Rare Commerical M1 Carbines......Who has one?

jody_v

jody_v

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So the other night I was flipping through the book 'War Baby Comes Home', by Larry Ruth and got to the part about commerical carbines. Now I've seen many Universal and Plainsfield carbines up for sale or trade on the EE, and even saw a post where a guy mentioned that he had a HOWA, but realized that there is a whole raft of other manufacturers that made post-war carbines that you generally don't hear of. For example:

Alpine Industries
Erma's Firearms Manufacturing
Johnson Arms Inc.
National Ordnance Inc.
Rowan, Becker Company Inc.
Santa Fe Div. of Pasadena Gun Shop
Tri State Tool & Die
The American Historical Foundations (I.J.A.)
American Military Arms Corporation (I.J.A)
Bullseye Gun Shop
Federal Ordnance Inc.
Global Arms
Iver Johnson's Arms Inc.
Millville Ordnance Company
Rock Island Armory Inc.
Rowan, Becker Company, Inc.
Springfield Armory, Inc.
Steelville Manufacturing Company Inc.

I pretty much pulled this list out of the book and some of these manufacturers only made some of the parts and some created carbines from remanufactured government surplus but I thought it was a decent starting point for the post.

So anybody else out there got one of these that are listed, or one manufactured by someone I missed? Be curious to know how many different types made it into Canada.
 
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I've got one! Its an Alpine. The receiver and barrel are both made by Alpine Industries and the rest of the parts are GI.
M1Carbine.jpg
 
Universal and a IJ

I have a Universal and an Iver Johnson. Both made from surplus U.S. parts. Except for the name on the receiver, they are virtual copies of the GI version.

Both function great with cheap Ga. Arms ammo. I only use GI mags in them. The aftermarket mags from Korea that have come in lately are crap (30 rnds). Couldn't tell you the availablity up there but the Universal and IJ are found often down here for around $325-$500 US. The later Universal models with the twin recoil springs and proprietary op rod go for less but have a rep for not working as well as the GI.

Original GI Carbines are still available here. $600-$700 US out the door from the CMP. I just don't have enough use for a third one to justify getting the original....yet. :dancingbanana:
 
B3, your commercial Alpine, isn't extremely rare. Not many in Canada but it is after all is said and done, a clone. It is also a restricted clone. For many, that is a stop.

None of the rifles on the list are particularly rare or desireable as collectibles. All are pretty decent rifles, though a few have feeding problems and are prone to parts breakage.

This doesn't man they are valuless. IMHO, you might get a close sum for the rifle if it were fitted with a non restricted bbl.
 
I wouldn't pay big bucks for an after market M1, it won't fit into a military collection. The only ones I would consider are commercial ones used by a police force, or the altered GI M1s used by the Austrian or German security forces.
I had one of the M1s used by the Irish government but I think I sold that one.
 
OK guys before this thread starts going off track, the purpose of it was not to discuss how much the commercial carbines are worth or how good they are, just to see how many of the the different types are around. Agreed that just because something is rare, it doesn't make it valuable. It's only valuable if other people want it.

So if you haven't got anything nice to say about them..............go start another thread.
 
There was a fellow @ the range the other day sighting in his M1 it looked just like Brandon's Alpine, except the stock was completely handmade. The scope was a nice old weaver with the steel tube. He was getting 1" groups @ 50 yards. Very nice. The only thing was that the Privi Partisan had hard primers. IDK who the manufacturer was, but it looked "GI".
 
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I have an Iver Johnson (i.e., last generation Plainsfield) with a non-restricted barrel. It's a nice shooter, but like many here, I prefer the history of the GI-issued M1s. That being said, I also prefer the non-restricted classification of my commercial.

One maker that's not on the list is ACE (unless that an acronymn for acronym for Alpine). I've not seen one in person, but there was a fellow on the EE a few months back who had one for sale with an non-restricted barrel.
 
I would say commercial carbines are far from rare. Perhaps some manufactures are, but unless you're specifically collecting commercial M1 carbines... I myself have passed up a number of commercial M1 carbines holding out for a GI.
 
I did have one of the M1s a Universal, it had a really great stock with matching top wood.
The receiver had a plastic spacer on the left side between the wood and the frame. It took me a few minutes to figure out it was drilled and tapped for a scope.
 
albayo said:
I did have one of the M1s a Universal, it had a really great stock with matching top wood.
The receiver had a plastic spacer on the left side between the wood and the frame. It took me a few minutes to figure out it was drilled and tapped for a scope.
Click to expand...

Well at least you figured this out while you have it.:agree:

I had one for a Deer Rifle for my wife in the early -mid 80s and would have kept it if i knew i could have scoped it. She couldn't get those Peep sights down at all. I only realized what the plastic spacer was for 27 years later!:redface:
 
It depends which model Universal you have. Mine is an identical clone of the late military model. The only difference is the bolt, which is round. The trigger group on mine is milsurp and so marked. The stock that came with it is a very straight grained but tight piece of walnut. The barrel, which I just replaced, looks to have been made by Marlin. It has micro groove rifling. It was very accurate. The new barrel, isn't bad at all either. Better than I hoped.
Anyway before I wander OT any more. My Universal was never D&Ted.
 
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