Paid WAAAAAY too much for a carbine today. Rate my deal.

[feets]

Okay guys. You've been after me to get an actual factual gin-you-wine gubment carbine that our soldier boys done trained with.
So I did.

A friend stopped by Cabellas in FTW today and found this. When he called me to talk about it I had them hold it for me. I drove the 35 miles out there in rush hour traffic, whipped out the credit card, and brought it home.

You folks know WAY more than I do so take a looksie and rate my score.
I'm a bit paranoid so I wiped out some numbers but you can get a good idea.

It's got one of them fiddly sights with a twisty knob. Sure was nice of them to stake it off center a wee bit.



There's some numbers stamped on the side.



The safety is a mash-the-button type. Look behind the trigger at the awesome collection of dust bunnies on this thing. The gun is full of them.



The muzzle doesn't seem to have too much wear. This is a Remington FMJ stuffed in the end. Marks on the barrel are Inland 8-44. The top of the sight has an N stamped on it.



There's a bunch of stampings on the bottom of the barrel.



The slide is marked too. I don't know what the number sequence is.



This mark is on the front of the gas block and is also found on the side of the hammer.



Side of the trigger housing is marked Inland.



It appears to be a typical pot belly stock. Nothing fancy here. This is the only marking I can find on it other than a 0I stamped in the sling cut and under the 4 rivet hand guard.



Bubba, PLEASE put down the knife! Luckily, it's only one side.




The gun is FULL of closet dust bunnies. There are a couple decades worth of closet fuzzies in this thing. A quick barrel scrub brought out some nasties but the bore looks nice. It needs a little attention with a brush and Hoppes #9 but should clean up nicely.
The bolt is a round M2 piece but I could not find any markings on it. They gave me an IA marked magazine with it too.

So, whaddya think? What have I got? Is this just a big pile of (mostly) Inland parts or what?


Oh yeah, I guess you guys might like to see this pic too.

Information

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[USGI]

That's about where the rear sight has to be on my Inland to "zero" correctly, and my front sight blade is filed about like yours. I'd like to see more pictures of the "pot belly" (it may not be one) part of the stock. I don't think you got hurt any on the price, and I bet you'll be happy with the way it shoots! - Bob

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

The barrel date appears to go with the 5.4 serial number. If that carving on the stock bothers you, you can probably find another stock in the $100 range.
You don't really show enough of the parts, to judge them. Take it apart, you might find some parts not marked Inland. Might be able to use them for trading. Can you see an import mark?
No matter, $399 was a good price even with the carved stock.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Outstanding, feets!

Didn't you buy a GI stock for your I J when you were putting all that money and work into it? (Can't remember that far back)

$399 sounds like a good deal if all is OK. I think you're in great shape there. If it were mine I wouldn't want to pass that I J on to anyone else with all the problems. Depending on how many GI parts it has you could part it out and maybe come close to breaking even. Cool!

Of course you must be aware you're life has changed now. You have a piece of history in your hands and you'll feel it every time you pick it up. Grow a couple of inches too.

USGI is correct about the rear site. It's common and will most likely be where it needs to be.

I didn't realize you're from the metromess either. When you get ready to buy your next one or need parts let me know and I can point you in the direction of a couple of honey holes where I've found some good carbines for decent prices. It's not a matter of debate - you'll be getting more now.

~ Harlan

[Amsdorf]

Nice find, you can thank Bubba for getting such a good price on it. You can even tell people that every line represents a battle the rifle was in, or something like that.

Congrats!!

[usgicollector]

Looks to be original finish and correct parts. with a correct stock that has been bubba'd.
For $399 you can buy a $200 correct nice original stock and still be money ahead.

[feets]

I was wrong. It's not a pot belly stock. I compared it to the one on my Iver and this one is the standard profile.

My Iver was running just fine prior to the match and I haven't fired it since.

What I plan on doing is taking them both to the range. If the Inland runs like it should (maybe swap springs with the Iver) then the IJ will go away. I still have the really nice (for what it is) folding stock to peddle. Between those two I should come real close to getting my money back for the Inland.

There are no import marks. In fact, I can't find any obvious rebuild marks. The stock only has the crossed cannons and IO stamped on it but wood is easy to change.

If it's a shooter it'll stick around. At that price it was hard to go wrong.

[Tired Retired]

Feets,
You didn't have to make the 35 mile nightmare drive to get that. All you had to do was tell me about it. I live about 8 miles from the Cabelas. For that price, I would have been glad to drive there and purchase that Inland. You never would have had to worry about replacing the stock! I mean, what else are friends for if they can't take advantage of their buddies!

Seriously, you got a good buy, especially from there. I got a mis-marked QMHC once and I believe its the best buy I got from that place.

I am curious to see a full length picture of the stock as-is. You didn't mention the barrel band, either. That front sight looks like it has been on there for a while. Stocks are easy, especially shooter stock. As far as the round bolt, look to see if it has a small hole in the bottom about the half way point - that would indicate it is a post-war replacement bolt.

Congrats on your purchase! Now you need to clean it then shoot it!

Ed

[DaveHH]

I don't know about a type 3 rear sight but for sure the original would have an adjustable sight. In the slingwell maybe an "HI" ? These range Inlands are great candidates for original as they are overlooked as mixmasters because of the adjustable sights, by the flip fanatics. You might have made a very good deal. I'd leave that stock as is, it is this carbine's history.

[Bruce McAskill]

You have to remember that at the time this carbine was made that the type 2 and type 3 rear sights were still in short supply. Only about 1/3 of Inland production left the plant with an adjustable rear sight. The other 2/3's had the type 1 flip sight and that continued on through at least about May of 1945. But anyway one looks at it he got a great buy at only $399.