A Lucky Day for Me Too!! Found a (not so) Sweet M1 Carbine

[35 Whelen]

One of my buddies son-in-law contacted me saying he'd found "a gun" in a storage unit he'd acquired. As a collector/shooter of M1 Carbines, imagine my excitement when he texted me this picture-



We met post haste and it turned out to be an Inland with the hideous Blue Sky import stamp. Nonetheless, I traded him three crisp one hunnert dollar bills for it and he was thrilled, as was I.

It looked as though it had been in the storage unit for some time as there was quite a bit of rust.



It's your garden variety post-war rebuild with a mix of parts and an M2 stock. But it cleaned up pretty good-



It came with a 30 magazine full of Remington factory loads. I checked it at 100 yds. then moved to 200. It shoots just a bit over POA, but not too bad.




I'm gearing up to do some Parkerizing so I'll probably strip it and give it a fresh finish.

35W

 

[trackskippy]

For $300 I think you did good.

Pick up a nicer stock, or not, that might clean up OK, and call it good. The metal will probably clean up OK too, or at least no worse than some of what you see floating around, and it has character.

I have a Winchester Blue Sky import as well, but it was in real nice shape, other than that stamp on the barrel. The shop that had it took off what you paid for yours, because of me bitching about the stamp, and it cost me a grand.

Luckily, mines been good shooter and has become the favorite of the three I still have.

 

[bannockburn]

35 Whelen

Congrats! The rust didn't look to be any big deal and while parts of the stock appear to be a bit chewed up in places, overall the gun doesn't seem to be any the worse for wear and tear or for the long time in the storage unit.

For $300 you've done really great!

 

[beag_nut]

Looks totally "redeemable" to me! Regret selling the one I had 50 years ago.

 

[Demi-human]

I’d have done it too. What rust?
Nice procurement, Whelen.

 

[Skylerbone]

So very jealous and still happy you got it. Great buy, look forward to the saved it pics later. Every one that gets back in the fight is a heartwarming story in my book.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Sweet score!

 

[lightman]

Really nice!

 

[ECVMatt]

There is no way you shot that target with a M1 Carbine; they are the most inaccurate rifles ever made and the .30 Carbine doesn't even shoot that far!

Obviously kidding around a bit....you did great and that rifle will clean up nicely. I am glad you saved that one and already have put it back into service.

Congratulations!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

My M1 Carbine, Blue Sky Arlington Virginia import, was from the South Korean re-imports before Bush Senior implemented the Assault Weapon Import Ban..

The ugly stock is probably by Howa of Japan.

Howa made .30 M1 Carbines with those rough, non-reflective stocks for the Japanese Self Defense Force. (They are featured in some of the Toho Studios Godzilla movies.-) ) As well as used in Korea and Thailand in combat. During the Korean War, Howa of Japan did supply parts & replacement stocks for US, South Korean, and other United Nation forces using M1 Carbines against the Communist forces. The Howa basic stock design was M2 pot belly whether the carbine itself was M1 or M2.

I consider mine a snapshot in time, circa 1953, and have no desire to make it look like it left the IBM factory in 1943. (OK, I will dress it up in a repro M1A1 stock on occassion.)

An M1 Carbine in shootable condition for $300 today? I am struck blind with green clouds of envy.

With a beat up old military stock, I will squirt some lighter fluid in a tin of brown shoe polish and take an old toothbrush and go over the stock, let it dry, then buff it off with an old sweat sock.

 

[Riomouse911]

Not a bad deal at all . A bit of TLC for the metal and you’ve got a rifle that you’ll pass down for generations.

My WWII era Saginaw SG was used as a mountain-county deputy’s trunk gun for 20 years after he bought it. Between wartime use, and rattling around Tuolumne County roads 5 days a week, the stock was cooked so badly I bought a Boyd’s walnut replacement. (The metal was in surprisingly good shape.)

The gun looks like it’s battle ready accuracy-wise, I say you got a winner even with the Blue Sky tattoo on it.

Stay safe.