1944 Inland M1 Carbine

Gillen1

Gillen1

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Well, I figured I would just share my most recent purchase. It's a 1944 Inland General Motors M1 Carbine. It is a mix master of parts and has some pitting on some metal, but I love it all the same. I prefer my guns to have the been there done that look anyway.

Here is a quick parts rundown from my few hours of reading.
  • Bolt: Winchester
  • Slide: Winchester
  • Trigger group: A more purple colour to the metal and marked S'G' for Saginaw
  • Recoil plate: Inland PI stamped
  • Stock: OI Inland stamped with 156 as a serial number
  • Handguard: JLB stamped but also stamped 156
  • Hammer: Utica Cutlery
  • Front sight: RIA post war
  • Rear sight: Post war stamped

Here is a complete album with more pics: http://imgur.com/gallery/Sp21J

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The Garand in the last pic is a 1955 International Harvester. It is also one of the 4000 or so Harvesters that was made by Harrington & Richardson.
 
Walther_PPK said:
From what I understand, all military M1 Carbines are mix masters aren't they?
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No absolutely not

when they left the factory they were all matching (not all manufactures made all parts but the subcontractors that supplied them marked the parts in a way collectors can tell if correct or not)

Now as the war went on they noticed problem early triggers would bind extractor and bolt breakages non adjustable rear sights and push button safeties that GI's would mistake for the mag release.....adding a bayonet mount and many others some cost savings so carbines were ordered to be "upgraded" when they were in from the field after the war millions were given to friendly governments and they rebuilt and replaced parts

every M1 carbine in us inventory would have been rebuilt at some point

some countries did NOTHING and those carbines escaped rebuilding and upgrades and those are the all matching originals we have today some collectors 'restore" carbines to original

the mix masters are probably the best for shooters with the latest parts
 
This is where you start to get into what is 'all matching'.

For some nations it is easy to determine, for example Germany marks pretty much all there parts with a serial number and it was intended to keep those parts with that rifle. Other nations like the US, didn't really have serial numbers (except for things like the receiver and stock depending on the specific firearm) and intended to simply use the best parts on the firearms, which leads to them being constantly being rebuilt or the firearms having parts switched in cleaning (they would throw them into a box and start cleaning that way).

To me all matching for a US firearm means it is all US parts in the firearm and it is how it would have been issued to a soldier. 'Factory Original' which is what some take all matching to mean, means you have all the drawing numbers (each part in a US firearm is stamped with drawing numbers) the firearm would have had initially when it left the factory in whatever year it was made (which despite what some people think, a firearm is only factory original once in its life, switching the parts until you get the combo you want doesn't make it correct).
 
The IHC Garand on a HRA produced receiver is a rare bird as are IHC rifles built on Springfield receivers, the so-called gap letter guns. These can be ID's by the s/ns within a certain range as well as the HRA and/or SA drawing numbers and heat treat lot stamps on the receivers.

Around 8-9 years ago there was a shipment of Garands being sold which included all of SA, HRA and IHC rifles. I picked up a HRA/IHC rifle as well as two IHC/SA rifles among several other 1950s vintage rifles from this lot.

The IHC rifles, incl the IHC/SA and SA/HRA variants, all came with LMR barrels as original installations. The LMR barrels had an excellent reputation for accuracy. IHC rifles were produced in smaller quantities than those produced by the other US makers.
 
purple said:
The IHC rifles, incl the IHC/SA and SA/HRA variants, all came with LMR barrels as original installations. The LMR barrels had an excellent reputation for accuracy. IHC rifles were produced in smaller quantities than those produced by the other US makers.
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This Garand does still have its LMR barrel as well. I should post up more pics of it as well.
 
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