Early Inland

[apothegm]

A distant cousin, a pilot in WWII brought home an M1 Carbine which has been in the family since. I got interested in it recently and with the help of the Riesch book, have determined that it is an early Inland with all the original parts. The odd thing is that there is no serial number. The area is nicely machined, not hacked up as you might expect from the grinder in someones basement. The pilot died a couple of years ago, so I can't ask him if the M1 was like that when he brought it home. The entire receiver including the area that once held the serial number has that greenish cosmoline patina, making me wonder if the piece left the factory that way?

Any history of this happening?

Information

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[Milsurp Collector]

There are examples of carbines with no serial number (they are Standard Products carbines if I recall correctly) that are believed to be "lunch box specials": carbines that plant employees assembled at home from stolen parts that they smuggled out of the factory.

[apothegm]

What does the collector community think of lunch box specials?

[Magyar]

What does the collector community think of lunch box specials?

I'd have no problem with it. I see little difference from arsenal rebuilds that are reconfigured to be "all-correct". Subterfuge disguised IMHO....

[BrianQ]

If a WWII pilot brought it home it wouldn't be a "lunchbox special" and I doubt very seriously a carbine without a serial number would have passed finial inspection and made it into circulation. Everyone thinks they were cranking carbines out as fast as they could and little to nothing was rejected because of the war. Hate to bust the bubble but that just wasn't the case. While increase in production was paramount a lot of items were rejected for what could be considered trivial things like an entire batch of front sights because the holes in the ears were out of spec.

A picture of the rear of the receiver would be helpful.

[dbarn]

Yes pictures please, to include barrel date and entire carbine if possilbe.

[apothegm]

Thanks guys - The next opportunity I will have to to take pictures will be Sunday 7-12. I'll flash a bunch then and post them.

[Milsurp Collector]

I agree with BrianQ that a carbine without a serial number would have been issued to a pilot or anyone else. And as far as I know, World War II pilots were not issued M1 Carbines, so I doubt that part of the story about him bringing it home. (There was that one B-24 mission where the gunners used carbines, but I don't think pilots typically had access to carbines). We have all heard how "I carried a gun like this in the war" became "I carried THIS gun in the war" as the decades went by, so maybe the pilot got his hands on a lunchbox special after the war, and now the assumption is that he brought it home. Who knows, the story doesn't add up. We'll have to wait the pictures.

[dbarn]

The one IBM I have came from the family of a WWII vet. He was an L.Col in the Army Airforce. After he passed away the wife and niece in CA found it and carried it to a police station to turn in. Fortunately they were convinced to sell it, rather than having it destroyed. It shows very little wear.

[barkerwc4362]

Is the rear of the receiver marked "INLAND DIV" or is it also blank? Commercial manufactured carbines, such as Plainfield, marked their name on the forward receiver ring not on the rear. On a couple of my Plainfields, the Plainfield name is very faint. All four of my Plainfield receivers have a clean rear porch. The serial number, on a Plainfield, is located on the forward side of the receiver opposite the oprod. Most early commercial carbines were 100% capable of using USGI parts. My four Plainfields were rebuilt from CMP receivers with all USGI internals. It would be possible for a commercial carbine to have 100% early Inland parts, by luck or design. I can hear it now "It's a really rare and unusual variant". Pictures will tell the real story.

Bill