Unknown (to me) carbine magazine

[dnikkor]

I traded for this M1 Carbine 15-round magazine awhile back and have not been able to find out anything about it. The mag looks like any other, though the base is new to me too with two holes. The magazine is marked U.S. Co. and also 1 19-42. Anybody have a clue?

Information

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[INLAND44]

Hang on to it. I don't know anything about it except that the design differs from the magazine initially issued. It's the date that intrigues me, just six weeks after Pearl Harbor. I'm wondering if it's some kind of prototype submitted by that company? Or, a total fabrication by some Bubba with a die set? I lean toward prototype with no justification for it - just a feeling. There are some major collectors on here that possibly can make me look like a fool with this 'prototype' talk - it's all about that date which was when Carbines were getting ready to go into production, and everybody in America was scrambling to get into wartime production of something.

[imarangemaster]

I agree with Inland44 that it may be a prototype. I reminds me of some of the prototype magazine ones-ies I saw 20 years ago when I was into early M16 stuff. The base being engaged by the slotted ribs is intriguing.

[DaveHH]

That may tell a tale. It looks like the 30rd bolt stopper from the photo shown. Interesting.

[dnikkor]

Thanks guys. I emailed Bill Ricca the same photos & description and he thought that this is a fantasy piece "with two holes drilled in an early floor plate". He added, "The drawing never called for dates on magazines. It is somebody's dream."

I always take what Bill says as gospel, but in this case I wonder if he might be mistaken. Besides how the base plate fits into the shell, the follower is longer than any 15-rounder I have seen and is not cut for a bolt stop. There is also no indication that any original maker's mark had been covered over.

Even if this is a fantasy piece, I am sure going to keep it just for the novelty if nothing else. Especially since I got it at a shooter mag price. I am thinking that this sure could be some type of prototype magazine and will continue to research it.

[rondog]

Does it work OK? As in feeding rounds smoothly without jamming?

[INLAND44]

"The drawing never called for dates on magazines. It is somebody's dream."

BR is reknowned for his knowledge and collections of sub-contractor contracts for all things Carbine, but if this is a very early 'one-off' magazine, it would have possibly been pre-drawing; the drawing may have been developed after a successful magazine was provided, and the dates would have been to identify various submittals with the revisions from the previous ones. This would have been needed to keep everything straight during the hurry-up atmosphere in post-Pearl Harbor US industry. I don't see how the floorplate is retained, but I'll take the rangemaster's idea as good. That feature would have been my first revision on that submittal, to make it be retained by the folded tabs on the body which looks more secure to me.
The font of the date stamp is a strike against this idea of a US-made prototype because it looks like a European die set, not typical of a set in use in the USA in 1942. A '1' for example would have been just a straight line or with serifs like the one I just typed, not with the Euro-type long angled 'flag'. I don't believe you will find a '1' like that in the numbering on any U.S. small arm of any period, particularly not WWII or earlier.
Just speculations on a slow night! We might never know what it is.

[Tom in N.J.]

The very first carbine magazines, during prototype and testing were twenty rounders.....

[dnikkor]

Does it work OK? As in feeding rounds smoothly without jamming?

I haven't loaded a round into it and probably won't since I am awash in USGI mags. It looks like it has seen a fair amount of usage in its long life. Somebody "polished" where the name is, probably with steel wool. How nice of them.

Inland44, thanks for your additional insights and speculation. I too don't like to question anything that Bill R. has to offer. That said, I really don't see what anybody would have to gain with making a fantasy piece such as this, especially since nothing looks like it had been made from an existing 15-round magazine. It really doesn't look like Bubba played with it.

It seems to be slightly lighter weight than my other 15-round mags, or at least the IU one I compared it too. I will put some additional photos online tomorrow, showing the mag follower and the base plate.

You are probably right that this one could remain a mystery.

[dnikkor]

The very first carbine magazines, during prototype and testing were twenty rounders.....

Don't forget the five rounders and even some 50-rounders that were tested with various prototypes. Maybe this one was hand-made by "Carbine" Williams.