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| Correct M1 Carbine Gas Piston |
Interesting thing I ran into today. A fellow had an M1 Carbine (not the rifle) that had been "converted to manual action". He wanted it converted back to semi-auto. It had the original gas piston nut and we couldn't, at first, get the gas piston out of the gun. A little soak in Kroil worked wonders and what we discovered was that the original gas piston had been replaced with one of the units from S&K. I'm not a huge M1 Carbine fan, and haven't ever owned one nor did I have to work with or on them while in the service. So, I learned a lot today.
It will be an easy fix. All that is needed is the correct gas piston and the gun should operate as intended.
Now, why did somebody do this? Well the owner said it was to comply with New Jersey law but I've been told that New Jersey law does NOT prohibit semi-automatic rifles. We thought perhaps it was to comply with a hunting regulation such as those in Pennsylvania which don't allow semi-auto firearms. We just don't know why this particular gun was altered.
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| 1969 Ad for the Gas Piston Dummy |
Why, you're probably asking yourself, did/do some states prohibit semi-automatic firearms for hunting? I believe it was a misguided attempt to cut the "game hogs" off at the knees and to prevent one shooter from killing all the deer a large hunting party might be licensed to kill. In other words, it was intended to reduce deer kills. I don't know why it might still be in effect, but old "traditions" die hard.
Another possibility regarding the prohibition of semiautos for hunting is to prevent folks from "spraying and praying". Some places allow semi-autos but limit magazine capacity to five rounds when using them for hunting. This was true in Missouri at one time, if I recall correctly. I thought about using my SKS (or letting one of the nieces/nephews use it) but would have to block the magazine to five rounds for it to be legal. The idea behind Missouri's law was safety, from what I understood about it way back when.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention - cool little carbine. Having it limited to manual operation is not a bad idea when shooting with kids or when you plan on reloading the brass. I've done something similar with the SKS by simply removing the rod from the gas system. It shoots fine - as a straight pull bolt action.
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