M1 Carbine Underwood/STD. PRO. WWII Ammo

[gtg265s]

I inherited this rifle from a private collection. I know a fair amount about sporting arms, but very little about military guns. I have researched the net and found out that what I have is a STD. PRO. receiver with an Underwood barrel. The barrel is bright with no pits. Cosmoline covers most of the gun. Barrel date is 12-43.

Bandoleer has original 6 pockets with 2 ten round clips each. I attached a pic of one of the rounds that is in the clips. The other boxes are unopen, not sure era of everything though I think it is all WWII.

Any info on what I have and what it is worth would be greatly appreciated. I am wanting to trade for a hunting setup when I find out what it is worth.

Thanks!!!

 

[gtg265s]

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[gtg265s]

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[gtg265s]

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[rondog]

I "think" that's Standard Products, one of the contracted mfgrs. during WWII. I have no idea of the production numbers, but that might be a rare and desireable carbine. I'm sure somebody's gonna want it! The name is underneath the rear sight, and people will want a photo of that.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Standard Products made 247,100 of them according to Wikipedia. But that is a nice looking piece, if it were mine it would join the other two I have as the beginning of a family legacy.

Military contractors[edit]Inland Division, General Motors (production: 2,632,097), sole producer of the M1A1 Carbine. Receiver marked "INLAND DIV."
Winchester Repeating Arms (production: 828,059) Receiver marked "WINCHESTER"[79]
Irwin-Pedersen (operated by Saginaw Steering Gear and production included with Saginaw total)
Saginaw Steering Gear Division General Motors (production: 517,213 ) Receivers marked "SAGINAW S.G." (370,490) and "IRWIN-PEDERSEN" (146,723 )
Underwood Elliot Fisher (production: 545,616) Receiver marked "UNDERWOOD"
National Postal Meter (production: 413,017) Receiver marked "NATIONAL POSTAL METER"
Quality Hardware Manufacturing Corp. (production: 359,666) Receiver marked "QUALITY H.M.C."
International Business Machines (production: 346,500) Receiver marked "I.B.M. CORP." Also barrel marked "IBM Corp"
Standard Products (production: 247,100) Receiver marked "STD. PRO."
Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation (production: 228,500) Receiver Marked "ROCK-OLA"[80]
Commercial Controls Corporation (production: 239) Receiver marked "COMMERCIAL CONTROLS"

 

[rondog]

Honestly, although there's lots of knowledgeable people here, if you REALLY want to know all you can about it, go where all the collectors hang out. http://forums.thecmp.org/index.php Just join up there and bring your questions and photos, you'll learn all about it in short order.

Most likely it's a mixmaster, rebuilt after WWII and probably has parts from everyone on it. I can see it's been upgraded to a type 2 rear sight, it doesn't have a high-wood stock, and it has a type 3 barrel band with bayonet lug. But it looks like it DOESN'T have the right magazine catch for that 30rd. magazine. The 30rd. mags have a third latching nub, over on the left side, and there are mag catches made to fit that nub, it's to support the extra weight and stress of 30rds. and full-auto fire of the M2 carbines.

 

[Reloadron]

I can tell you that the Underwood Barrel is normal for a Standard Products rifle as Standard Products did not manufacture any carbine barrels and most of their carbines were factory fitted with Underwood barrels.

I agree with rondog as to if you really want to crawl into these little war babies check out the CMP forums.

Ron

 

[rondog]

Oh, another thing - I suggest you take it out and shoot it! That might just change your mind about trading it off. They really are cool little rifles and great fun to shoot!

 

[Kp321]

I would think twice about shooting some of the ammo pictured. I see US, French, and Mexico ammo along with the Interarms stuff which could be anything. The US is good but the French made stuff is likely corrosive primed. Open the boxes and take pictures of all the different headstamps and post them here and on the CMP forum. The resident experts both places will tell you what is good and what is junk.

 

[gtg265s]

Thanks for the replies. Any idea on trade value?

 

[Reloadron]

Thanks for the replies. Any idea on trade value?

Really hard to say. Around here, a good shooter is in the $700 to $800 range give or take. Additionally any gun on any given day is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, no more and no less. Your rifle looks as best I can see to be in good condition at a glance but I don't see it as a collectable as to being correct as it was manufactured. You can check with some online auctions and see what similar rifles are going for. That would be my best guess anyway.

Ron

 

[CapnMac]

What ReloadRon said.
A year ago, that would have been priced about $1200, bit more for actually having ammo.

If we follow a rule-of-thumb that you get about half retail for trade-in, that's $400, $450 of carbine, easy. The replacement value on a Standard receivered Carbine probably in the $900-1000 range, if only because there are so few of them relatively speaking.

While some collectors will spurn "mixmaster" arms, all of the US M-1 Carbines pretty much were mix-mastered by the US Army in 1950-53. So, it really ought not count against this one. Now, getting a S.P. marked front band and an Underwood or Rock-Ola hi-wood stock, and trying to sell the thing as "original" WWII--that would be wrong.

If you were in a financial hard place, and had to sell, you could probably post that on GunBroker with a $750 open and probably get enough bidders to bump that up a couple hundred. Maybe.

That is, unless the advice earlier above (with which I agree), and take this baby out for a range session. Now, do not expect MOA 200 or 300 yards downrange. The cal..30 carbine round is similar to .357mag; so it's a bit like a Marlin 1894, except a bit handier, and no fussing with a lever. The Carbine is hugely addictive.

I want my old Inland back something fierce ( not that I have any ammo for one).

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Another of the positives is that .30 Carbine is very easy to reload.
What type of hunting setup are you looking for and in what state are you located.

 

[hso]

I agree that you shouldn't shoot old odd ammo when there is so much good new around.

That's a great shooting little rifle and you might fall in love with it.

 

[Miata Mike]

Boy, I would love something like this carbine. If and when I end up with my Father in laws, there will be a lot of parts needed to make it look close to right.

He or someone else filled the stock in and sanded the cartouche off. Someone also sawed off the front sight ears.

I would clean it up good and take it to the range like others have said.