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The Garand v the Universal

Discussion in 'Small Arms and Edged Weapons' started by rebel-lieutenant, May 3, 2015.

  1. rebel-lieutenant

    rebel-lieutenant New Member

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    I have been considering buying an M1 manufactured by Universal Firearms in Hialeah, FL from a friend of mine. Upon my research I have learned that this particular rifle was manufactured between the years 1961 and 1984 in Hialeah before moving to Jacksonville, AR in 1985 - 1986.
    During its time in Hialeah the serial numbers 100000 - 481000 were issued with this particular rifle's being 422***. So I'm assuming it was manufactured sometime between 1982 and 1984. Being a commercial civilian model my question is if anyone knows if the bayonet lug from a Garand M1 can be fitted to the Universal M1?
    • 100000 - 481000
    • 100000 - 481000
     
  2. formerjughead

    formerjughead The Cooler King

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    Totally different set up. The bayonet lug on the Carbine is part of the barrel band and the lug on the Garand it part of the gas tube and front sight. to make it work you would need to put the Garand assembly over the barrel of the carbine and that's just not a good idea.
     
  3. Dave55

    Dave55 Member

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    Right. Are you sure you aren't confusing M1 Garand and M1 Carbine? Like formerjughead said, they are completely different rifles with no interchangeable parts at all
     
  4. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    Yeah, he has...Universal only made M-1 carbines in various calibers.

    From what I gather, this is a third gen.m-1 carbine, and Universal Firearms started messing with the M-1 carbine design in the second gen. You would have to do some research as US government issue parts may or may not fit/work with a second or third gen. Universal M-1 carbine.
     
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  5. KodiakBeer

    KodiakBeer Member

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    Takao nailed it. The early Universal carbines were almost entirely made of USGI parts and are pretty good little rifles. As the parts dried up, they began making their own stuff, but instead of just copying the USGI parts they tried various shortcuts and experiments and the later models are considered very spotty. I'd pass on that very late model.

    If you don't want to pay collector rates for an authentic carbine, a couple of companies are making pretty good copies. You can google up Fulton Armory and Auto-Ordnance.
     
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  6. George Patton

    George Patton Canadian Refugee

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    The Universal models are hit or miss, and some consider the 3rd generation ones to be downright unsafe. Your serial number falls into the 3rd generation range. Look up "firing out of battery Universal M1" before spending your money on it. I wouldn't buy one, but the decision is yours of course. If you still want to buy it, I believe the Universal barrels have the same OD as the GI barrels, so the bayonet lug should still fit.

    FWIW, save up and get a USGI model. There's a few "buy it nows" on GunBroker in the $850-900 range. Alternatively, you can look into getting a Auto Ordnance reproduction. I don't own one, but I've shot one before and its a very nicely made little rifle that's basically identical to a USGI one. There's a few on GunBroker for $650.
     

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