Back in the days before social media, internet and any more than 3 channels on the TV. And without the shops all being open on a Sunday, people would sit around the tv with a cup of tea and some freshly made biscuits that your mother had just taken out of the oven all ready to watch the afternoon war film. And one of the stars of those films was this little fella,
The Springfield Armory M1 Carbine.
Time for me to show my age again and have most of the younger viewers start to think I was probably around with the dinosaurs....Well I admit to being somewhat older than some, but not as old as the original M1 Carbine....
This sounds History lesson time to me......
As I’ve already hinted at, this was a very popular gun in WW2,
It was designed between 1938-1941 and was produced by the us military between 1942 and 1945 with over 6.1 million of them being produced, incidentally each one cost 45 US dollars at the time. after this period of time production moved to normal commercial companies and is still being made today. It was made at the request of the US military because they were looking for something smaller than the M1 Garand and more flexible in closer quarters.
It was made in several versions and like most weapons evolved during its lifetime from the M1 , M2 and the M3 versions. This the M1 version was semi automatic with 15 or 30 round box magazines using .30 calibre rounds rather than the 30-60 rounds of its bigger sibling the M1 grand. This did mean the ammunition was lighter, add to the lighter gun itself at around 5.2 lbs empty or 2.4kg and this meant it was possible to carry more rounds of ammunition into the theatre of war. It was short at 900mm or 35.6” and had an effective range of about 300 yds. It was fitted with open sights and it wasn’t until version 3 that a scope was fitted. At the time this was an option for the troops along with the Thompson, but the Thompson was a lot heavier, but of course had fully automatic capability. The bayonet fitting point on the end was only added late to the M1, around 1944.
One of the complaints about this was that it didn’t seem to have enough stopping power even from the .30 calibre rounds and troops were often complaining they’d put a couple of rounds into the enemy and they were still coming. It did indeed only have about a third of the power of the M1 Garand.
So is this BB version from air Venturi a decently accurate version, let’s take a look shall we. As always, the walk around.
It is 910mm long, which makes it slightly longer than the original, but not by a lot, it certainly Doesn’t feel like it is as heavy as the original, and when you put it on the scales it only hits 2.27 kgs or just over 5 lbs fully loaded, which is very close to the original weight unloaded.
The difference is mainly going to be from the shaved off weight from the faux wood stock finish, indeed the heaviest part feels like the 15 round magazine which also carries the single 12g co2 capsule. The 15 round count does match the originals capacity, but of course this is 4.5mm .177 calibre.
From the front the barrel sports a replica of the open iron sights which are non adjustable, moving back we come to the bayonet mount which tells us this is probably a replica of the later model. Moving further back we come to that faux wood stock, which from a distance looks pretty good, a wooden stock would give it a little more of a realistic look, feel and weight. Their is a strap holder on the front also, which mates up with the cut away in the butt end of the stock.
I must say I would be very interested in trying the real wood stock version, but this is naturally going to add to the overall cost, and with this gun costing around £250 U.K. it is an affordable replica for a spot of nostalgic ownership and some fun plinking, and this is fun with its semi automatic action.
In the middle section we find the rear open sights which are adjustable for windage, but sadly the elevation adjustment is for show only.
The underside has the box magazine we mentioned earlier. To release this press the catch on the right hand side and this will drop straight out. This catch is just infront of the safety, which is a small, but quite efficient little thing and can be used with your trigger finger, certainly for the right handed shooters amongst us.
To load the co2, either use the supplied hex key or a coin, remove the screw, drop in the co2 and tighten. Then pull back on the slide, lock into place, I do like it when you can lock these things rather than loose several finger ends trying to hold it down and load it. Drop the BBs in through the cut out, once loaded up, release the spring, return the magazine to the gun with that satisfying clunk as it sits home and your ready for the fun. One thing to do here is show you the bolt action, because you need to pull back on this to cock it, that action alone is really satisfying and it’s after doing this the fun really starts. Because the icing on the cake here is the blowback action, yes this is a blowback system. And it feels really great with quite a little punch to it.
It will fire BBs down range as fast as you can pull the trigger and it doesn’t take long at all until your ready for a reload, so get your supply of BBs ready, oh, and considering this has a really great blowback action, you don’t get through the 12g co2’s as often as you think it would, and you should easily get 4 reloads in before the power drops off.
The one thing I would have loved to see would have been a lock open after last shot, but sadly it doesn’t have one, but it certainly isn’t a deal breaker.
Talking about power, the makers claim 425 feet per second, but this is often only achievable with ultra lightweight ammo, so let’s check this claim out shall we.
Using standard steel 4.5mm BBs weighing 5.37 grains, this saw 431 fps straight out the box. So no light weight specials required, this is one of those rare occasions that it actually does what it says on the box. Well done Air Venturi.
Well, we know what power it kicks out, but can it hit anything, outside at 20m to start with let’s take a look shall we. Not bad at all for a BB gun in the hands of someone who struggles with open sights because of glasses. but let’s stretch it out now and try some tin cans, which is what it’s really about. Excellent, never mind target work, this is about real plinking fun, and it’s made even better with the semi auto and that blowback action.
Incidentally if you need to check if there is a bb in the gun, you can pull back on the action and lock it into place also using the small pin in the top. Which is another nice thoughtful design.
Conclusion......
You know there is only one thing better than a nice cup of tea with shortbread biscuits infront of the fire watching an old war film on a Sunday afternoon.
That is being able to go outside with the star of the film, the M1 Carbine and relive those scenes shooting the enemy, the army of tin cans about to take away our liberty.....
This really has been great fun and would be fun for the whole family. And it’s really not much more than a decent co2 pistol cost wise. Be warned, you will need to get your supply of co2’s in and plenty of bb, it’s quite addictive.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this as much as I have, I’m off to have some more fun with this and hopefully I’ll see you all next week. Stay safe, shoot safe and thank you so much for watching, bye for now.
Watch the full review here: https://youtu.be/6Eof5jGInBQ