Late World War II Inland

[Milsurp Collector]

Bought this 6.3 million late war Inland yesterday from a local seller. All parts are Inland coded and it appears to be original. The interesting thing is that someone wrote the serial number with red grease pencil on the right side of the buttstock. It wasn't noticeable until I applied some raw linseed oil, then the numbering popped out.



Auto manufacturers did (still do?) this type of marking at the factory during the assembly process. Perhaps this is something that Inland (a division of General Motors) did during manufacturing? It sure would be easier to see the big red grease pencil numbers for tracking purposes as the carbine went around the factory during assembly, sighting in, inspection, etc. rather than trying to read the small numbers on the receiver.

Information

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[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

Hey,

You put more pictures up somewhere else, what gives?

[STU1]

how about pics of the barrel band, rear sight looks like a nice find congrats.

[22mike]

How about photos of the whole rifle............

[Tired Retired]

Milsurp,

Can you get someone to give you an opinion of that marking on the handguard? I went and looked at alot of mine (Types I, II and III's) and the "0" in the 0I looks oval. Yours looks round like a "O" vs "0". It may just be me... but if its wrong thats an easy replacement...

[Milsurp Collector]

I posted more pictures earlier but looks like some of them got deleted, maybe they were too big. See if this works better:


















Tired Retired, I believe the earlier Overton handguards were marked 0 l and the later ones were marked O l.

People on other forums have suggested that the marking was done at a unit level, as part of an inventory system, rather than at the factory, which makes more sense. Still, it is interesting.

So what do you think would remove the red numbers the easiest, Easy-Off oven cleaner, the dishwasher, or sandpaper?

[Tired Retired]

Sand paper is a big no-no. I would start with just DNA since it should cut through the grease pencil and prep the wood for your favorite flavor of linseed oil (I prefer BLO served with a hint of cheese cloth myself). Glad the handguard checks out - I just don't recall seeing one like that (of course thats no big deal, I don't recall seeing my head with hair either).

Not sure what you paid, but it looks like you sure got your money's worth - plus that stock is going to look great once you are finished oiling it. Congrats!

[STU1]

you got a winner nice and original thats the way to get them.

[mpd1978]

I have noticed a similar stamp on two of my later 4 rivet IO handguards

[ChadC]

Again, congrats on a nice score! Sure is pretty! Gotta love that patina!