Blue Sky Marked Herlo barrel

[STU1]

acceptance stamp? as in U.S. ?? it was just marked on the flat near the gas cylinder like they are usually marked, no other markings besides the import stamp. besides they would needed to have a reamer hard enough to cut the chamber they are chromed and would have went through a lot of reamers, not worth there while to rebarrel IMHO. if they did any overhauling it wasn't in the same vein as the military type of overhauling, many came through with the shoddy type of work the Korean armorers had done to them. they had nice ones and crappy ones, who knows i thought it was interesting enough to post about never seen one import marked on a carbine before. best regards

Stu

[Bruce McAskill]

Stu, I was asking as a lot of the Herlo barrels when sold here were stamped with fake acceptance stamps on the flats by dealers trying to get rid of them to fool buyers into thinking they were real USGI surplus barrels. Not all of the Herlo barrels had chromed bores and I would not be surprised if the company who imported the carbines in from Korea changed barrels and then stamped them Blue Sky. If they thought they were USGI barrels they may not have checked the chambers in them or maybe just a quick pass with a reamer and just installed them on carbines with bad barrels and off they went. Blue Sky did rebuild a lot of the carbines they brought in as well as reparkerizing them and the M1 Garands too. I am sure they bought the Herlo barrels real cheap and I think I remember they were selling carbines to dealers at around $69 a pop.

[STU1]

thanks for the info Bruce.

[campperrykid]

I just pulled this from MR. Riccas Myths Web Page....

M1 Carbine Barrels Produced by Herlo Corp

... ( Snip for Brevity ) ...

The Facts: Herlo barrels had several quality control problems:
.... ( Snip for Brevity ) ....

The entire Herlo barrel contract was rejected by the government. No barrels were accepted due to the numerous quality control problems. The rejected barrels were purchased by a California dealer, circa 1975/76, who then sold them to the country of South Korea, as "US GI" barrels. The bulk of the barrels came back into the US when Armscorp, in Baltimore, and Red Cloud, in Virginia, imported them in 1996-97. I have never seen a carbine imported from Korea with a Herlo barrel installed, so most likely the Korean government experienced the same problems.

Probably no way to answer. But glad you saved the guy his money.
Later Stu..

Charlie

Interesting stuff.
The California dealer purchased the rejected barrels " circa 1975/1976 " .
Brings up the question: When did the dealer sell the unservicable barrels to the Republic of Korea ? It might be fun to explore the historical context of that sale and why representives of the ROK military were in the market for M1 Carbine barrels during the late 1970's .
I suspect that they had a serious and very understandable sense of urgency about the situation.

[Bruce McAskill]

At the time the barrels were sold to Korea,the carbine was issued to reserve units in the Korean army. So a need for new barrels was there. The carbines are now in storage waiting to be sold as surplus and the Herlo barrels are back in this country waiting to be sold to unknowing buyers by dealers who know better but want thier money.

[Bubba-7]

There are Herlo "Rock-Ola" barrels also.

[campperrykid]

I wonder if anyone as seen Herlo barrels with Standard Products or Irwin-Pederson markings.
My point is that someone like me would be tempted to roll the dice if the barrel seemed to be servicable . I leave my books in the truck when I go to gun shows .

[Bill Ricca]

Again I have never seen an import with those barrels, but several guys from the old days have reported to me that they purchased the carbines with well used Herlo barrels installed.

Now I assume they were used in Korea.

[campperrykid]

I agree , the need was very real.

At the time the barrels were sold to Korea,the carbine was issued to reserve units in the Korean army. So a need for new barrels was there. The carbines are now in storage waiting to be sold as surplus and the Herlo barrels are back in this country waiting to be sold to unknowing buyers by dealers who know better but want thier money.

There were lots of Carbines in use -- and not just by the part-time Homeland Defense Reserve Forces .
Some active ROK Army and Marine Corps units ( in rear areas well south of Seoul ) were still armed with Garands , Carbines , BAR's , etc - as late as 1980 . That is second hand information from people who were there , but I'm convinced that they were telling me the truth .
The timing of the Herlo sale is disturbing: The JSA axe murders occured in August 1976 . North Korean overland recon and tunneling were increasing . The DMZ Conflict , including the Pueblo incident , and 43 US KIA & 111 WIA plus 299 ROK KIA & 550 WIA was less than a decade past. The US 2nd Infantry Division was deployed from the border to back just a few miles. Seems like the scam was especially reprehensible

[campperrykid]

Looks like there is a Herlo USGI M1 Carbine barrel ,new in the wrap on Gunbroker right now .
The same seller had a Herlo for sale a few weeks ago with auction number 240365595 .