Gun show carbines

[Singer B]

So that leads to a question for us novice collectors - what do you look for to determine if your carbine is original? I broke down my Underwood and completed a data sheet which revealed it has all of the correct parts it should have had when it left the factory. It needed a lot of love to bring it back to being a presentable and usable rifle. It looks original (patina, type 1, wear, etc.), the part diagram numbers say original, but how do I know it's original? This is a really interesting topic for me since I am currently looking at several other M1s for sale and I really wonder about my Underwood because it was a diamond in the rough when I got it and she became a true diamond when I finished her. After seeing some of the responses here, I now wonder how "original" she really is? Thanks!

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[jond41403]

So that leads to a question for us novice collectors - what do you look for to determine if your carbine is original? I broke down my Underwood and completed a data sheet which revealed it has all of the correct parts it should have had when it left the factory. It needed a lot of love to bring it back to being a presentable and usable rifle. It looks original (patina, type 1, wear, etc.), the part diagram numbers say original, but how do I know it's original? This is a really interesting topic for me since I am currently looking at several other M1s for sale and I really wonder about my Underwood because it was a diamond in the rough when I got it and she became a true diamond when I finished her. After seeing some of the responses here, I now wonder how "original" she really is? Thanks!

The only way I can think of to truly know is to be good at looking for wear patterns. Seems to me if you find an early configured carbine, and the only wear is from early parts and not from later parts, that would be a good indication that it's original. Still doesn't answer the question completely though because two early parts could have been swapped out with two other early parts creating the same wear pattern for the most part. that's where you have to learn to become a detective and learn if there are any wear differences from the manufacturing differences of each of the makers. I have a relatively early Winchester that I know has its original barrel because receiver and barrel finish match perfectly and it has only had one witness mark on the barrel alignment in its entire life which if it had been rebarreled, you would expect two witness marks. if you can match wear patterns on every part in your carbine perfectly, and the finish and patina look the same, there's a good chance it would be original.Just my two cents