Winchester extractor question

[Bob K]

Anybody know if Underwood supplied extractors to Winchester? I just got a 6.5 mil Winchester that is all correct except that the extractor is marked .U.

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[mar53]

Indeed, War Baby, references a transfer of 10,000 Underwood extractors to Winchester on 11/9/43. I think Winchester 6.5 M serial was well beyond 1943 However. But who knows, maybe it was lying around in stock and they used it up later in 1945

[DaveHH]

and it has exactly one non Winchester part; an Underwood recoil plate. Probably from a batch of 5K sent to Win in 11/43. If an original Winchester was to have an Underwood part I think that the later the better is a more likely scenario. Underwood sold a lot of product to Winchester after they closed up.

Whatever you do, don't change it. There is a mirror image Winchester like mine on record with an Underwood RP. These little things are often telling evidence of originality.

[Bob K]

I wasn't going to change it unless I was sure it wasn't correct. The serial number is 6,503,66*. I'm not sure where that falls as far as production date.

[DaveHH]

I can't say for sure, but it is probably summer fall 44. Mine was made in Mar 44.
Most of the manufacturers were done by April 44, with Rock-o-la going a bit longer. The only two left were Winchester and Inland.

[Bruce McAskill]

A 6.5 million range Winchester would be about May 1945. And by then the odds of Winchester using a U marked extractor are slim at best.

[DaveHH]

but Underwood and Winchester were still selling/buying parts in July/August of 44. In the fall of 44 Winchester was also not producing up to speed because of having to rework bolts etc.

[Bruce McAskill]

10,000 extractors would have lasted at most about two weeks of production at Winchester. By May/June 1945 anything that Winchester had gotten from Underwood was long gone. Between November 1943 and May 1945 Winchester made over 500,000 carbines so a U marked extractor is most likely a replacement part.

[DaveHH]

But isn't it possible that the parts were used at a later date? My 5.6 has an AU recoil plate and it was used 3-4 months after being sent to Winchester. The reason that I'm pointing this stuff out is that this guy might be removing an original part and spoiling something of value to the data base.

[BrianQ]

My 5.6 has an AU recoil plate and it was used 3-4 months after being sent to Winchester.

You don't know when the recoil plate on your 5.6 was sent from Underwood to Winchester. Integration records are not complete. There could very likely have been another shipment from UEF to WRA after the 5,000 sent on 11/5/1943. The fact UEF recoil plates show up in the WRA 5.6 mill range supports the possibility an additional shipment occurred. The 10,000 extractors sent in November 1943 predate a 6.5 mill WRA by over a year. If UEF coded extractors did appear in the 6.5 range, which they don't, that too would point to an additional shipment of extractors from UEF.