[MHGinTN]

While they still have them, order an Iver Johnson complete bolt from Numerich. That and the bolt carrier/slide are the weakest links on a Universal. I have one on which I placed the Iver Johnson (heat treated parts, the original Univeral ones were not and broke) bolt and a pistol grip collapsible stock (for a Mossberg 20 gage, which I fitted to the wooden stock minus the butt stock). Shots like adream and the new Korean 30 round mags work just fine.

Here's snap of it ... that's a side mount for a scope, if you're wondering what that is protruding above the mag well:

[MHGinTN]

Here's a shot from the other side:

With the scope, it's reliable out to two hundred yards. I can mount red dots and lasers on it, too, for closer social work. Hollow points are hard to find for it, but soft points are readily available.

[Travis McGee]

Just going by what I learned on the net in the last 24 hours, Universal carbines went through a long evolution from GI clones post WW2 to so differently evolved by the early 1970s that parts are not exchangeable with GI carbines. No way to know at this point which serial numbers go to what heat-tempering of what parts. It was “an evolving standard,” but the changes were at least nominally improvements. Many state police etc bought Universal M1 Carbines, even when they were no longer interchangable with GI parts....

IOW, if I buy this one for $200, it having been range-tested and approved by a buddy of mine, it will be as an “as-is” deal, with little or no hope of finding replacement parts.

It’s a local deal, minimal paperwork, so I’m inclined to grab the Universal....just $200....no shipping....cash and carry....