Universal M1 carbine - unusual serial number?

xBrokenswordx

xBrokenswordx

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A buddy of mine was gifted a couple of Universal M1 carbines and I attempted to help identify them but I've run into a wall.

Its marked Universal, serial number ss34xx. I'm getting all kinds of conflicting info. It seems to be mostly usgi parts.

Any help would be appreciated. The search has reignited my interest in these little rifles
 
Early Universals were pretty much surplus parts with commercial receivers/trigger housings/barrels depending on when it was made.
I have a 6000 s/n range and it has the alloy trigger housing, 12 groove barrel so maybe Marlin as I don't know of any other maker that uses that high land/groove combo, and a flip down V notch rear sight. Rest is GI parts, shoots pretty good for what it is.
 
Hitzy said:
Early Universals were pretty much surplus parts with commercial receivers/trigger housings/barrels depending on when it was made.
I have a 6000 s/n range and it has the alloy trigger housing, 12 groove barrel so maybe Marlin as I don't know of any other maker that uses that high land/groove combo, and a flip down V notch rear sight. Rest is GI parts, shoots pretty good for what it is.
Click to expand...

Have a look on the internet about some of the barrels used on post war commercial manufactured rifles. They had problems getting cheap barrels so they took surplus barrels which were cut in half and sleeved them from the gas port back to the chamber. Works well. I've duplicated this build a few times without a hiccup. One barrel has several thousand rounds down the bore and all is well.

I also have a take off barrel from a donor Universal action that has a 12 groove bore. It also has a 1-18 twist rate rather than the usual 1-15. It was one of the most accurate M1 Carbines I've had the pleasure to shoot.

It wasn't just Universal that used ex GI parts to put these handy little gems together. Why not???? There was a cornucopia of surplus parts for just about every WWII firearm available. Jobs were scarce and small companies as well as larger companies utilized as many of these cheap parts as possible to put people to work as well as pick up their profits.
 
As per the website above, which shows S/N SS2017 as an I-J build of Universal parts during take-over of the business. Yes, appears to be a GEN III M1 carbine, so, dual recoil springs and the stamped defective slide. Stainless Steel receiver and other SS parts are a novelty, as there is no real reason to make them this way, along with the teflon coated ones.

I have another one of their novelties, a 22k gold plated Universal, fortunately it's GEN II with a few Inland parts. Called "Palace Guards" version. Even the mag is gold.
 
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