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Two weeks ago I picked up a Saginaw M-1 carbine in wonderful condition for $600 to go with my Winchester. I also have a Inland general motors div 12-44 on hold for $700. both non import marked. all coming out of a guy collection. there is a Rockola but it is blue sky marked its $700 also and it is got a fair bit of wear on it. now does the blue sky mark hurt it much? id like to get it also.
Welcome to milsurps Trapdoor. We have a grip of great fellas here who are all more than willing to help a guy out. Ask away and let the information come :D
The Blue Sky import mark does hurt the value of a carbine. A few have the import mark stamped so heavily that a flat spot can be seen inside the bore. Most Blue Sky's were used by the Korean army, which means that they had hard use. When they ran out of spare parts, their armorers sometimes made repairs that we would consider unsafe; e.g., a broken lug might be welded back on a bolt. Carbines that were refinished look like they were rubbed with chalk, & the phosphate can be abraded by rubbing with your finger nail.
the Rockola is in very used condition. the inland I have on hold its very nice and my Winchester and Saginaw look near new.I belive the Saginaw was redone at agusta arsenal in Summerville GA by the AA mark in a square on the stock. Friday I pick up the inland and may lay another inland away.
While the Rock-Ola may be $700 and have a Blue Sky marking, remember that you would normally be paying a higher premium on one because of scarcity. That isn't a high price for one. And if it is original finish, even if worn, that is a good deal.
Welcome to the Forum! I see by your handle, you like Trapdoors... I just got an 1878 .45-70 Infantry rifle for my Cowboy Action Shooting.
I look at blue sky as a plus...you know....past any shadow of a doubt that guy was used in the Korean war....no doubt about it. The rest of the stuff....they all got rebuilt....even the ones watching german prisoners in the middle of Texas. FIL remembers them building the roads down town.
I would doubt at this point you are going to find something with a sub standard repair.....any carbine you come across (assuming usgi) is and should be a mixmaster, they got built that way at the start, and they got rebuilt that way to keep them running in a war....think about that for a sec....you have a guy whose job it is to but guns in the hands of soldiers to fight with...do you really think he is going through all his spare parts for that specific part made by a specific company. Do you think that when being built in the first place if one company ran out of receivers a train load of receivers from another company did not show up on the doorstep to keep the line running so we could keep production going.
Rockola is one of the companies people look for, blue sky or not.....if you come across it for that little coin I would jump on it.....bring that rifle to KC and you could double your money in 5 minutes. I paid 800 for my IBM about a year ago.
IMHO blue sky does nothing to the value anymore.....if anything it will add a historical factor to it in that is was in the korean war.
For the record none of my carbines are blue sky marked....but I do have a Garand that is......I think I have had the Garand for about 20-ish years and it shoots darn well....and does not look half bad as well.....looks a hell of a lot better then the type 99 that sat next to an old guys fireplace for 50 years....talk about being rough on wood....but I think that saved the sling.
Sorry for the ramble.