Project Appleseed

In latest gun news from law professors--shiny brand new M1 carbines are a-coming!   
http://www.saysuncle.com/2012/03/26/time-travel/

http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/21/m1-carbine/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZPIqS87L7zM

I like that they don't seem to be planning on any price-gouging either!

Little bit confused -- hasn't Auto-Ordnance been making M1 Carbine clones for decades?

I've seen ads for them in our local sporting goods stores for years. 

Here's Old Painless describing his 1991 Iver Johnson clone.

I don't think you can beat a dropped forged USGI inspected receiver and interchangeable parts. Some of the civilian parts don't swap out with USGI parts. I had rather pay more for the real thing than a copy. With USGI you can feel the history when you hold it. Several company's have made the Carbine copy though the years.

I thought the IMI carbine clones were pretty good. 

I remember gun shows when they couldn't give M1 carbines away at $300, then the "Band of Brothers" craze hit.

Springfield Armory made a USGI  clone receiver a few years back.  Coupled  w/ a GI parts kit, they are as good as an original.

At an MSRP of $575 for the Kahr/AO carbine clone, add another $25 and you can get a S&W M&P M-4 in 5.56x45

Buying it on the instructor discount I think makes the M-4  cheaper than the Kahr carbine.

I have worked on one of the new AO carbine. Less than a box of ammo through it and already it was showing severe battering of the bolt and the op rod.

I would not purchase one based on the quality I saw.

I own a March 1944 Inland Division 30 Carbine. There is no comparison.

Amen brother! USGI Too bad the cheap mil-sup ammo has dried up.

Very fond of my own CMP '43 Standard Products.

There's no reason why a manufacturer couldn't make a really good clone, however.  It might not be cheap, but it isn't like riflemaking is a lost art.  Is it just quality of materials / cast vs. forged / MIM parts issues that hold back the modern copies?  Who makes the best clone?

The IMI clones were pretty good, at least the ones I handled some years back.

Howa of Japan made a run of clones for the Thai police back in the sixties/seventies, IIRC.   Those came in as surplus in the late 80's/early 90's.  Slightly different appearance from USGI, but functioned well.  They were inexpensive at the time, but now rival WW II USGI due to rarity.

some time back, Springfield Armory, Inc. made receivers for about $60, parts kits were $200-300, the end product was as good as USGI,  the bonus being that they had brand new barrels.

Some of the early Iver Johnson  were 100% USGI parts, minus the receiver.  People would buy them and strip them for parts.    The carbines were dubbed "The Hialeah Hand Grenade", after the town in Florida where they were made, coupled with an annoying tendency to allegedly self-disassemble at the range.

so I would rank them as follows:

100% USGI

Springfield Inc. rcvr + GI parts

Howa

IMI

everything else - I would avoid these unless you've got a gunsmith handy, they might be valuable as parts

USGI carbines are almost always mixmasters of different manufacturers parts, either as a result of post-war rebuild programs, or because they were originally made that way.  Over 6 million carbines were made between 1942-45.  The companies involved shipped parts back and forth will-nilly in order to meet production quotas.  90% of carbines were given away as military aid post-WWII, the last shipment of ONE-HUNDRED-THOUSAND being made to Mexico, under the direct orders of Bill Clinton, in order to keep them out of the clutches of the CMP.  I'm sure the Mexican narcotrafficantes have since put them to good use.

That article is a reprint from about 10 years ago.

Just FYI I had a  Rock-o-la carbine back in the day. Can't believe I sold it. 

My only saving grace is that I currently have  a Winchester made in Oct of 44 all original parts.

BTW, Plainfield and Universal also made carbines. I believe Plainfield sold their machinary to Iver Johnson who made them for awhile.