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Bittersweet Acquisition
Recently, my long time friend, next door neighbor, and fellow carbine lover, Bill R, passed away unexpectedly. I have been helping his brother George, his executor, go through and liquidate his belonging, including selling off his guns (which included two M1 Carbines) through the gun shop I work at.
I was surprised when George presented me with one of the carbines, saying "Bill would want you to have this!". He also gave me a small wood ammo crate full of pouches, Carbine parts, magazines, accessories and minty M4 Bayonet.
Its just a really nice Saginaw mix-master in a birch potbelly stock, no import marks, and purplish Inland Type 4 trigger guard (I suspect CMP Bavarian or German ancestry). ME is "0" though, so it should be a good shooter. Ill post pics later. It will be a brother for my early featured IBM late war partial rebuild.
There are no words to say how touched I am. It will be cherished and shot much, thinking off hours spent talking across the fence with my friend. Nothing can ease the shock and pain of loosing a good friend that you see almost daily, but the Carbine (which I named Bill) will give me great memories every time I shoot it.
Adios, Mi Hermano....
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one thing. At first glance, I did not see any markings on the barrel at all. That with the fact the ME was "0", and the finish was excellent on the barrel leads me to believe it was re-barreled. I do have a vague recollection years ago of him getting a barrel from CMP for one of the Carbines, and having it rebarreled. Weren't those barrels from Criterion? Did they have markings. I don't offhand recall any GI barrels being unmarked.
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IRM,
Is the gas cylinder milled or swaged?
Is gas cylinder marked?
Barrel skirt long or short?
Any markings on the flat?
Any signs of a P stamp?
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Charley, I haven't gone through it yet. I will break it down and give a full report with pics. At first glance, though, "Bill" should be a good shooter! While my dad had an Inland on Iwo, he had a Saginaw on Okinawa. We lived in Chicago, and I vaguely remember us going to Grand Rapids Michigan when I was a kid (I'm 72) because he wanted to see where his Saginaw was made. After that, he had a life long love of GM cars.....maybe because he said his Carbine never let him down!
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I have no idea what barrel it is. Someone on CMP suggested Erma, as the trigger guard looks "Germanish". I checked M1 Carbines Inc, and the show a Erma barrel. Mine the ring in front of the gas block is more pronounced than on the Erma, and the crown is not rounded like Erma. Its not a chrome lined Herlo (as it is not chrome lined). Maybe Criterion or Green Mountain? Are Criterion and Green Mountain marked?
Any input appreciated. I know its just a mixmaster, with zip for collector value. I'm just curious about the barrel. It will be my "Keeper" because it was my friend's.
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I just put the pictures of the Erma barrel and my barrel side by side, sized the same.* The rings in front of the gas block look the same (though mine seems a tad more pronounced, but that could be photos).* I haven't found pictures of any other M1 Carbine barrels with that ring except Erma.* As for the crown, he may have had it re-crowned by a local machinist that both Bill and I know who does re-crowns.
If it was an Erma, though, it would have proofs. In the end, I have no idea! LOL.
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If you had or could find the original barrel it might give you a clue. My Underwood barrel is extremely lightly struck with an Arlington Ordinance import stamp. The large majority of the carbines they brought in came back from Korea. It has the dark bluish metal and plum colored trigger guard that you would expect from a European return. It also sits in a stampless M2 stock, cut down type III barrel band, arsenal mismatch and adjustable rear sight completes the package.
If you can find no evidence of stampings on the top left of the receiver or the front of the trigger guard chances are it could be a return from Korea. However without the original barrel it will always be a mystery.
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In this case (for reasons I will NOT elaborate on!) the M2 cut Pot Belly stock, I am sure, is a replacement Bill made!
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Another item that was included was a MINT WW2 vintage Camillus M4 bayonet. Checked it against "Bayonet Points" guide, and it is definitely WW 2 production with "X" stamp on pommel, peened catch pins, polished steel under smooth park finish, and correct smashed end of pommel. Checked later Camillus commercial ones, and they are very different.
