M1 Carbine made by Inland Division. The serial number is XC 43

I posted this same to the New Member thread but this subforum might be a better place for my question. I am trying to track down information on my M1 Carbine made by Inland Division. The serial number is XC 43 which is unusual based on what I have read. Any thoughts on that particular serial number, when made, etc.? I read on one site that the "X" designation at the front of the serial number (as opposed to the end which indicates a duplicate serial number, I believe) indicated either an experimental version and/or a carbine given to an Inland Division employee. Can anyone confirm if that is true? If so, that would be very interesting as this particular carbine was given to my grandfather who was an GM employee during the 40s.

Thanks.

XC1-XC100 Inland experimental serial block.

Would have to dig out the books for more info.
Stand by,

Charlie-Painter777

P.S. We Love Pictures!

I hear you on the pictures. I will get some posted. And thanks for your help.

From Larry Ruth's 'WarBaby',
The XC Serial Numbers XC 1 - XC 100
Some (I can only assume... early) had modified Tapered rifling.
Remainder presented to individuals.
First XC Carbine presented August 17, 1944
The last presented Dec 7 1949.

I believe all the X series Inland carbines were considered Experimental, no issue to the Gov, but don't bet the house on my info.

Approx: X series serial numbers:
X1 - X100
XA1 - XA100
XB1 - XB100* (possible plus 1)
XC1 - XC100
XD1 - XD100
XE1 - XE100
XF1 - XF100
XG1 - XG100

Ruth's WarBaby, page 359 states that the 400 Carbines in XC thru XG were not charged to the Gov as these were all presented to various Inland and other General Motors employees, subs, suppliers, military personnel and other Gov officials in appreciation of their contributions to Inland's War effort.

XXX1,
Use this as a 'Rough Guide'
There are others here better schooled on these than me, hopefully they'll chime in.
Hope this helps a bit for now,

Charlie-Painter777

Here's an example of a Inland XA#?
That was used as a demonstration cutaway, as stated in WarBaby: "...An unknown number were used....".

Rare Inland Cutaway M1 X-Prefix Presentation Carbine.... Long | Lot #32458 | Heritage Auctions

Below: a link to a completed auction of Inland XC17,

Exceptional WWII M1 Carbine Made By Inland Mfg Company


This might be a good one to compare to.

HTH,
CH-P777

---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:09 PM ----------

Found XC77,
I believe this one has been sold 4 or 5 times over the last 6-7 years.
If it's the same one I'm thinking about. Just seem to recall the 77 :lol:

Exceptional Rare WWII Inland Presentation M1 Carbine

Incredibly helpful information. I will check my carbine against the various auction carbines but all of the markings seem to track. By way of background, during WWII my grandfather was a VP in the General Motors division now known as AC-Delco and the story that has been passed down over the years was that this particular M1 Carbine, a "prototype", was given to him by Inland. I was never able to verify whether that story was true until now so thanks again for your help!

"I was never able to verify whether that story was true until now so thanks again for your help!"
You'll find that I can be bought..... Cheap........ :dancingbanana:

XXX1,
I see your a newer member and on behalf of myself and our other members would lke to Welcome you to Milsurps :beerchug:
If I were you, I'd dig deep in to old family records, company records, contacting them (Many have links to their Company WWII Wartime history).
Try the local paper Archives, libraries.. etc at the time of Presentation.
Use any means possible to find a documented link to your Grandfather (by name) and this carbine.
Posting his name may help.
Company records might have info you can grab.
I'd think the company would see some kind of positive PR shot with the presentation.
IIRC Delco Remy received the E Award.

We have many highly educated collectors here, that know so much more than I do.
Could be possible that someone has seen or documented info about Inland XC 43 and who it was presented to.
In WarBaby, Larry Ruth (the author) states that Inland's Wartime production also included Spark Plug Terminal Seals, among many other items. Inland was a Division of General Motors as was AC Delco-Remy. Clearly a link there.

I don't know when or where he worked or what Dept he was VP in.
But checkout this site, Look closely you may see him!
Looks like a good site to dig around in.

Delco Remy Division - Moments in Time World War II

We have a Museum near me called the REO in Lansing, MI. Good source of WWII and Auto Co information there.

Cheers,
Charlie-Painter777

Fascinating information. Thanks for mentioning the name Delco-Remy. My grandfather (and father) lived in Anderson, Indiana which is where one of the main Delco-Remy plants was located. Looks like I have some homework to do.

I think Guide Lamp was in the same complex. They made the Liberator Pistol.
Any way stumbled on this which may be of help in your research.
The Madison Historical Society.
They might be someone to contact, being they are local. I looked for archived newspaper reports, but with out knowing names hard to research.

Here's a link for you to try. More than likely many still live there that worked at Delco Remy back in the day.

http://heraldbulletin.com/peopleandp...ose-who-served

Big Snow Storm here, so.............. plenty of time on hand to help :ugh:

Later,
Charlie-Painter777

A few photos.

XXX1,

I see that you came aboard today, welcome. Charlie was quicker on the keyboard then I, maybe it is the snow keeping him indoors, thanks Charlie.

The War Baby books are considered a premier source of information. I think many of us have them.

That is a pretty rare carbine. It's not something you will find in the average carbine collectors safe.

There is a carbine club that has been going since 1976. The Carbine Club - A CMP Affiliated Organization

A lot of collectors, newsletters, and more. You might consider joining. They would be interested in a date sheet on your carbine. And might also be of help in your searches.

More than likely one of the Delco-Remy Clan issues would have used those carbines being presented for PR.

http://www.and.lib.in.us/files/india...lan6-26-53.pdf

I'd also try any local papers, colleges and Union (UAW) halls. Some where theres a link.


Good Luck,
Charlie-Painter777

P.S. Typing in your grandpas name on the top of the PDF will not locate him in the article(s)
I tested that by putting in names from the articles, results all come back negative.

Did your grandfather's last name start with a D? iF so what did it end with?

Newscotlander,
E-mail sent.

Thx,
Charlie-Painter777

I sent an email to XXX1.

I am not sure whether anyone else is tracking this thread or finds it interesting, but if so a quick update. Through the capable assistance of a number of folks on this forum, I have learned that my grandfather, a purchasing agent for Delco-Remy, a GM subsidiary, was presented with this particular M1 carbine by Inland Division in the fall of 1944. Based on some of the dates that came off the carbine, I suspect he received it almost as soon as it was assembled. Thanks to some leads from Painter777, I have been talking to a fellow who went to high school with my late uncle (between 1938-42) and knew my family quite well back then. He is a big fan of the M1 carbine as he carried one from 1942-45 while fighting under General Patton's command. (If anyone would like me to ask him more about his thoughts on the M1, let me know as I will be talking to again soon.) This particular fellow is trying to track down some additional information on the actual presentation of the M1 such as pictures or a writeup of the event. That's it for now.

XC-43 J. T. Delancey, Anderson, Ind. 09-29-1944

I had a hunch Paul would know and way in, thanks Paul!!

Best Regards.....Frank

Spotted XG 15 at the Fletcher N. Carolina today. In unfired condition. It is an M2......

Was there any documentation with XG15?

The thought on the presentation M2s is that they were originally made as M1s even though they are marked M2. That would not be the case for production carbines marked M2. The only problem is that if ATF gave you a hard time about it, you would have to defend your position.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by XXX1

M1 carbine as he carried one from 1942-45 while fighting under General Patton's command. (If anyone would like me to ask him more about his thoughts on the M1, let me know as I will be talking to again soon.)

---

Just saw this note (now two years old). XXX1: if your friend is still with us and has any interesting stories to tell, please interview him. Get as many stories as you can ... anything about Patton is fascinating -- from North Africa to Sicily to Germany. Please see Heroic Tale of a Tail Gunner for a story I just wrote to preserve this vital part of our history. Don't let this opportunity pass if he is still alive -- we won't have many WWII vets left soon.

P.S. As a midshipman being trained in amphibious assault in 1967, I served on the U.S.S. Monrovia, which was Patton's Command Ship for the Sicily invasion -- perhaps your uncle's friend debarked from that ship?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seaspriter

P.S. As a midshipman being trained in amphibious assault in 1967, I served on the U.S.S. Monrovia, which was Patton's Command Ship for the Sicily invasion -- perhaps your uncle's friend debarked from that ship?

---

You must have trained as some of the last on her. The USS Monrovial APA 31 (attack transport) Dec 1 1942 - Oct 31 1968, then was sold for scrap.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JimF4M1s

The USS Monrovial APA 31 (attack transport) Dec 1 1942 - Oct 31 1968,

---

Jim, you obviously did your homework. She was an old war horse by the summer of 1967 -- the oldest active ship in the Navy. She was rusty and worn. I was training as a US Navy 2nd class Midshipman out of Little Creek Virginia -- Marine boot camp. We were housed in German POW barracks during that summer. Then the Marines put us on the Monrovia. I will never forget going down to our bunks! They were lined 5 levels high -- 18 inches between racks: metal pipe racks with canvas stretched between the pipes. Over the last millennia the canvas had stretched so badly that when you had to clamour into your rack, the guy's arse in the bunk above sagged into the next lower rack, giving you about a 8-9 inch slot to squeeze through. It was almost impossible to wedge yourself in. I remember a few heavy-weight middies who took forever to wedge themselves in -- usually the guy above have to reorient himself to help create space. The view looking above at the next rack was memorable to this day.

In the morning we got on our battle gear -- helmets and M-1s (no carbines), climbed down the netting into bouncing LCVPs (just like the Normandy invasion pictures), and circled the Monrovia until the mock invasion started. We landed on a beachhead somewhere in Virginia (near Dam Neck I recall), stormed up the sand dunes, and encountered enemy fire (all safe to ensure no one got killed). We all were screaming gung-ho, and playing John Wayne (remember we were still just kids then).

Then we bivouacked inland. This is where we then had to field strip our weapons, blindfolded. The M-1s and Colt 1911s were stripped down, cleaned of sand, and put back together. I'm a pretty mechanical guy, so I never had much problem with the blindfolded exercise, but some of my college buddies who were not engineering majors had problems with this big-time.

Upon reflection -- I really wish I was on the Monrovia for the Sicilian invasion -- but could only live my time with Patton vicariously. When the movie: Patton was on TCM last week, I somehow felt a kinship to this hero.

My father was on a similar ship in the Pacific Theater, the AGC3 USS Rocky Mount from October 1943 thru April 1945. He was involved in some of the major assaults (Marshalls, Marianas and Phillipines) of the Pacific Campaign.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/01/0103.htm

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Newscotlander

My father was on a similar ship in the Pacific Theater, the AGC3 USS Rocky Mount from October 1943 thru April 1945. He was involved in some of the major assaults (Marshalls, Marianas and Phillipines) of the Pacific Campaign.

---

Your father, like mine, served in the Pacific Theatre and suffered some of the heaviest attacks from Japanese Kamikaze planes. One of the unknown stories is how we were able to shoot down so many Japanese dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and Baca bombs. The naval ships that surrounded your father's AGC were equipped with shells that had proximity fuzes built into their detonators. It was the best kept secret of the war. My father's destroyer knocked out 13 Kamikaze planes between the battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima. If anyone is interested, the fascinating case study of its development and deployment can be found at: Dropbox - Proximity Fuze

Can't view the link without signing up. Does it cover the GE goof of leaving a top secret prototype on the table after thier meeting , then running back into the next meeting to recover it only to find it in the hands of another GE employee who knew how to cut the costs from $50-$60 each to a few pennies and how to mass produce them ? He was in the GE Christmas tree lights section before the war and saw how to use that know-how to build these.
Chris