Your right about that, in fact, looking at "SA Statement of Expeditures for Fiscal years 1944 and 1945", in Duff's WW2 book, SA manufactured 687,592 solid gas cylinder lock screws vs only 94,693 of the poppet valve type. I see Scott Duff states that it is " probable that SA continued to build new M1rifles with the solid screw throughout most of the WW2 period."
Guess I should have read this before commenting. I most likly did, but the old retention span is not as it once was.Semper Fi, Joe