Restoring the M1 Carbine

[Tired Retired]

Ok, I might as well stir the pot on this one too....

There are 4 different types of Carbine buyers/seller out there... The serious collector, the serious shooter and the people who haven't committed to either side. The 4th group? well...


The serious collector is focused mostly on the make-up of the carbine and its parts from a rarity point of view. They know how it was built and the parts that make it valueable per the market's demand. I tend to call them purest because they (rightly) feel that after market parts ruin a carbine and that modern adaptions (like red dot scopes) are sacrilege. They can tell you dates of manufacture, cartouche and inspector stamp meanings and other specifics that "humpers" try to imitate. They are a good bunch of guys, but they love history - not fakers.

Those that love to shoot the carbine are worried about having the tightest recoil plate they can find. They will lay aside a WWII walnut highwood I-stock with a type I band and choose a good, thick M2 potbelly with a tight type III band because it groups better.... Sure, they could swap for that type II slide that matches the manufacturer and the year of the receiver, but the type V that they have adds accuracy plus the park on it means it won't rust. They know how to make these old weapons come back alive and do what they were built to do - shoot!

Those who haven't committed? Well, they know that their carbine has got a good amount of wear on it, but would a re-park job keep it from rusting? They are wanting to know if their Inland 3/44 barrel could have possibly be original to their 1.5 mil QHMC receiver. And why is this wood on the stock so dark and dented? They expect the carbine to shoot clover leaf holes at 100 yards. And the questions go on - they just don't know if they want the original factory issue Inland or the recently rebuilt from Fulton.

Each group has its own values and the members of each group do great AS LONG AS THEY STAY WITHIN THEIR OWN GROUP...

Basically, collectors don't like what shooters do and shooters dont care for collector's view points....

Its that simple - so lets just break it down to simple terms... the arguement should be something along the line of "Taste Great!" versus "Less Filling!"

Oh, the 4th group.... they are the ones who try and cheat the other 3 groups... the humpers and liars and cheaters who mis-state weapons value and parts. They own fake cartouche stamps and seem ot have an endless supply of IP and Winchester parts that no one else can manage to locate...

So why do the 1st three groups argue between themselves when they should really be ganging up on the 4th group/????


Ok, said my peace - fire away, I got my blast shield up....