King Arms M1 Carbine CO2 GBBR Replica

The Real M1 Carbine

The M1 Carbine is the original PDW, designed to equip behind-the-lines troops, vehicle crews, medics and engineers with a handy, lightweight carbine which could easily be carried, and was a considerable improvement over the 1911 pistols carried previously. The 1911 is only effective out to around 25 meters, and the M1 Carbine could do the job at up to 100, making it the perfect defence against paratroopers and behind the lines raids from special forces.

The Carbine went on to be issued to bazooka teams and artillery units, and also found its way into general issue due to its portability and low recoil, though it was no replacement for the M1 Garand at longer ranges. Paratroopers would eventually adopt a version of the M1 Carbine, and a variant with full automatic capability was later developed in the form of the M2 Carbine. Both the M1 and M2 went on to serve through the Korean War and were retired during the Vietnam conflict, being replaced by the M16A1.

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The King Arms M1 Carbine GBBR

King Arms has done a fantastic job with their M1 Carbine, both in its visual accuracy to the real deal and in its impressive performance and exciting fully functional GBBR action. This M1 Carbine replica is constructed almost entirely from aluminium and real wood, with a few steel trim parts thrown in, and feels absolutely fantastic to hold, imitating the real Carbine's remarkably low weight and superb handling faithfully.

Starting at the tip of the outer barrel we can find there are no threads, so uncivilised CQB skirmishers cannot ruin this historical piece with a tracer unit. Thank goodness! Next up we come to the front sight, which is protected on either side with protective wings with a circular cut-out to let more light in.

The front sight itself is a fine blade style sight which aligns perfectly with the adjustable rear sight at the back of the receiver. The sight picture on the M1 Carbine is very effective, similar to an M14 or M1 Garand, offering a very precise adjustable aperture at the rear which lends itself perfectly to accurate semi-automatic fire.

Next up, we reach the bayonet lug, which was actually a late-war addition to the M1 Carbine based on requests received from troops in the field. The real M1 Carbine mounted the M4 bayonet, which was based on the M3 fighting knife originally issued with the bayonet lug-less original early war M1 Carbine. We don't have an M4 bayonet to test this out so we can't confirm whether the lug is functional, but it is nonetheless a great addition to the impressive realism of this M1 Carbine replica.

Moving rearwards we arrive at the front barrel band and sling swivel, both of which are constructed from steel for extra strength and flexibility over alloy. This part has an authentic gun metal grey finish which adds some subtle contrast to the overall look of the Carbine and makes it that bit more real looking.

The sling swivel is designed to be used in conjunction with an M1 Carbine sling which uses an oil bottle to retain the sling inside the rear sling slot. Other slings could be added to the Carbine with a bit of crafty paracord work if you are unable to source a replica sling.

Following the front barrel band, we come to the stock of the Carbine, which is known as the late war "pot belly" stock, which has a wider and more ergonomic front end and was added to M1 Carbines during wartime production to increase the strength of the stock and make it more comfortable to hold. This stock shape is what gives the Carbine its iconic silhouette, and is a big part of what makes it so recognisable.

As previously mentioned, the stock and the handguard/heatshield are both constructed from real wood, and the finish on this wood is absolutely flawless. You would be hard-pressed to find a real M1 Carbine that looks this fresh today, but this is how they must have looked coming out of the Inland/General Motors factory during WWII, and it looks great. If you want to make this carbine scruffy for a well-used look, you can, but we are glad King Arms didn't make this the default!

The upper portion of the stock, known as the handguard or heatshield has a groove running down the centre to allow for the front and rear sights to align. The geometry of this groove matches well with late war M1 Carbines, tying the whole piece together with authentic, historically accurate details. The handguard also makes a nice place to brace the thumb when shooting, almost like a modern C-clamp grip, and makes the M1 Carbine a pleasure to shoot and manipulate.

Over on the right side of the stock/handguard, we can see a cut-out just before the receiver. This cut-out is for the M1 Carbine's charging handle to protrude through in a similar manner to an M1 Garand. There are no common parts between the M1 Carbine and the M1 Garand, though the former was based on a budding replacement for the M1 Garand, the Winchester M2, and had similar controls to make it more familiar to G.I's who were primarily using M1 Garands prior to the Carbine.

The receiver of the M1 Carbine is constructed entirely from aluminium, as is the bolt and charging handle. This makes for an incredibly satisfying action noise when the Carbine is fired in typical GBBR style. With each shot, the charging handle and bolt reciprocate to load the next round, with some violent yet not over-the-top recoil, just like the real Carbine.

What is even cooler is that the bolt of the King Arms M1 Carbine rotates slightly when the charging handle is pulled back or cycles from firing, appropriately imitating the rotating bolt action of the real Carbine. This is a lovely touch for realism, and little details like this show that King Arms had the right idea when designing this Carbine, focussing on realism and historical accuracy in their builds.

The charging handle is located on the right side of the Carbine, and the other controls surround the trigger guard, making this old-school rifle slightly more modern in handling than one might assume. The fire selector/safety is the late war rotary safety design, and is located on the right side of the trigger guard and is easily reached from a firing grip. The magazine release is located just forward of the safety and is a push-button design which works similarly to an M4/AR15. When the magazine release is pressed the mag will drop free, and is rather heavy, so make sure you get a hand on it and don't let it fall!

While the Carbine does not have a last-round bolt hold open feature, there is the ability to manually lock the bolt to the rear to clear jams and inspect the chamber built into the charging handle itself. To lock the bolt to the rear you will need to pull the bolt back to its rearmost position, hold the small protruding button on the top of the charging handle, and gently release the bolt with the button held down, and it should lock into place. To release the bolt again, simply power stroke the charging handle (pull it back) and the bolt will fly forward into battery. This is another feature which is a perfect replica of the real Carbine's functionality. Reenactors and history buffs alike will love this M1 Carbine!

Being able to lock the bolt back also makes accessing the HOP-up adjuster far easier. The adjuster is located above the chamber and is accessible when the charging handle is locked or held back. This is the "grub key" style of adjuster and requires a small Allen key to adjust, though it has the benefit of being able to hold its setting for far longer under the recoil of a GBBR action which should make this Carbine quite the potent primary at longer ranges.

The rear sight is located at the top rear of the receiver and is a fine aperture sight with adjustability for windage built into the sight base. To adjust windage simply turn the knurled knob at the right side of the sight and you can move the sight aperture either left or right. The windage adjustment knob turns with audible and tactile clicks, and just beneath the rear aperture, you can see engraved markings which allow you to keep track of your adjustments, and find the central position again with ease.

As we arrive at the stock of the M1 Carbine we can take note of the massive hole in either side. This is the rear sling slot and was designed to work with an M1 Carbine specific sling which uses an oil bottle to retain the sling inside this rear slot. Replicas of this sling are available for relatively cheap (put M1 Carbine replica sling into your favourite search engine), but if you want to use a sling you already own we suggest running a loop of paracord through this sling slot and affixing your sling to that, and the front sling swivel, which is conventional in design.

The Carbine's stock is shorter than it might look on images which makes the M1 very quick to shoulder, and easy to manipulate without getting caught on gear. Short though it may be, the stock and grip setup is very comfortable and stays securely on your shoulder with the help of its textured aluminium butt plate.

The short stock length was one of the aspects of the M1 Carbine design that made it well suited to easy carrying and use for armoured vehicle crews, it just so happens that this sits nicely in line with modern shooting doctrine and the more squared off shooting stances modern shooters tend to use.

Out of the box, the M1 Carbine shoots rather hot, averaging around 400 FPS with the first few shots coming out at around 420. This will likely come down a bit when the HOP-up is set, putting this semi-automatic rifle squarely in the "DMR" skirmish rule set. We advise you to check with your local site before bringing the Carbine along that this will be allowed, and use the Carbine together with a pistol or other sidearm to help deal with threats within M.E.D (minimum engagement distance). The Carbine makes use of 15rnd real capacity CO2 magazines, making it ideal for more serious WWII events with magazine cap limits.

So, whether you run an old-school re-enactment loadout from WWII, the Korean War or the Vietnam war, the M1 Carbine would make a fine primary weapon, boasting perfectly faithful late war Carbine externals, beautiful real wood furniture and the authentic and immersive blowback experience of a CO2 powered GBBR. Even if you run a modern loadout, this rifle would look great with a rebel style kit or a sci-fi post-apocalypse setup, and give you some great long range functionality with its high FPS semi-automatic action.

Features

• Full metal construction
• Beautiful real wood stock
• Steel front barrel band and sling swivel
• 2.6KG with the magazine - Bang on the weight of the real M1 Carbine
• 17-inch barrel - DMR potential?
• Semi-auto only - 400FPS average, definitely DMR potential!
• Aperture iron sights - Adjustable for windage via rear sight
• Trigger/Action lock rotary safety - The rifle cannot be cocked with the safety is on
• Sling slot in the stock - Perfect for replica M1 Carbine slings
• Grub key adjustable HOP-up - Located inside the action, above the barrel
• Push button magazine release - Well within reach of the trigger finger in a firing grip
• Bayonet lug included - Real world accurate for late production M1 Carbines
• Round bolt upper surface - Real world accurate for late production M1 Carbines
• "Pot belly" stock - Wider, more ergonomic stock from late production M1 Carbines

Package Includes

• King Arms M1 Carbine GBBR Replica
• King Arms M1 Carbine 15rnd CO2 Magazine
• User manual

Special Instructions

As it comes, the M1 Carbine shoots at approximately 400 FPS +/- 10%, with the first few shots reading around 420. This should come down a bit when the HOP-up is set, but we advise that you check with your local skirmish site that you can use it within their DMR rules before bringing the Carbine along.