Quote:
Originally Posted by acrosome
If you want an "assault weapon" that is likely to be found in civilian hands the M1 carbine fits the bill, especially with a 30-round magazine. (I seem to recall that they were often seen on the hands of Bad Guys on the old SWAT TV show.) They are also notoriously easy to convert to full-auto by the simple expedient of filing the sear down a bit, and in fact will often turn full-auto spontaneously when the sear gets worn through normal use. In such a state they cannot fire in semi-auto. Conversely, great steps were taken to ensure that the many civilian AR15s could not be so easily converted- for instance Colt sold them with different pin positions and sizes so that only Colt civilian trigger groups could be installed.
There were also a lot of non-USGI M1 clones made by various companies (Auto-Ordnance is one) and a vigorous aftermarket in parts and accessories. The non-USGI magazines of that era kind of suck, by the way, and should get a malf penalty, especially the 30-round ones. They're notorious.
I think that I just might kill for a Rock-Ola M1 carbine. An IBM one would be a close second, with Saginaw Steering, National Postage Meter, or Underwood very distant thirds. (My grandfather's is a ten-a-penny Remington.) A Bad Guy screaming "rock-n-roll!" because his M1 was made by the Rock-Ola Jukebox Corporation would be a nice touch...
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And there we have a great predator hunting gun for Ricky Sommiers, Esq.!
He'd have bought his around 1975. Would not mind used, as long as it passes his [Armoury (Smallarms) skill 6-7] quick check for functionality. Sommiers is not going to file down the sear of his carbine himself, but he's certainly a candidate for owning a well-worn M1 carbine where the sear has started to fail from use. Not that Sommiers practises much apart from this annual hunt, but if he bought a heavily used gun, it might have been worn before he got it. A 30-rd magazine would not be frowned upon, as sometimes there is a chance at a group of coyotes at a time and it's not as if coyote fur is a nice trophy the way fox or bobcat fur is. Sommiers has little woodcraft and he's an average shot, but he might have a chance to bag more coyote than some of the other hunters if he's willing to fire rapidly, at the risk of wounding rather than killing some of them.
Would a Rock-Ola Jukebox Corporation M1 carbine in .30 Carbine be difficult to acquire or expensive at that time? If so, what other manufacturer would be most likely?
And what kind of scope would you put on that carbine? He buys his scope in 1979 and would accept a used one, as long as it fit his requirements, primarily that it be easier to get a decent sight picture in twilight or nighttime artificial light shooting situations than either iron sights or improved visibility sights. Assume that he bought the scope specifically for hunting fox or bobcat in the daytime/twilight or using artificial light to hunt coyote at night. We don't want to buy a cheap gun and an expensive scope, so let's keep the scope down to a reasonable economy model. We
do need a reticle that's fairly easy to see under low-light conditions and decent light-gathering capability (GURPS terms, remove -1 of darkness penalty). To keep cost down, we'll go for a fixed-power scope with no more than 3x magnification.
Also, what would be some types of .30 Carbine ammunition you could buy for sporting purposes in the 80s? I'm primarily looking for something that won't blow foxes apart, but if there are no good sporting options for such small prey easily available, Sommiers will negliently buy whatever is easiest for him to get and blame bad luck when his trophy fur ends up with ugly exit holes.