Question for the m1 carbine experts

live4therut

live4therut

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
190   0   0
Location
East of the Rockies, west of the rest
Hi guys and gals,

I'm looking at a very nice carbine right now and it's odd as everything on it is correct for an early 43, except the barrel, looks sanded/buffed and blued. I'm sure my option is correct as I've never seen a blued barrel but that doesn't mean it didn't happen, all markings are crisp except missing a month date before the year. I posted a pic of my other m1a1 that's roughly 3-6 after and it's parked



Mine mid 43 m1a1


Cheers
 
Last edited:
I have an IBM CORP marked barrel that is in original condition and blued. If I remember correctly some manufacturers used blue and others used parkerizing. I think MARLIN made barrels that were blued as well.

The machining marks definitely look to be removed as you mentioned though.
 
AKAIK all of the military Carbine barrels and receivers were parkerized at time of manufacture and during military overhauls. Your receiver looks parkerized to me. The barrel appears to have been blued or treated with black oxide. The markings seem a bit washed out, maybe from polishing.
 
jibjedi said:
I have an IBM CORP marked barrel that is in original condition and blued. If I remember correctly some manufacturers used blue and others used parkerizing. I think MARLIN made barrels that were blued as well.

The machining marks definitely look to be removed as you mentioned though.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware that Marlin made Carbine barrels. They did make Garand barrels during WW2 that were blued and were somewhat inferior. The post-war Marlin Garand barrels were parkerized and are of good quality.
 
purple said:
I wasn't aware that Marlin made Carbine barrels. They did make Garand barrels during WW2 that were blued and were somewhat inferior. The post-war Marlin Garand barrels were parkerized and are of good quality.
Click to expand...

They sure did. As did Buffalo Arms. Both were contracted to make barrels only.
 
jibjedi said:
They sure did. As did Buffalo Arms. Both were contracted to make barrels only.
Click to expand...

Right you are. I just re-checked my books. I was aware of the Buffalo Arms barrels. Their Carbine barrels were not well thought of. I have a lightly used Buffalo Arms Garand barrel that I'm looking forward to installing and range testing.
 
some importers decided back in the day that milsurps would be more attractive for sale if they were blued all M1 carbines as built or refurbed by the US were parked
 
It's typical for original vet bring back M1A1's to show some wear as the soldiers carried them on their backs across NWE.

This one looks like it could be an original gun that someone 'cleaned up'. The barrel which should be parkerized has been buffed and blued, the receiver also appears somewhat cleaned up and blued, and the bolt which should be blued appears parkerized or has some strange finish on it. It's a shame someone messed with it as these are very valuable and historical rifles.

Regards,
-Steve

13497050364_c15137480b_b.jpg
 
Quoting Craig Riesch, from his book for M1 carbine collectors in regards to barrel finish, "All barrels were originally parkerized, with the exception of some early Inland or Winchester barrels which appear to be blued."
 
jibjedi said:
Quoting Craig Riesch, from his book for M1 carbine collectors in regards to barrel finish, "All barrels were originally parkerized, with the exception of some early Inland or Winchester barrels which appear to be blued."
Click to expand...

Looking at R.C. Larson's, 'Comprehensive Guide - M1 Carbine' it agrees with this statement where under the section of 'Early Inland Barrels' it states, "Early Inland barrels were black to dark grey, while later barrels were grey/green parkerized".
 
jody_v said:
Looking at R.C. Larson's, 'Comprehensive Guide - M1 Carbine' it agrees with this statement where under the section of 'Early Inland Barrels' it states, "Early Inland barrels were black to dark grey, while later barrels were grey/green parkerized".
Click to expand...

My book doesn't give exact serial number range for these "early Inlands" just says that it only applied to the Type IIA barrels (removable gas cylinders) which were only made by Inland and used very early in production.
 
jibjedi said:
My book doesn't give exact serial number range for these "early Inlands" just says that it only applied to the Type IIA barrels (removable gas cylinders) which were only made by Inland and used very early in production.
Click to expand...

My book only refers to them as 'Early Inland Barrels' and 'Late Inland Barrels' but it does get quite detailed with what approx. dates the barrels could have based on the SN. It would be nice if the OP could give the approx. SN range to see if at least the year matches what the book has. Also be interested to know if the barrel has a long or short skirt and if there is anything stamped on the face of the gas cylinder.
 
live4therut said:
Approx sn is 222### I would give you the whole thing if it were mine. It's early 43 so not an early inland. I'll have to check back with the pics.
Click to expand...

According to all the reference material I have, SN 222### had an approx. assembly period of Nov. 1942 to March 1943. Approx. barrel dates would have been 10-42 - 3-43 but I can't find anything conclusive as to whether it would have been blued or parkerized. As mentioned before it says "Early Inland barrels were black to dark grey, while later barrels were grey/green parkerized", it really doesn't give a good explanation or definitive time frame of what 'early' is. The reference material does say it was 1st Block Production and Inland's Division's Early 1943 Carbine. (Approx. SN Range 90,000 - 260,000)

Barrel should have the long barrel skirt and interestingly enough the stock would have had the I cut for the sling.

Your two Inlands that you (had?) posted are fine examples of two unaltered carbines that any collector would be happy to have. A neat one I stumbled upon a while back actually fell into Craig Riesch's category of 'Seldom Seen Receivers'. In '42/43, Inland shipped a number of receivers to Underwood, where they lined out INLAND DIV. and stamped a '.U.' above it. Unfortunately it is not in its original condition as it has gone through the post-war refurb but still a interesting find never the less.
 
jibjedi said:
My book doesn't give exact serial number range for these "early Inlands" just says that it only applied to the Type IIA barrels (removable gas cylinders) which were only made by Inland and used very early in production.
Click to expand...

It's likely not the Type IIA with the removable gas cylinder as my information suggests the design was only used by Inland as a prototype and that very few were in circulation. It also suggests that the barrel would be stamped 5-42 and not with the 43 date that was shown.
 
jody_v said:
It's likely not the Type IIA with the removable gas cylinder as my information suggests the design was only used by Inland as a prototype and that very few were in circulation. It also suggests that the barrel would be stamped 5-42 and not with the 43 date that was shown.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Good info to know for future reference.
 
jody_v said:
According to all the reference material I have, SN 222### had an approx. assembly period of Nov. 1942 to March 1943. Approx. barrel dates would have been 10-42 - 3-43 but I can't find anything conclusive as to whether it would have been blued or parkerized. As mentioned before it says "Early Inland barrels were black to dark grey, while later barrels were grey/green parkerized", it really doesn't give a good explanation or definitive time frame of what 'early' is. The reference material does say it was 1st Block Production and Inland's Division's Early 1943 Carbine. (Approx. SN Range 90,000 - 260,000)

Barrel should have the long barrel skirt and interestingly enough the stock would have had the I cut for the sling.

Your two Inlands that you (had?) posted are fine examples of two unaltered carbines that any collector would be happy to have. A neat one I stumbled upon a while back actually fell into Craig Riesch's category of 'Seldom Seen Receivers'. In '42/43, Inland shipped a number of receivers to Underwood, where they lined out INLAND DIV. and stamped a '.U.' above it. Unfortunately it is not in its original condition as it has gone through the post-war refurb but still a interesting find never the less.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I deleted the pic as I planned on taking one with my three unaltered carbines today but the pics didn't turn out like I wanted. The pics that I received of this were not that great so I can't comment on much more details of the carbine as I gave up on it.

Here's the pic of my mid 43 inland M1A1 and mid-late 43 Saginaw, missing is the 44 Winchester

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom