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The cartouche on the stock of the M1917 that I picked up at the CMP South Store on the 15th appears to be 3 G M in a box with room at the end for another letter and possibly two that I can't make out. The last letter may be an R, but the spacing between the M and the last letter leads me to believe that there may be another letter in between. Any ideas what it might be? The rifle is an Eddystone, but the stock is Winchester.
One of mine "3 GMK" in a box.
john
Mine could be a K also. Is the K on yours farther from the M than the M is from the G? On mine it looks like there is equal spacing between the 3 and the G and the G and the M, but a much larger space between the M and the last letter (R or K).
I have an SMLE No.4 Mk1 that has U.S. Property stamped on it. I bought it years ago from Century International. Did the U.S. utilize these rifles? Is this bogus or what? Any body out there got any clues?
I'll try to attach photos.
Found a posting on another forum asking about a 3 GM-K cartouche. With the spacing of my cartouche it's possible that it's 3 G M - K.
That cartouche is the infamous and mysterious 3GM-K. It is a WWII rebuild stamp of unknown origin although many theories abound. The exact meaning even puzzles Nick Ferris.
I have a Winchester M1917 with this stamp.
Thanks. I guess it's good to know that no one knows!!
Hey Al,
Best guess from the best man, not me, is General Motors. Think he is still not positive...
LB
Lance, not to flame you but GM was involved with making M1 carbines during WWII. GM is a manufacturing facility, not a refurbishment facility. Arsenals did the refurbishments. GM is a plausible theory. It fits the GM part of 3 GM K. But no record exists to corroborate the theory. I've read where the K may mean Kelvinator division of GM. I don't know if GM made refrigerators, although GM made some pretty COOL automobiles! Pun intended! So what about the 3 part of 3 GM-K? I love the mystery and the speculations.
Hey T,
What was GM's involvment with manufacturing Carbines? Not my collecting niche but have a very interesting QH with mostly correct parts for the period of manufacture. Very accurate with peep at twenty five yards, kinda crazy accurate at that range.
Have an expensive copy of "Warbaby" and don't recall any mention of GM being involved in carbine manufacture. There were no GM sub-contractor parts listed for QH carbines. Believe me, studied the QH chapter in great detail. Did they make parts for the other manufacturers?
Gonna' sell the carbine at next weekends show if somebody comes up with twelve hundred...it's real fine.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Lancebehr
Inland was a division of GM. Also Frigidaire was GM and they didn't make Kelvinators. Both plants were a little south of Dayton Ohio. One of my shooting buddies has an Inland Carbine that was presented to his Uncle. It is unfired except for proofing. The uncle was the General Manager of Inland. It's gorgeous. My Mother and my aunt both assembled carbines at Inland during the war. :)
Have a good day
GM manufactured at least 3 of the carbines (Inland, Dayton, OH; Saginaw Stearing Gear, Saginaw MI; and Saginaw Stearing Gear, Grand Rapids, MI). I also believe that Standard Products, Port Clinton, OH, was a GM subsidiary, but I could be wrong about that one
If I am not mistaken that in addition to M1 Carbines Geneal Motor's Guide Lamp Division produced the M3 Submachine Gun.
Hello, Lance,
I have an Inland carbine whose barrel is stamped Inland, Division of General Motors, 1944. You are correct in stating that many, many subcontractors had a hand in making parts for the carbines. M1 carbine manufacture certainly was a cooperative/collaborative effort. So, I conclude GM, at least a Division thereof, did make barrels for the Inland Carbine.
Larry Ruth is the expert; you have a great reference.
Thanks for your response.
Thomas
tmark, Inland, a division of GM in Dayton, OH, made most if not all of the parts for the M1 Carbines that bear their name/logo.
Sorry guys.....just plain forgot. Thanks for the posts.
LB
And Liberator pistols. Remembered that one.
LB
Also thousands of .30 and .50 machineguns, 20 and 40 mm AA guns, etc., etc. If the U.S. had depended on the "traditional" firearms companies for weapons in WWII, we would never have been able to turn out the quantity of arms we did.
(A famous story has a GM engineer watching production of M1911A1 pistols at Colt telling a Colt man, "You are not making guns, you are producing chips, the gun is a by-product." He was right, of course. Not until the postwar era and guns like the Ruger Standard Model did some U.S. arms makers get away from producing chips.)
Jim
The smelly #4's that are marked US PROPERTY were made by Savage as part of lend lease so during that period the "LEND" was paramount (cause we were technically neutral at that time) so it was marked US PROP so it was not a transfer and that maintained our "neutrality"
Dan
Yep, most of the parts on my three 1919's were made by Saginaw :)
They made lots of cool things back then.
Dan
Inland is a division of GM
Inland and Saginaw were divisions of General Motors