Recent Underwood purchase

[Bulls-I_24]

This is my 2nd carbine....

Standard Products RWH M2 - "Pot Belly" Stock (I Think?)

Attachment 32862

Attachment 32863

2 Rivet Hand guard marked (W)

Attachment 32877

Underwood 11-43 Barrel with flaming bomb and a (U) a couple inches below towards the middle of the barrel.

Attachment 32864Attachment 32865

Underwood Receiver 2,637,xxx with a (B) underneath and Recoil Plate marked (W)

Attachment 32866

Barrel Band marked (J.M.Q.)

Attachment 32878

Bayonet Lug marked (CQ)

Attachment 32869

Rear sight (H in a shield)

Attachment 32867

Flat Bolt marked(6 over N)

Attachment 32876Attachment 32870

Safety marked with a (M? or W? in a horseshoe?)

Attachment 32871

Mag Catch ( M M2 catch)

Attachment 32874Attachment 32873

Slide marked ( C 7160091 and P in a square on the inside)

Attachment 32875

Sear marked (BCE)

Hammer (WU)

Attachment 32879

Underwood 15 round mag on its way
Not sure what it's worth...I'd say at least $350

Information

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[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

Your killing me, I don't have a "B" code. W, T & S, but no B.

Leaving it alone or thinking about restoring it?

[painter777]

The U on the barrel is actually a partialy struck P, proof stamp.
Congrats on the B code.
I just seem to run across the W codes.

Charlie-painter777

[Bulls-I_24]

I assume the "B" code is rare? What are the codes on the receiver mean?
What do you mean by restore?.....flip sight, correct barrel band and an underwood stock? anything else?
The hammer having WU means it is an Underwood part made by Wincheste? So any Winchester parts would be correct for this rifle?

[painter777]

During Underwoods 2,mil serial number block they received 'Sub-Contracted' receivers.
The range of Sub-Contract receivers falls between 2,352,520 - 2,732,519.
Best I can recall:

Code Marking:.... Made By:
B.........................Singer Manufacturing
S.........................United Shoe Machinery Company
T.........................Intertype Corporation
W........................Universal Winding Company

Underwood receivers can also be found marked WTA and WWA, but I'm not sure if those fall in this same serial number range.

I believe the hammer marked WU was made by Wadsworth for Underwood, but would have to dig out some old notes to be sure.
May also be Walt Manufacturing for Underwood, just can't remember at this time.

HTH,
Charlie-painter777

[USAFChief]

In my opinion your carbine has lovely patinated wood and metal surfaces. Assuming the camera settings are producing faithful coloration, the greenish cast parkerizing is precious in my eyes. Of course, the existing parts are "correct" for this carbine as they presently exist --who knows how many were replaced (by what manufacturer and how many times) during its service lifetime?

JP

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

I think the WTA & WWA are in the 5,549,922-5,834,618 range.

These ranges are from a reference book.

Code Marking:.... Made By:
B.....2,630,000-2,655,000....................Singer Manufacturing
S.....2,577,000-2,599,000....................United Shoe Machinery Company
T.....2,355,000-2,400,000....................Intertype Corporation
W....2,401,000-2,491,000....................Universal Winding Company

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

Looking in "War Baby" it shows Underwood had a subcontractor Universal Winding Co. located in Cranston R.I. for WU marked hammers. Used during fall of 1943 to end of production

[Bruce McAskill]

Singer was the most prolific of the Underwood sub-contractors and went well beyond what the books have for receiver production. In fact they had made so many that after Underwood sold all of their unused receivers to Winchester to use,Winchester then bought all of the remaining receivers that Singer had both finish and unfinshed.

[Bulls-I_24]

I'm just a beginer but i'd guess the parkerized finish is at least 85-90%? Maybe better...With a light patina. Overall I'm extremely happy, except for the varnish added to the stock which I might try to remove eventually. I've heard the War Baby book is a great reference, any others? Thanks for all the great info everyone!