Bavarian Carbines

[Jordan A.]

I have to tell you guys a story. I once had my pick of 5000 Carbines! I lived in Knoxville in 1995 and sold warehouse equipment and a forklift to the owner of INTRAC, Tennessee Guns.
Well I just happened to be a gun enthusiast and was invited to come see the new shipment of 5000 M1's that they imported from Austria. Unfortunately, at the time I knew very little about carbines other than handling a few at gun shows. Well, Charles, one of the owners told me to pick out what I wanted for $135 each. He never told me what he paid but I suspected about $75 each plus the shipping container that they came in. I spent about an hour till they were looking at me funny and gathered a stack of pristine carbines. I bought a total of ten with 2 Winchesters, and almost one of each mfg. excepting Irwin Pederson! Street value at the time was about $350-400 each. Stupidly, I told all my gun friends about my find and ended up selling 8 of them for no profit to my close friends. Anyway, it was a nice memory in gun collecting and I kept a very nice Winchester and NPM although they have a very small import marking on the bottom of the barrel and a Austrian stamp indicating use in the forest service. Just to go back in time, I would have mortgaged my house and bought all 5000 of them and I could be retired right now!

Information

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[daveccarlson]

That is quite a story! Way back when in western Washington State, the least expensive self-loading rifle was the Chi-com Type 56 SKS carbine 7.62x39mm. I bought my first for something like 90 bucks, and the dealer threw in 60 free cartridges to "start my habit!"

M1 carbines seemed impossibly out of reach and expensive at the time, as did the "new in the wrap" No.4 Mk.II Lee Enfield "Irish contract" .303-in. rifles, the ex-Soviet SVT-40 Tokarev rifles, and many, many tohers. Had I had a better remunerated job at the time, I would have had some excellent acquisitions, that's for sure...

One day the decision was made that bus drivers could carry concealed, and so bus drivers turned up in gun shops that I frequented to "vicariously" soak up the collection I could not afford. Gentleman decided to "school me" on M1 carbines. He was a wealth of information on carbines, that is for sure. The carbines on sale were actually extremely interesting: These were WWII-era, all early features, high wood, etc. etc. that had been used in Italy by the Brazilian Força Expedicionaria Brasileira or "febianos," an allied contingent that was wholly supplied by the U.S. "Arsenal of Democracy." Apparently, after the war, these carbines had been retained even though Brazil has never used the M1 carbine. So eventually these had been released, and unlike those used by, say, Uruguay, or other Latin American police and military forces, they were not beat to death, "ridden hard and put away wet" versions. I do not remember at all who imported that small batch. I still kick myself that I didn't hock everything I owned and grabbed up some of those... Ah well. All these decades later, at least I have an M1 carbine!

[imntxs554]

"Only If" are 2 words that can drive anyone crazy...

[cali201]

I remember back in late 1979 or so going to Woolworth in Ft. Lauderdale and there were racks of M1 carbines and Garands. The carbines were in the same price range of $130 ish . Was not into them then and only bought 2 Garands.

[shadycon]

Oh' the good ole' days.............................................. ...

[imarangemaster]

MY first carbine I owned, I bought in the early 1980s, in Bellevue Washington at a small gun shop. It was a 90%+ early Winchester with flip sight, Type one band, and a beautiful cartouched stock. It came with some bandoleers of USGI ammo, a stock pouch and three 15s, and a couple GI 30 rounders in a 50s dated pouch. It also had a C tip sling. My dad carried an Inland M1 Carbine in WW2, and I had fired my cousin's DCM carbine as a kid. I always wanted a carbine, when I found this one. I no longer remember what I paid, but it was a lot of money in 1982 dollars. I actually got 2"+ groups regularly with it at 100 yards, BUT...

I WAS STUPID!!!!!! I wanted one with adjustable sights and a bayonet leg, so about a year later I traded it for a mixmaster! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!~ I did keep the mags, pouches, and ammo, though.