Thanks Bearman that is very helpful.
The right reference books are always so important.
As a wiseman once said.....buy the book before you buy the gun!
I wish I had always done that,....often you buy the gun .....and after you buy the book...
and only then do you find out whether you were right...or wrong.
I have been fortunate over the years ...I have not made too many mistakes.
However, a case in point.
I also collect WWII stuff, German, American and Russian stuff.
Some years ago I was at a local gun show and I came across a WWII M97 Winchester Trench shotgun,....it was stunning.
I knew nothing about these guns,...knee jerk reaction ...I bought it.
After I bought the gun I bought the books,....and that is when I found out what I did not know at the time of purchase.
This serves as a lesson I hope I will never forget.
Bruce Canfield writes books on many subjects and he has been very helpful to me in the past on other issues.
I wish that I would have bought his book on US Martial shotguns before I went to that gun show.
The long and the short of it;
The gun I bought is stunning,....it is only missing one thing.
THIS:
For whatever reason the gun that I bought does not have the final inspector's acceptence stamp "GHD" with the US Ordnance Canons escutcheon.
For as Long as I own this gun this will bother me.
(Maybe not someone else,...because it is a beautiful 1943 manufactured gun with all the other correct US markings.)
If I had bought the book.....I would have known that.
My lesson.
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I have only on a few occasions bought anything at a gun show that I have walked out with.
It usually involves photos and homework before I feel comfortable moving forward.
You can't always do that because of buyer competition and where the seller comes from.
I lucked out on this one,...once again a piece that I was not familiar with and a gun that is rarely seen at a Canadian gun show. (At least where where I live.)
It took two weeks and many photos from the seller,....with great help from Bruce Canfield and another Canadian and American expert to finally provide the comfort level for me to move forward.
These M1A1 carbines in their original "as issued" configuration are extremely difficult to find in Canada as well as in the U.S.
Collecting M1 carbines is a speciality area by itself, when it came to this M1A1 I did not trust my own expertise and needed help from the experts.
Most of these guns went through an alteration/refurbishing process after and during WWII as updated changes were introduced.
I lucked out,...the gun seems to be original as issued,...so I have been told by people that are much more knowledgeable with these guns than I am.
"Lady luck" always plays a role.
This an early issue Inland M1A1 carbine with a low six digit serial number. (1942 manufacture.)
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My motivation for moving forward with the purchase of two guns shown above might best be explained with the three photos shown below.
(I guess they fitted into my collection,....abeit with some moments of indecision and concern.)
These three guns were manufactured in 1942,.....no "black powder" variations were produced.
David
