I have made up my mind to buy a M1 carbine.  I will get a old one that is in good condition and refinish the stock and possibly parkerize it.  I will accesorize it and adore it.  Now my question is this,  What do I look for in an M1 carbine, and what do I expect to pay for it?  Also what manufacturers do I want to look for and what would some price differences be like.  Garandman I know you can help.

Careful you dont disagree with him or he`ll edit your post and threaten to lock your thread. Typical Christian attitutde, that`s why I dont go to church.

Gee, did I MENTION your name?????

Or, do you have a guilty conscience???

[}:D]

And FWIW, I DID NOT edit the thread you started. Perhaps you should go to church - they'd tell you ALL about God's dislike of "bearing false witness."

Well, honestly, my knowledge of teh Carbine is spun off my knowledge of the Garand, but I'll give ya all I got.

Collectibility and Price (High to low)

Rockola (up to $800-1,000)
National Postal Meter (same as Rockola)
Underwood (up to $750)
GM (Inland Division) (up to $600)

I'd definitely recommend a USGI issue rifle. Try to get one WITHOUT the importers stamp on teh barrel.

For collectibilities sake, I'd caution you against refinishing the stock and reparking it.

When you get a specific piece in mind, contact me (all of us) with specific questions

Garandman,tattoo,

I've heard that there are two separate places on a M1 carbine that has the Serial #'s and they should be the same #.  Is this true and where would I find them?

Try here:

[url]home.att.net/~ra-carbines/home.html[/url]

I just bought the "IBM" M1 Carbine in the carbine for sale section.

Should be here tommorrow.

I agree. avoid the commercial rifles and the repatriot "Blue Sky" rifles.

If you are planning the refinish the rifle & stock you might as well just buy a complete rifle from Fulton Armory though. That will be cheaper in the long run and you will have basically a new GI spec rifle.

hey what's the webadress for iai?

O CRAP! ALL 8 OF MINE ARE "BLUE SKY" M-1 RIFLES.

I'm with you. There is nothing wrong with a Blue Sky import rifle. They are all G.I. parts. If all you want is a shooter then they are fine and a damn sight better than any commercial carbine out there. Unless you have a 100% "correct"(original condition) rifle then all you have is a shooter anyway.

They are advertised as forged receivers which leads me to believe that they are not actually made by Springfield Armory Inc. since the M1A receivers are machined from castings. BTW I guess you probably already know this but I have to say it anyway. Springfield Armory Inc. isn't the Govt. arsenal Springfield Armory that made the M-1 and The M-1903. Springfield Armory Inc. started out in Devine Texas under the name Devine something or other. They copy righted the name Springfield Armory Inc. (the original Springfield Armory shut down after production of the M-14 ceased in the early 60's)and their trade mark M1A. BTT I'd go for a G.I. carbine. Fulton Armory is way over priced on everything. They want over $1000.00 for a "rebuilt" refinished standard M-1 Garand with mixed match parts and a Boyds Stock! You might be able to sell it for $750.00 to a motivated buyer. I put them just below Mil-Tech as rip off artists go.

GWIGG, If you find a M1 Carbine with two serial numbers it means that it was arsenal modified from the early two position rear flip sight to the later fully adjustable rear sight (either milled or stamped version) during an arsenal rebuild to repair or update parts.  The new type of rear sight sometimes extended rearward over the top section of the receiver where the original serial number was located.  The arsenal had a fixture which allowed them to transfer the same serial number to a position on top of the receiver between the rear sight and the bolt.  This was done to make it easier to see the serial number.  There is nothing special about a double serial number unless they are not the same numbers, and then it would only be worth something extra to an advanced collector.  Basically all carbines shoot about the same.  They are great fun.  With so many manufacturers and their subcontractor codes it is easy to become a collector yourself.  The blue sky imports marked carbines returned to the US from Korea.  They were pretty well used (beat up) defending the free world.  The re-parked ones from Miltec are pretty, but the finish doesn't last.  If you are patient, an occasional treasure will surface such as the 5-43 barrel dated Inland I picked up from a LOL (little old lady) whose husband recently passed in original "as manufactured" condition for $350.00  If you really wan't to dive into this, contact the carbine club at www.gunandknife.com/carbine/  That should direct you to a great bunch of dedicated collectors and shooters.  Best regards.

i wish i had a ibm one

that would be cool since im into computers

Don't want to regergetate what others have written, but:
I love those damn war babies.

Only USGI carbines.  Avoid the commercial models.  There is nothing wrong with many of the repatriated carbines on the market.  They are all different, if you find a good one it is a keeper.  The price on these little rifles seems to go up all the time.  Those $180 dollar Blue skies(8-10 years ago) are selling for $375-450 in my neck of the woods.

Inlands are most plentiful, thus being a little cheaper in the collectors world.

If you want a shooter the post war rebuild rifles are pretty nice.  The adjustable sight, lever safety, supported 30 rd mag release and bayo lug are cool.

As far as reparking I have mixed emotions.  5 days ago I got a carbine back from Deans Gun restoratons.  It looks like it rolled off of the assembly line in '43.  

 

If you want the cream of the collectable carbines, by all means look for a Winchester marked gun.  If you're just after a good shooter, the Inland marked guns are the easiest to find and work just as well as any of the others.  By the way, don't be surprised if you find a lot of carbines with WWII dated barrels, that were made by a supplier other than the maker of the reciever. It will still be the original barrel, because the govt. set up a distribution board in the middle of the war to send barrels from the makers who had excess to the makers who either didn't make barrels or who were short on them.  Some of the best surplus guns I've seen in recent years were those we sent to Israel during the 1973 war over there. These were pieces that had come out our DOD reserve supplies, and were issued for defence to the farming settlments over there.  You can spot them easily, because the Israelis stamped the serial numbers on the right side of the buttstock.

Paul,
If you wait until you transfer to Kali you can get a USGI M1 Carbine at Armory Of Orange. No Blue Sky Repatriots or Commercial copies there.

RE: Blue Sky
These are rifles that were given to Korea. They went to Korea as servicable USGI Carbines. They were then used hard by the Koreans, who had neither the training or spare parts to maintain them. For Spare parts they resorted to canibalization & fabrication. Once they got something better they sold the carbines commercially. Some of the "Blue Sky" import stamps are so deep they actually Bent or obstructed the bore.

I'd be interested in hearing about that, the only USGI one I have ever seen crack was a spring tube winchester, real early one and highly used/abused and it dd it with questionable reloads. JC