time in the Dutch Army in 1959, he was issued with an Garand initially. Later he received an Carbine. That's when he start his love for shooting. In the '80's he bought a surplus M1 carbine from our police department. That was the first fire arm I shot. And now he's dead, I inherited that rifle and it's my love till today.

Ian, I spent a lot of time shooting M1 Carbines with my dad and grandpa growing up, I’ve rebuilt a couple and after a lot of tinkering discovered a great way to make the magazines more reliable (or save “bad” magazines rather). The feed lips or ears on the front of the mag are thin steel and get bent from being smacked into the magazine well, this changes the feeding angle and causes the rounds to ride low and get stuck on the feed ramp occasionally. The magazine is basically loose in the well and moves around with recoil and the occasional shooter’s hand resting on it (which can make the situation worse). A quick bend up on the feed lips will increase reliability dramatically. I’ve found if you insert the mag and get some slop (with a good magazine catch spring) when rocking the magazine front to back, it will inevitably fail to feed. Bend the lips with pliers or something similar until the magazine is held firmly in the well and does not wiggle forward, and you’ll have a happy carbine. It should only be able to rock back slightly against the tension of the mag catch spring, which should hold the mag tight if it is not worn out. You will also notice an easier mag insertion process and a more positive retention click. I regularly use mine with both brass and steel case ammo, several different brands, and have noted a huge improvement across the board by doing this to my mags.

"New spring(s), lube it, good ammo" is pretty much universal advice for buying any used gun.

Some older fellows have this fantastic quality to their speech. I could listen to this guy ramble on all day.

My dad fought with an M1 Carbine on Iwo Jima. He said it never failed him, and he came home... It was designed for up close and personal, and that is what the carbine was designed for...150 yards or less. I personally killed a 200 pound buck deer at 97 long paces with a single heart/lung shot.

I love how passionate Ken is, you can tell he really knows his stuff! Also funny to notice that the gun will start with Ian, then change hands in the first few minutes and Ken will hold onto it through out.

My dad was in the Korean war in the 50's. I remember his saying he was issued an M-1 carbine & had nothing but Praise for this weapon. But I could listen to Mr. Hackathorn talk about the M-1 all day! This gentleman is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to weapons. Excellent video!

When I first got my CMP Underwood M1 Carbine, I picked up a few surplus 15 round GI mags and proceeded to have at least one failure to feed in each mag. I then bought a few Korean mags and replaced the recoil spring and the number of malfunctions dropped to almost zero. As always, Mr. Hackathorn is spot on. Great interview.

Circa 1968-1970 M1 & M2 carbines were issued to USAF security police stateside. I was at a SAC base & mine was an M-2 with a pristine blond stock. Standard carry was 60 rounds with 15 loaded when on post. The weapons were maintained by armory airmen when not carried.

Carried an M-1 carbine my first tour in Vietnam (11-67 to 11-68). Was issued an M-16 but turned it in. The damn thing was a piece of junk. Being a helicopter pilot, it was impossible to not be in a dusty area. We made dust every time we landed. My M-1 never failed to work when I needed it. and by that, I mean my life depended on it working or I could have been wounded or killed. I used the 30 round mags with 25 rounds of which the last three were tracers. When I finished my tour and passed the rifle on to another pilot. Have no idea what happened to it. Mine was a Singer Sewing Machine Company manufactured. During WW-II my mother was a final inspector for Singer on the M-1 carbine line. Did not know that until I came home from Vietnam during a slide show of my tour my mom told me of her war time service.

The people who dismiss the .30 Cal Carbine are the same people who say the .32 ACP has no stopping power-they just repeat things they heard to try and sound smart....

My Grandfather fought in Burma during the war, and he reckoned that, for the kind of fighting that they were often involved in, the M1 carbine was ideal. Vinegar Joe Stillwell gave General Slim an M1 as a present and after he'd tried it he made a point of getting hold of as many of them as he could for his troops. The semi-automatic action and the fifteen round box combined in the compact package were Ideal for shorter range jungle combat, and much more useful than the Lee Enfield was, even in it's jungle carbine format. An M1 and plenty of grenades, and a Tommy gun for the bloke on point and you were just about set according to Gramps. He said the same thing about the mags though. The insides rusted up very quickly in the humid conditions and they wouldn't work properly.

In the late 80's you could buy carbine magazines at gun shows for $1. In the original wrap, either brown paper or red cellophane. I bought 10 and thought that was enough. Boy, was I wrong!

Mine has always been super reliable, one of my most consistent guns. I for the longest time greased my carbine and Garand, an old ww2 vet told me about that, instead of using gun oil I used grease like for packing ball bearings. I changed the greese when I would get dark but I could run it for quite awhile off one cleaning and greasing, would run much longer than gun oil. I don't do that anymore because I found the grease collected to much metal dust and shavings so I figured it would cause wear long term, so now I use WD40 specialty lithium dry lube which is made for metal on metal lubrication at high heat, it drys into a film so it doesn't collect any dirt or metal dust (use lithium not silicon dry lube, silicon doesn't do well with heat). Not sure what makes the most sense scientificly. My carbine was made by Inland division of GM late war Era. The magazine is a big problem the extended banana mags don't work very well, I have 3 short mags that I got with the gun and those run fine, just about every other mag I've tried does not.

My dad bought me one in 1963 for deer hunting. It was military surplus and I absolutely loved it.

Never shot one but my dad, a WWII Vet, was the range NCO for the Engineer unit to which he was assigned in the late '50s, early '60s that used the M1 Carbine. As a boy, I got to watch him supervise the requalification of some members of his unit. It was not going well, with some failing to qualify. The excuse was, "These damned carbines... you can't hit the side of a Quonset Hut from ten feet away!" Dad gave his best grizzled top shirt look, growled and snatched the rifle away from the nearest guy. He had a target raised, walked up to the line, slapped in a magazine and started firing while weaving, ducking and doing some classic boxing sidesteps. He put all 15 in the black and handed the rifle back to the guy saying, "There's not a GD thing wrong with this rifle! Get back on the line!" After a short period of stunned silence, some chagrined GIs walked back up to the line and tried again. Dad was a good shooter, having been on various Army pistol teams in the '50s and we inherited a locker full of medals and trophies. I saw a different side of my dad that day. Wish I shot 25% as well as he did.

My M1carbine was my first gun. It had been arsenal refurbished and was purchased from Montgomery Ward department store for $50 right after the Korean War. It has an Underwood barrel and a Saginaw receiver with the round bolt and later sights. The buyer put it in his closet and never once fired it, and I was able to buy it from him for $200 in 1984 when I was still in high school. It was literally like brand new. I fired about 400 rounds a month through it for many years (initially generic Winchester commercial ball ammo, and later I reloaded using Speer 100-grain ‘plinkers’) and I honestly can’t remember having a single stoppage, either with 15- or 30-round magazines. I ‘parked’ it for about 20 years and just fired it again two weeks ago. 100 rounds, zero stoppages. It wasn’t as accurate as I remembered it to be, but that is probably a reflection of my lack of rifle experience and 20 years of eyes aging. I recall I used to get 3-inch groups at 100 yards (sometimes better) and now it’s more like 3-4 inch groups at 50 yards. I need more practice! I ran then gun soaking wet with Hoppe’s gun oil, which makes a bit of a mess but cuts down on wear and tear. It’s a lot of fun, highly recommended!

I am a Korean and served in the Reserve Army Training Unit from 1992 to 1993. Our battalion had in our arsenal a lot of M1 carbines, most of them were Underwood M1 Cabines with the "Tree" shape ingravings, and the M1 Garand rifles for reservists who had been living in our area. We also had some M79 grenade launchers with a lot of 40mm grenades, some M1919A6 light machine guns with a lot of ammo(10,000 rounds for each M1919A6 LMG), and some old mortars. Each spring, we cleaned the M1 Carbines from storage and stocked each gun's serial number on the cellophane tape. We had to use the cellophan tapes and the red oil markers with skill as their stamped rear sight assembly with the windage knob covered some part of their serial number ingravings, it was not an easy job. We didn't like the M1 carbine except that it was super light. This is because, during the Gwangju Uprising (Gwangju Massacre) that took place in our city in 1980, when I was a 2nd grade in elementary school, the citizen militia soldiers armed with the M1 carbines were unilaterally slaughtered by the ROK Army special forces armed with M16A1 rifles. Although many of the militiamen had completed their military service, the old M1 carbines used in World War II and the Korean War were no match for the modern M16A1 rifles. (It was before the Special Forces' standard firearms were switched from the M16A1 rifles to the K1A submachine guns. I've noticed that some prototype K1 submachine guns have been battle-tested against ordinary citizens during the Gwangju Democratization Movement.) The only guns that were available for the citizen militia were old M1 carbines, M1 Garand rifles, and M1919 machine guns. I had my reservist shooting training with the M1 Carbine in 1998 and 1999.(I was given a M16A1 for my reservist training from 1994 to 1997.) Due to the light weight of the M1 carbine, it has more recoil and bounces more than the M16A1 rifle when fired. Some carbines were too old at the time of firing and automatically disassembled as the wooden furniture had completely dried out. However, during the Korean War in 1950, when this carbines were normal, the M1 carbine was generally more stable than the M1 Garand rifle in harsh environments and loaded more ammunition than the M1 Garand rifle, which only had 8 rounds in the en-bloc, so it was a barrage in close combat. I found out that it was the weapon of choice for the South Korean special operations forces because it was easy to hit. (Two 30 rounds taped together is really preferred). In the 50s and 60s, Korean snipers in the DMZ could fire a pheasant in the head with an M1 carbine from a distance of 200 m without a scope when special meals were needed. However, the fate of the current reservists, who have to fight the Democratic People's Republic of Korea armed with modern automated AK-47 and AK-74 rifles with an aging World War II M1 carbine, will be as miserable as that of the militia soldiers in 1980. Fortunately, the ROKA has just finished replacing the push-and-run M1 carbines with the M-16A1 rifles as the new K2C1 rifles are available to front-line soldiers. Of course, those M16A1 rifles are only 600,000. Due to the contract with Colt Co. of the United States to produce, they were produced only until the early 1980s, so the fact that they are at least 40 years old is a big problem. At that time, Korea's technology was too low, so Korean M16A1 rifles were only M16A1 rifles in shape, but they had different surface treatment colors, were corroded, and had poor performance than the American made M16A1 rifles.

If the 30 carbine wasn't lethal enough, then why was it used in 3 major wars? He said knowingly.

I have always felt that the appeal about the M1 Carbine is that it just looks so damned good. There's not a line out of place,and the overall visual balance is perfect. It looks like a soldier's gun,and proved itself all through its working life.

My dad was a Marine Corps lieutenant in WW II. He loved the M1 carbine, although he never saw combat. He told me that he was a much better shot with the carbine than with the Garand rifle.

When you're a Luxembourger and just happy to be mentioned somewhere

My dad was a WWII vet. He carried the carbine from North Africa all the way into Germany. He loved it. Didn't have the stopping power of the Garand but was still a great gun.

I had two M1 carbines in my younger years. I sold them when I entered the Marine Corps. When the SKS rifles were cheap and plentiful, I bought a bunch of those and tested them all and kept the really good shooters, sold the rest. Wish I had an M1 carbine today.

There are ample pictures of Germans carrying M1 Carbines. Also a few pictures of Fallschirmjagers in the Mediterranean inspecting a M1928 Thompson, probably captured from the British.

In regards to mag reliability lemme tell you guys what I did to fix them. I bought 9 Korean mags with notches for the bolt to hold open. Initially they ran great but eventually over time my most used ones began to have feeding issues. Thats when I realized the notch in the mag to allow bolt hold open was the issue. When the bolt locked back and slammed into the notch it would nosedive the mag followers downward into the mag, it would weaken the springs enough and cause the bullets to nosedive in the mag when the bolt tried to pick one up. I went and bought like 20, 15 round mag springs and 9 original GI mag followers that didnt lock the bolt open on last shot and swapped them into my Korean mags as well as replace the springs in the ones that needed replacement and it did the trick! My mags run 100% and are noticeably more reliable than they were before. If a mag goes bad now, instead of buying an entirely new mag I swap a new spring into them and they're good as new. Springs are $4 versus $25 for a new mag.

Ken is one of my all-time gun guys. Thanks for giving us this interview, Ian. As an aside, the M1 Carbine is the only gun I want just because.

What an interesting guy! Wealth of knowledge and entertaining too. You should do more vids with him Ian!!

I guess a stoppage seems like much less of a big deal when the guys you are fighting are all having to run the bolt manually *every shot*.

My uncle was a scout in Patton's 3rd Army and he carried an M1 carbine.

I talked to a friend whose father was in the Nisei brigade. His dad originally had an M1 in 30-06. He came off the beach (Italy) with a M1 carbine and carried it through the rest of the war. After listening to Ken I can see why.

Mighty great information. Things I have never heard about the carbine before. Constantly throwing away used magazines and replacing with new magazines, constant oiling, and replacing well used recoil springs. Got it.... Many thanks, y'all.

My 1st Carbine was mostly IBM. I was 12 year old. Ammo was 1 cent per round. I pitched pennys at school so I could shoot on weekends. Have owned several over the years and have never had any problems. Oh yea, took that 1st one to school for Show & tell.

One of my carbine magazines I found in a bunker in Viet Nam. One of my few mementos from that conflict.

Another great and educational video. I had around 9 WW2 Veterans in my family and now they all now passed away since the past 20 years or so. Back then never occurred to me to ask any of them about the m1 carbine in 30 caliber, 30-06 Garand etc.... and other rifles they had during WW2, till watching this video now. Also did not know the 30 caliber m1 carbine was considered as the ar-15 or ak-47 back in the 1960's, like they are now days. Please keep up with the great educational video's !

i have a winchester 30 carbine that was spared the rebuild its in perfect condition.

I grew up reading articles written by Mr Hackathorn, it was a real pleasure to see him still kicking around imparting knowledge in today's world. Great video, I'd flat out love to own an M1 carbine and if it were possible, it'd probably be the second thing I bought after an AR-15.

I own a M1 Carbine, I have heard all the rumors and facts. My Grandfather used one in WWII and bragged about it and loved it. My father served in Vietnam and had guys as late as 1968 still using them with great effect in the jungle. I have used mine deer hunting with soft point ammo and out to 150 yards kills very dead as any rifle.

Great interview!! The wealth of information Mr. Hackathorn has is amazing, I could've listened all day! Thank you both. 👍🏽

6:05 "you could buy one of this thru the civilian market for about 20 bucks" it doesnt get any more merica' than that.

I love hearing from the older guys. I love the idea of documenting the knowledge. Thanks Ian.

Thanks for another great video, Ken and Ian. Like how it was unbiased on the pros and cons of the weapon. Always knew about short loading the 30 rounds magazines, because the spring was not strong enough to push the weight of all the cartridges up when fully compressed. Forgot who made the replacement spring that worked perfectly in them. Hope Mr. Hackathorn gets the chance to write a book on this weapon. If nothing else, those side stories are worth the book signing wait.

This is a fantastic episode! Please do more of these interviews as the opportunity presents itself, it's such a wonderful wealth of knowledge.

It really has the weight and feel of a ruger 10/22, an absolute featherweight for the cartridge it uses. I'll bet this factor gave everyone a bit of tolerance for the guns shortcomings.

Outstanding!!! Ken has forgotten more about firearms than many "experts" know. Nice to see a review from the shooters perspective, now if we could get Magpul to make some mags.....

Fantastic video, very informative. Love the casual conversation format.

I hope to see more of Ken. This was a really interesting episode. Thanks!

There's your next project then, an M1 carbine, new spring, decent mag and stress test it.

Carburetor cleaner can be used to clean a sticky gas tappet. Put your finger over the muzzle, and spray it in the chamber to fill the bore. The crud will dissolve shortly, and run out around the tappet. make sure to take it out of the stock first! Soft point ammo has trouble feeding. And if you can't zero the rifle, you may have the wrong front sight on it. There were two different heights- one for the early rear sight, and one for the later model.

My Dad was the Communications specialist in his company during WW2 Carried one from June 7th 44 until he was wounded in August 44.

Please do more videos with Ken! He has amazing insight. I really enjoy hearing him talk firearms.

I thoroughly enjoyed this video, and some truth on the M1 Carbine. There is a lot of second-hand accounts floating around out there. That little rifle has always intrigued me. Thank you for interviewing Ken and sharing his insights on this great piece of American history!

My dad fought in Korea, he swore by his M2. He said he had a choice between a Thompson or the M2. He said the cycle speed and ease of manuovering was Great! He said it could cut a man in half in a close fight.

This was a great interview and discussion, thanks Ian!

Great conversation. Thanks for sharing this. Mine has an L sight and the Windage is spot on. Very few, nearly no, stoppages with good mags. Love these little guns.

FINALLY!!! Somebody said it! I grew up in the cool gun transition period, with the American public, from carbine to ar, got my first ar in 77.. Huge respect for the carbine in it's intended purpose. This conversation mirrors many I had with WWII and Korean war veterans that saw heavy fighting.. Always raised an eyebrow when I would hear the, " I put a whole mag in the enemy and he just kept coming!" thing... Thought to myself either you can't shoot or your a liar..

I had one and agree completely - replace the springs, buy new Korean 15 round mags and spend the money on good ammo (even Armscor is OK to get the reloadable brass). I also replaced the safety and mag release with later, better, versions. Really delightful little rifle and I miss it. My Rossi lever action Cowboy Assault Rifle does come close though :D

I don't have guns as I live in the UK but I do have an interest in them, this channel shows so many different weapons I'm literally spoilt for choice, loads of info and well done videos. This one was great listening to another person who, like Ian, has a good knowledge of what he's talking about from first hand experience and talking to the veterans who carried and used the weapon in combat, a place where all weapons get put to the test and are usually used above and beyond what they're expected to. Kee up the great work and thank you.

Every day is a school day, even for Ian. Great interview. Having said that, given Ian's class, his humility is very endearing. Two top blokes. (Great comnents too)

Literally the exact same advice I was given for running the M16 reliably when I was in the Marines. Keep the gun lubricated, she needs to be wet, and download magazines to 27-25 rounds.

I have a new manufacture Inland- beautiful execution and smooth function! It came with just one problem - an untuned magazine. As with virtually all untuned M-1 mags, they tend to miss feed from the right side, when full, or near so. The round will swing hard left and jam against the receiver just lateral to the chamber. This is due to feed friction between bolt and cartridge rim combined with lack of feed lip contact on the case body along both sides. Tuning carbine mags is quite easy once the process and rationale is understood. The front half of the right lip needs to be gently coaxed downward until it lays fully along the case body. This, combined with the left side cartridge controls the round as it chambers. The left side lip seldom needs adjustment, but when it does the process is the same. I started with the factory 10rd, two 15’s, and 3, rather pricey Fulton Armory 30’s. Only one fed reliably - a 15rd. So I examined it to learn the “secret” and applied it to the others. Believe it or not ALL my M-1 carbine mags are reliable feeders! I have a suspicion that the same feed problems came with original mags, but were sorted out by unit armorers, because once understood, M-1 carbine mags are quickly “tuned” and work just fine. Mine feed Armscor brass, Wolf steel, and reloaded mixed without a hitch. Originally I hated those FA 30’s that seemed like a total rip-off, but about 30 seconds after I fixed them, I really began to enjoy their nice finish and premium construction! Like many aspects of purchasing guns and accessories in the modern era, factories spend little if any time refining details under the premise that most of a given product will work without issue. The rest will either send back for warranty work, or sort it out themselves. I do find it disconcerting in the internet age so see such negative piling on regarding MANY things gun related, and so many who simply “me too” rather than invest themselves into actually knowing how to improve their guns, or tune their mags. Fact is, I’ve never handled an unreliable M-1 carbine, only unreliable MAGAZINES. I have a friend with an Auto Ordnance M-1 that he thought had problems until I tuned his mags...now his carbine is reliable. Be nice to see a little more commentary from people who figure out solutions, and less “me too” negative piling on that unfairly maligns a perfectly fine product because of an easily understood and correctable issue.

Thank you so much for sharing this history. Just inherited one. While very experienced with fire arms, this was a first introduction into the platform. Immediately took it apart to clean it. I found what i suspect as the original factory grease used for long term storage. With modern poly lubes, it has shot flawlessly. To support the idea of "it needs to be wet to work". The rear strap mount is actually a oil canisters. Take the strap out and it will fall out. Untwist the top and wallah. Oil supply. I appreciate the history lesson from your grandparents farm. Knowledge we need to keep sharing. !!! Thank you sir.

Awesome show! I hae often thought about my father carrying the M1 carbine in WWII. He was on a machine gun team in the European theater in the 1st Infantry Div. And, as I follow many blogs about WWII weapons this story piqued my interest. I was very happy to see that this gun had a much better reputation at the time than it has earned from the post war knock-offs. Thank you for putting this post together.

My Grandfather is a Korean war vet, he loves the 30 carbine. He now owns one and I've never seen his malfunction.

Hey Guys! I got some news for you, I discovered a defect on the M1 carbine! This defect is in most of the carbines back to the first ones, the mags are not the problem, a lug was cut out beneath the feed ramp which allows the mag to drop as much as 1/8th inch which causes the bullet to get caught on the feed ramp ( a little JB Weld ) in that cut out will fix that address this for all our Veterans please

Super informative as always. Also, great interview as Ian allowed Ken to speak without talking over him or trying to match his knowledge.

I received a M-1 carbine from my father when I was very young (1970s) and from then until recently (I am no longer able to get out), it never has mis-fed. Same magazine but it was a short 15 round mag. It was six years before I found out I should clean it. Loved it!

I had a Plainfield M1 carbine I bought new in the early 70's. Paid $90. I shot that thing so much that I had to learn to reload to keep it fed. I never had a single stoppage that wasn't the result of one of my bad reloads. I loved that gun. It must have been one of the good ones. Wish I still had it.

Putting new springs in surplus firearms should be SOP. I just put Wolff springs in my Rockola....👍👍

As I remember Audie Murphy used a M1 carbine. He liked the trigger so much when it got damaged he wired the stock together and kept using it.

Nice to do another piece with this guy. Talks really well, and is engaging to listen to.

Look up the video of Hickock 45 shooting the carbine at 200 yards. He was amazed at how forcefully the round knocked down the steel targets. Audie Murphy's favorite weapon was the carbine.

My late stepfather was a paratrooper in WW2, 82nd airborne. He dropped at Normandy, Italy, Holland and was in the battle of the bulge. They carried this gun I believe.

The pickle barrel is my favorite story. So, a mentor of mine when I was kid, was a Ranger Captain in Vietnam, wounded. He told me that when he was a kid in New Jersey in the 1950s, there was a pickle barrel at the local town's barber shop. The barrel was filled with p38's, 08 lugers and other pistols from the War. The sign on the side of the barrel said: '$5 - $10s, your choice, see the barber'...….Damn....Old School.....

I found this to be a very fascinating interview. Thank you!

As said by many vets across the entire history of mankind, across all known forms of combat involving humans: Enemies may come and go but fatigue is a constant threat.

you can tell that larry vickers spends A LOT of time around ken. his idiosyncrasies, his mannerisms, his cadence. pretty funny.

excellent, informative video! i love learning the weapon in context with the times! Thank you!

One of the most interesting videos of the past 24 months, IMO. Thanks Ian and Ken!

What a particularly interesting video, bravo!

Very interesting thanks for that Ian and Ken.

Thanks for an interesting and KNOWLEDGEABLE interview on an iconic weapon.

I met Ken back in 1988 or so when he was here with Terry Allison and the Cactus League. It only took 5 minutes for us to tell that he was legit and a nice guy also. I have one of those Korean lend lease carbines. It needed a few parts and some TLC because it looked to have been shot in a dry state. A lot! It is a beauty now and holds a permanent spot in my safe. Side note, in 1967, my high school put on a play, "LIL Abner". As a supporting actor I needed to bring my own props to the play. A 12Ga single shot shotgun. I had it in my locker and took it home weekends. I was on the ROTC Rifle team and went shooting twice per week during the day. Imagine that today when even drawing a picture of a gun can get you kicked out of school.

I never owned an M1 Carbine, but I’m quite fond of my Mini-14. It is quite reliable.

13:12 I now fully intend to incorporate "Japanamese" into my everyday vocabulary

25 years ago, when I picked up a Korea re-import carbine, I stumbled on that replace the recoil spring advice. lots of feed and ejection problems with the spring that came with it. After putting in a much more robust replacement, the problems went away. Ken Hackathorn knows what he's talking about. (No surprise there)

Dad was issued an M1 carbine during WWII, as a Radio Operator for a Field Artillery Forward Observation team in the European Theatre. He liked his, talked about taping two mags together, replacing them whenever possible, and keeping it clean and oiled.

Love my Auto Ordinance M1. I put an ultimak picatinny rail on, with a red dot, and a side mounted surefire light, My favorite SHTF gun 4 sure!

MOST INTERESTING !! The M-1 carbine was my Dad's choice in the Korea 1951-1953.

Excellent video! Two very knowledgeable gentlemen having a great conversation about an awesome gun!

Awesome video Ian!! Excellent nuggets of insight into the venerable M1 Carbine!!!

I have used and carried an M1 Carbine since USAF basic training in 1963. Carried daily while serving and was a personal firearm carried for nearly 30 years of Law Enforcement service. I have both an Inland and an Underwood that are both reliable and accurate out to reasonable distances. I have always found the Carbine to be reliable and trustworthy. I wouldn't want to be shot with one.

I can offer what I know. GI 15 round mags work best, avoid no name or anything with softly defined edges, for 30 rd mags, the only that work well that I have found are stamped with a letter J. Ammo, real Lake City surplus or carefully made handloads, 296 powder, you decide on charge, no white box, yellow box or fake LC berdan bullshit. In the eighties there became available a high speed recoil spring, never knew who made it or where it came from , but it really helped where a better mainspring was needed. The arm wants some grease on sliding surfaces, place a dab where metal shines. Parting shot... many of the invincible Chinese were shot at by someone in excitement using one of the front sight wings for the front sight. Great vid Ian, love you

I qualified with the Garand, the 1911 A1 pistol, the M-1 carbine, and the .38 caliber Smith & Wesson Combat Masterpiece from 1952 until retired from the USAF Office of Special Investigations in 1974. My favorites were the Combat Masterpiece and the M-1 carbine. About 5 years ago, I purchased an Auto Ordinance M-1 Carbine. I initially thoroughly cleaned and lubricated the weapon, as I always do upon purchasing a weapon. I took it to the range and fired 1 magazine, then ran an oiled patch through the barrel; then I repeated that procedure until it stopped malfunctioning. If I fire a weapon, I always clean and lubricate it before putting it away. I am 87 years old, so my eyesight is no longer as sharp it once was. So, I have installed an optical sight and a bipod on the M-1. Now I can still hold a 2" to 3" group at 100 yards with my M-1 carbine. I often outshoot younger men shooting the AR-15 platform.

I watched this video when it came out two years ago, went back to it now because I just brought home my first Carbine. Good info from Ken and glad to hear he likes the Inlands!