Looking for a reliable gunsmith that can inspect/work/experience with M1 carbines (i.e. has proper gauges).  Anyone have any recommendations preferably in/around Gwinnett?

You might want to contact Fulton Armory. I don't think anyone local does much carbine work.  What is wrong with it ?

Had some ammo and I wanted to ensure it is safe to *repeatedly* fire.

I saw Fulton Armory online -- 4-5mo wait list and pricey.

  What makes you think the ammo wouldn't be safe to fire?

What is the ammo ?

Age, condition, atleast a couple wars.

The Ammo is surplus Korean.

Ask @DonFlynn He's fired quite some bit of it. And FWIW, I fired 20 rounds of it just this morning regulating the sights on one of my Carbine's in addition to what I fired a few weeks ago. It was being sold by lots of reputable ammo dealers, you can bet it's fine.

Korean surplus is good ammo.  I've put several hundred rounds of it thru my Inland over the years.

I've run about 1000-1500 rounds of the Korean Surplus through my Carbines over the summer. Overall it's good stuff. I did have to inspect every round of some bandoleers I bought from AIM Surplus because some of the cases had mold issues due to improper storage. Most I was able to clean up and I want to say out of 3500 I bought over the summer I only threw out 30 rounds that I just didn't trust.

The last batch I bought from Bud's guns was the best I found, every round looked new, I kept the whole 1080 in the ammo box and plan in using it for reserve stock as needed

As to the issue of gunsmiths. I've sent 3 Carbines to Fulton Armory the past year or so to have them check over and rebuild as needed. At the time they had a 12 week waiting period though, not the current backlog.

If you can I think it's worth having them look over a Carbine. The problem with most "gunsmiths" anymore IMO is they only want to work on Glocks or AR's. Anything "old school" that needs specialized tools they pass on.

I'm thinking of sending 1 more to them if I buy another (I have 5 Carbines now). I'm looking around for another USGI that I can either keep "pure" (my Carbines I had FA work on all got new barrels) so I'm looking around my area for one with the best barrel I can find, or finding a import marked Inland that I can use a 1944 Inland barrel I have now that gauges 1.5 after I had FA crown the muzzle.

I figure Fulton's tech inspections are worth the money, they give you an honest appraisal of what parts are worn and use USGI parts or new production parts made to USGI spec to replace worn parts.

Outside of replacing barrels (my choice on 2, the 3rd was worn out and gauged 3+) they recommended replacing out of spec slides on 2, rebuild bolts as needed and replaced other worn parts as needed.

All 3 now are 100% reliable with quality ammo. I've run close to 1000 rounds of the Korean Surplus through this one with no issues

   

This is my primary shooter Carbine, a "Howa" Made in Japan Royal Thai Police issue based on a USGI Winchester receiver. I had FA install a new barrel and bolt, and they recommended a new hammer. It came with a Inland Barrel (the one I mentioned) and Inland bolt that I had rebuild and kept as a spare. I figured this to be the main shooter so that's why I went with the new bolt and barrel combo

Remember those specialized tools need to make money. If you are seeing one carbine every 5 years it is hard to justify the cost of the specialized tools and you are better off passing on the work. No different than working on cars or trucks.

I agree. In my area there was only 1 outfit that would change the barrel on the 1st Carbine I wanted work on 2019, and they had a 6-7 month backlog at the time as compared to the 12 weeks Fulton had at the time.

FA is swamped like everyone else right now due to the panic and Hiden/Ho election. I do know I have more faith in their assessment of a Carbine or Garand than I do any local smith since they specialize in the type.

I do know one of the reasons Carbines have become considered "unreliable" is most haven't seen a armory inspection since they were in service. I learned from Fulton and other sources slides can be a major issue in FTF's, they wear and the bolt will have a sloppy fit while cycling. Gas ports need cleaning after decades of use also.

The 3 I had serviced went from being "finicky" at the range (1-2 FTF's every 100 rounds, which I accepted given what I'd heard over the years) to being 100% reliable with good ammo and mags. My shooter Inland and Fulton have had 1 FTF between them over 1500 rounds and that was the FA the 1st range trip on a new mag at 15 rounds loaded.

The "Howachester" as I call it had issues with Aquila brand .30 Carbine ammo, which I've always had issues with since I think it's underpowered. With the Korean surplus I've been feeding it the past few months it's ran like a Swiss watch

@DonFlynn since I'm too lazy to look, how much does FA charge to check out a Carbine?

$80 bucks plus return shipping. You also have to use their shipping boxes, which turns some guys off but it's a damn sturdy box (I have 2 of them, 1 from the FA I ordered and 1 I bought to ship )

https://www.fulton-armory.com/M1-Carbine-Services.aspx

I would say this is the way to go if you decide to have them look it over

Place Holder System

That way you can keep your Carbine until their ready to inspect it. It only takes them a week to service one if they do work on it, the wait time is backlog from the number of rifles they service per month.

They didn't offer that when I did the work on my Carbines, I wish they had....I might not have bought 2 of my current Carbines while they were servicing the 2 Inlands I had in the shop at the time (a forum member saying he wouldn't buy another gun that he likes......anyone buying that story )

Thanks for help!  I ordered the Place Holder System at Fulton Armory that you recommended.  Seems like that is really the only place that specializes in M1 Carbines.

Also, what are the "reliable" mags for the M1 Carbine?  I currently just have the 15/30 rnd USGI mags that came with it.

I love the magazines from KCI, I've had ZERO issues with them and the don't have the annoying "Hold open" follower.