First one is the most interesting one, really a great read.



Beyond that...read it for yourself, you lazy so and so.



:)

OK....I have a sense of humor so I'll take that last bit for the joke that I'm sure it was intended

(ETA: whoops, didn't see your smiley, my reply came across a bit dickish there)





Was planning on starting with the first one anyway, if I do pick them up.


       

 

The first book has the total history of the M1 Carbine and it's design and fielding.  Goes into real depth.

Then each Carbine manufacturer gets a separate chapter on their history, the process by which they got a contract, the production history, who their subcontractors were, and a complete listing of every known mark applied to finished Carbines.
This includes some really odd looking stamps.
Also is info on the acceptance process for Carbines and the problems each manufacturer had during the contract phase and through the production life, and what the fixes were.

After that there's chapters on development of upgrade parts and accessories, including experimentals that never were adopted
This covers bayonet lugs, bayonets, flash hiders, various experimental folding or collapsing stocks, magazines, canvas gear, ammo, etc.
The finish is a chapter of post-war non-USGI Carbines.
My original copy included a booklet of corrections and later additions to the book.

I'm not sure about the other two, but the second was, as I recall, "The War Baby Comes Home" and that was a complete history of the post-war commercial Carbine including those made in other countries.
I think it also included info on other countries that used the USGI Carbine, like the West German border guards, and the Dutch police.

Thanks, exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I've started getting curious about how all these non-gun companies got into the carbine program so it sounds like Vol 1 has the exact info I'm looking for on that subject. Will have to get a copy of at least that one for sure.





I should have just gone to the publisher's site in the first place, they have a pretty good synopsis of all 3 books, actually:








But MAN are they proud of those books (price wise)....may have to start checking the used market!

 

I found the third book to be essentially a synopsis of all the Carbine Club newsletters since the seventies.  Well-written and extremely well-researched.

Wow! He sure is proud of his writing!!  Talk about expensive!