WRA with circled P on grip, this late?

[Garandrew]

Mint Cond. Late Winchester M1 Carbine - NO Reserve : Curios and Relics at GunBroker.com

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Mohawk]

If it were mint, it would be dated and marked on the end of the barrel by the front sight. Also should have a FLAT, W.R.A marked bolt...at least mine does..and it came home that way in 1945 with My great Uncle.....

This one looks to have been re barreled, and has the Korean War rear sight on it, not the original WW2 sight. The WW2 rear sight had a flatter type knob, deep knurling on it. Front band looks Korean, and I do believe it should have the deeper fish belly stock. This one looks like a rework, and I would be real suspect of the Winchester stamping and proofs. These do not look correct...Buyer Beware on this one....

Will try and post pics of mine, if You are interested. I know mine to be 100%, as My Great Uncle George dragged this one from the US to all over Europe during WW2. Brought it home in His duffel bag and passed it on to Me when he passed away. Even have some pics of Him holding it while riding in a Jeep in Germany...

[G26ster]

If it were mint, it would be dated and marked on the end of the barrel by the front sight. Also should have a FLAT, W.R.A marked bolt...at least mine does..and it came home that way in 1945 with My great Uncle.....

This one looks to have been re barreled, and has the Korean War rear sight on it, not the original WW2 sight. The WW2 rear sight had a flatter type knob, deep knurling on it. Front band looks Korean, and I do believe it should have the deeper fish belly stock. This one looks like a rework, and I would be real suspect of the Winchester stamping and proofs. These do not look correct...Buyer Beware on this one....

Will try and post pics of mine, if You are interested. I know mine to be 100%, as My Great Uncle George dragged this one from the US to all over Europe during WW2. Brought it home in His duffel bag and passed it on to Me when he passed away. Even have some pics of Him holding it while riding in a Jeep in Germany...

We'd love to see the pics of your "original" carbine!! Wish I had one. In any case, here some info from my reference material:

Type II and Type III adjustable sights were both used in late Winchester production for late 6m - early 7m production numbers. This one is a bit early for a type III, but it is a WWII rear sight. Also, late Winchester barrels were only marked "W" and no date. If you mean "fish belly" to be the commonly called "pot belly" stock, the Type V stock was not used on Winchesters until the 7m production range, and I believe only on the M2. and post war for rebuilds of M1 and M2s. As for bolts, Winchester started using round bolts marked "W" in the 5.6m production range. I'm sure anything I have wrong here will be corrected by the "gurus," but this is the info I get from both Ruth in "War Baby!" and Riesch in "...Wartime Production."

[Mohawk]

Puking Chicken, Ey. Well Not everyone is perfect. Give me a day or so and I will get them posted..Not a big fan of War Baby. Have found a few in consistencies in the reference, Have not checked out the other. All I know is mine IS an Original with a proven provenance, and that one on GB has some issues....

[G26ster]

Puking Chicken, Ey. Well Not everyone is perfect. Give me a day or so and I will get them posted..Not a big fan of War Baby. Have found a few in consistencies in the reference, Have not checked out the other. All I know is mine IS an Original with a proven provenance, and that one on GB has some issues....

Yes, but as with all carbines, parts and markings changed as production progressed. Early carbines are quite different than late carbines, as you know. I was only addressing the parts on this 6.4m rifle on GB. As for reference material, they all have errors to some extent. I don't know what SN yours has, but unless it's a late mid 6m range SN, it's hard to compare the two. As for the "Puking Chicken," may I assume that you served in another "less noteworthy" airborne unit?

[Mohawk]

Yeuup. To The Tune of 264 Jumps. A REAL Airborne(not Air Mobile) unit. Started out in 10th SFG in Bad Tolz, and Then Moved to 1SFG in Fort Lewis. Spent 22 Years. Also spent 2 years and 62 Jumps with the IDF. Had to Pay My dues...List of Ops to long and to classified to discuss...Didn't You Guys Invade Iraq by Bus in 1991? I had been there for a bit....

[Garandrew]

Mohawk. I salute you..and Im glad your carbine has no issues..I have 5 with no issues, I hate issues...Israeli IDF?

[frankderrico]

Hawk, thank you for your sevice.
I beleive G26ster's service to our country was in a slick over RVN.
No need to question any vets service or unit here.....Frank

[DaveHH]

If I'm not mistaken Win never did the P in a circle on any of their guns. The sight and oil hole trigger housing was being used in the 5.6 range. Winchester mixed sight types as they became available/not availible. The type two band has a suspect color and is not a Winchester band. As noted before, Win barrels in this period had no dates.

[BrianQ]

If it were mint, it would be dated and marked on the end of the barrel by the front sight. Also should have a FLAT, W.R.A marked bolt...at least mine does..and it came home that way in 1945 with My great Uncle.....

On the carbine in the auction the rear sight is the correct WWII vintage sight for the serial number. The undated WRA barrel is also correct, as is the round bolt. WRA didn't use "fish belly" stocks either.

On a seperate note... 264 jumps is impressive. I've done just over that as MFF, CE, O2 jumps, most of them at night.