M1 Carbine Cutaway

[W5USMC]

Well it arrived.

What is the finish on that thing? It looks plated and tarnished? Can you post a picture of the NPM marking? Is the top of the bolt cut all the way through?

[rcathey]

Yes, I do believe it is plated.
I’m not sure how I want to go about cleaning it yet, but I’m leaning toward a simple steel wool and oil approach. It definitely needs disassembled and cleaned/oiled.

If we can say with some confidence this does not have a fancy provenance, I may add more cutouts. For example, the gas cylinder block isn’t cut away at all. There’s some neat stuff in there to see!

[rcathey]

Appears to have a broken bolt lug?

Seems like that might be another cutout:

[W5USMC]

Interesting piece for sure. Personally, I would just stick with cleaning it up. Although I do believe it is homemade, there is the possibility that it was done by National Postal Meter as a display or gift or something. Probably something we will never know for sure. Curious as to where you found it?

[rcathey]

This came from an auction in New York…and I’m just now realizing the auction house is less than hour from Rochester where the National Postal Meter factory was.

The plot thickens!

[W5USMC]

The plot thickens!

Yes, and the plating job looks very old, plus no serial#. How about the markings of all the parts? All NPM?
You could clean it up and send it about an hour and a half down I-44, where we could keep it in my gunroom!

[oldfoneguy]

Interesting piece for sure. Personally, I would just stick with cleaning it up. Although I do believe it is homemade, there is the possibility that it was done by National Postal Meter as a display or gift or something. Probably something we will never know for sure. Curious as to where you found it?

I agree. It's very possible that this was in a trophy/display case in the reception area to show off what they were accomplishing in regard to their war effort. That was very common back then unless the item was top secret which a carbine wasn't. They were scattered all over Europe and the Pacific.

In peacetime prior and post war that same display case would have held samples of their mail handling equipment and postage meter variants.

[rcathey]

Yes, and the plating job looks very old, plus no serial#. How about the markings of all the parts? All NPM?
You could clean it up and send it about an hour and a half down I-44, where we could keep it in my gunroom!

I’ll have to document the markings as I take it apart.

Nice of you to offer storage space, I’ll have to keep that in mind haha.
I’ve been on some buying trips down your way before.
Once purchased 17 guns from a pawn shop in Cuba. Nothing super exciting, unfortunately.

---------- Post added at 10:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 AM ----------

I agree. It's very possible that this was in a trophy/display case in the reception area to show off what they were accomplishing in regard to their war effort.

The real bummer about this purchase is the lack of a plaque. If you look in the pictures in my first post, you can see residue from an oval plaque in between the cases on the base. Looks like it’s been gone for a long time since the wood isn’t a different color.

That’s bitter sweet to me. Without the plaque, we don’t know the history of the display. If it had the plaque, it almost certainly would have sold for more than the $225 I paid.

[jond41403]

I agree with oldfoneguy, it makes sense that it was in a trophy case or someplace similar at national postal meter because why leave the national postal meter on it and take off the serial number if it were done by a bubba? I also agree the plating does look old because it looks like it's peeling off a little on the inside of the slide arm. I would hold off making any more cuts on it for a little while Ryan until you find out more about what you have. Can't wait to see it cleaned up!

[jond41403]

Hey Wayne, would Dan know anymore about this type of thing if he saw a picture of what Ryan has?