Tired Retired,
There was no reason for you to defend your post. The reason I quoted your post was without the quote my post would have been out of context. My intent was to help clear up a common misconception that IP carbines are the rarest of carbines. Which is it simply is not the case, although most people still believe they are. Another common misconception is the IP contract was cancelled and given to Saginaw Gear because IP carbines couldn’t pass the acceptance test. The reason cited in the cancellation documents listed management problems. Personally I think the Ordnance Department had an ulterior motive. They had already decided to cancel the IP contract before the first scheduled delivery date of March 1943. Most likely IP would not have met the first delivery deadline but neither did any of the other carbine manufacturers yet their contracts were not cancelled abruptly. IP’s contract was written as a cost plus contract, meaning no matter how much it cost IP to produce a carbine Ordnance was required to pay the actual production cost plus a pre-negotiated amount per carbine. All the other contracts were fixed price contracts. Ordnance needed a way out of what could have been a high cost per carbine contract and they found an excuse.