By Mike Schoby
If memory serves correct, I was about 13, school was blessedly out for the summer, and for some reason my dad’s duck hunting and fishing buddy decided I should take temporary possession of his military M1 Carbine to keep me occupied over the break. I honestly can’t recall if he smuggled it back from the war, or if it was a CMP gun, or if it was given to him as payment for a debt.
I was too ignorant to see if it was an Inland, Rock-Ola, or Winchester … looking back I wish I would have been smart enough to check. All I know came with an OD green military ammo can full of hard ball (which my dad’s buddy instructed me was old and all needed to be shot up … SIR, YES SIR!), a green webbing sling, and dual 15-round magazine pouches loaded with magazines. It was the first semi-auto, centerfire, detachable mag, “Assault Rifle” I had ever shot. Pulling the trigger made me grin, and I remember thinking two things at once. First, this thing weighs nothing. Second, I want one.
That feeling never really left. The M1 Carbine is one of those rare guns that is more fun than it has any right to be. It isn’t the most powerful thing in the safe, nor the most accurate. But when you shoulder one, something clicks. It feels like the gun was built by people who had to carry it all day and while remote might possibly need to shoot someone in the face with it.
So, when Auto-Ordnance announced this summer that it was lopping six inches off the barrel, threading the muzzle and calling it an SBR, I had the same reaction I had as a kid. I want one. Luckily being 50-something versus 13, turning that want into a reality was just a credit card away.
Now that I’ve spent some time with it, the question is whether buying it was a sound decision or just nostalgia talking.