Originally Posted by
painter777
1st off, cost isn't my concern.
May I ask if all will look past price and story and just inspect the carbine, Thx!
From what I see, most everything checks out...... couple concerns I'll get to later....
Barrel/receiver look to be original finish. As we know Inland sandblasted the upper metal and applied finish with frt sight, barrel band and rear sight on. Pictures show that 2 tone finish we find on original Inland finish. Looking closely/magnified I can see frt sight install marks with finish over them. The N marked frt sight is correct for this serial range and has the correct staking on the pin, IMO meaning it's never been removed. You can see where the rounded face type I band set in front of the gas cylinder , voiding finish in that area, as should be expected. These round faced 3 weld type bands marked with the upside down U were found in this serial range, along with unmarked swivels, THOUGH I'm not positive about the swivel it looks real but just not positive. The swivel screw sure looks real. Hopefully someone better schooled on swivels can make that call. The Rear flip sight is real and were often found in this serial range being marked W~. I can see room under the sights base where it's seated and have seen this on many others especially SG and S'G' carbines. It's where they were milled a bit deeper than needed. But It's staked using the chisel method and I believe original to this carbine.
Bolt, though lacking good color pictures looks to have original finish/blued, but have concerns whether it has the pointed right lug, which isn't believed to have been used this early in this serial#. This bolt is marked OI with the sideways 2, which has been found in this serial range. No idea of the bolt's internals, not mentioned in the description or shown in pics. You can see that the Extractor has a factory blued finish. The Op slide looks to have the
narrow arm joint, we call a type III plus by having the PI underlined, I feel ok with it being a correct part for this serial number. Trigger housing has the beveled rear lugs, where it connects to the receiver, do believe this would be a type II, correct for your range. HI Dogleg hammer common to this range, same as your mag catch. A RI sear also correct. Can't see who made the trigger.... but it does have correct blued finish.
Stock is what we call a Type II because of having a oval style oiler slot and Hi-wood right rail. Marked OI in the slingwell means made by S.E. Overton Co for Inland. Look inside the stock's channel and you'll see some green/purple-ish number ink stamps. I tried magnified and think I see 108 3, if correct this would stand for the 108th day of 1943, it's a Julian style dating system used by Inland. Your upper Hand guard also OI, called a type I, having a wide/deep sighting groove with 2 rivet mounting tab. The Ordnance stamp= Crossed Cannons stamp looks legit. Circled P proof stamp on the bottom of the pistol grip is found on these early Inlands along with a few other makers.
Condition of the bore, muzzle and chamber wear would be nice to know, also if any import markings are present, which would be odd on a carbine advertised as a bring back!
Going by what pictures are available I can't help but I miss some and know there are other opinions out there but though it's had its share of use, I feel this is a good example of what may very well be original.
I Do Hope I'm Right.......
HTH,
Charlie-painter777