M1 CARBINE OPINIONS/EXPERTISE NEEDED

[painter777]

Quite alright,
I have about 3 weeks left while on the injured reserve list. So it gave me something to dig about. I spent the better part of the other day looking up history/link of a Colt .45 to a MD from WW1. Just to find out the owner was a previous owner. My fault for not reading the post and replies close enough. But found it interesting all the same.
Good Luck and Happy Holidays to you.

I confess I feel a little guilty about not doing my homework sometimes before starting threads..

[browningautorifle]

most of the time the rear sight was removed and the dove tail was milled down with just some cross markings to help reduce glare. It does seem this one has some of that done on it but the dove tail was not milled all the way down and enough is still present so someone could add the rear sight to it again.

I thought so...thought they were usually milled down.

[manteo97]

I have seen this carbine with the double rear sights before. Very easy to knock out the little "wafer" they slid into the dovetail. Then the standard rear sight can be mounted. Notch sight can be removed with a torch, as it is silver soldered on, but trick is to get all of the film of silver solder off, so the receiver can be touched up with Super Blue at worst, or repark the whole receiver at best.

Germans did NOT mill down the dovetail area, they roll serrated the top of it, and once the wafer is removed, the USGI sight is at the correct height. I've restored a few of these

[GotSnlB28]

I'd leave the notch sight in place as part of the history of the rifle. I don't see very many with that sight left intact. Back when CMP was selling Bavarian returns, some of the rack grades had the sights removed and all that was left was the ugly silver solder spot. I don't remember anyone posting that they received one with the notch sight.

[jimb16]

DO NOT REMOVE THAT RECEIVER RING SIGHT! That adds a lot to the value of the Bavarian. Those sights are getting very scarce and add a lot to the value! If you need to remove a sight, get rid of the GI one. And try some paint remover on the left edge of the receiver bolt opening. You may find the markings for the German agency that had the carbine. Sometimes they are marked on the trigger guard or just in front of the trigger guard. If you find them, then we can tell you who had the carbine.

[bros]

Thanks guys for all the input.
I agree....I will not remove the receiver mounted sight as I think it's integral to the history of this Bavarian carbine.
I've learned a fair bit about the Bavarian carbines since this thread was started. It seems like there is some collector interest in these so I'll leave it as is.
Again thanks to all!!!!!

[Patrick Chadwick]

Dear Bros, all the following comments are predicated on your statement that you wanted to have a shooter! I have no collecting expertise, but as somone who has on a couple of occasions won the BDMP-Hessen championship at 50 meters with such a carbine, I feel qualified to contribute some thoughts as to shootability.

as I was questioning him about the silver soldered add-on rear sight on the breach.

1) Are you really sure that the add-on sight was silver-soldered. I have, up to now, never seen a backsight that was silver-soldered onto either the barrel or the receiver. They have ALWAYS been soft-soldered, whereby the name "soft solder" is misleading. Unless you intend to hang a medium-sized automobile onto the backsight, silver-soldering would be a) a ridiculous overkill for strength* and b) would totally destroy the tempering of the receiver, also showing up as a discoloration of the heated parts. So I reckon it will be "soft-soldered".

*For a few years, until I found an original replacement, my SMLE MkV carried an M1917 backsight that was GLUED ON WITH PATTEX.

2) If you consider that the add-on backsight is a piece of it's history, then you can keep it - as long as it does not interfere with the sight picture through the aperture backsight. If you consider that it is just an unauthorized fudge, then remove it - and, as explained above, I think it will have been soft-soldered.

---------- Post added at 12:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:52 PM ----------

I understand that the recoil plate is a Rock-Ola and really doesn't fit the picture.

So what? It is a rebuild and you want a shooter. I am wary of the frequent desire of collectors to "restore" a rifle to its "original condition" - simply not possible, unless you can time-travel back to the day it left the factory - or "original configuration" - rather more plausible, but all too frequently just falsification - the first step on the road to faking and forgery!

[INLAND44]

PC; thanks for the elucidation on sight attachment - makes a lot of sense.

[bobg]

On my Bavarian, the rear sight is attached to the rear of the barrel, just in front of the forward edge of the receiver. It is attached with a gold colored metal that I believe is brazed. The rear G.I. sight was removed and the mounting area for it was untouched. Mine has a few other odd ball things that were done to it but it was an untouched G.I. carbine when the Germans got it, never having gone through rebuild. It still retains almost all its original parts.

[bros]

Quote Originally Posted by bros View Post
as I was questioning him about the silver soldered add-on rear sight on the breach.
1) Are you really sure that the add-on sight was silver-soldered. I have, up to now, never seen a backsight that was silver-soldered onto either the barrel or the receiver. They have ALWAYS been soft-soldered, whereby the name "soft solder" is misleading. Unless you intend to hang a medium-sized automobile onto the backsight, silver-soldering would be a) a ridiculous overkill for strength* and b) would totally destroy the tempering of the receiver, also showing up as a discoloration of the heated parts. So I reckon it will be "soft-soldered"

Not sure if they were silver soldered, that's what I've been told though.
Agreed.....why would they use silver solder? How would they stop the temper of the steel from changing (I know when silver soldering parts being mated, basically materials being joined have to be cherry red)