Dave Markowitz
Member
I was out today shooting my 1943 vintage Underwood M1 Carbine. As always, it's a lot of fun to shoot. I verified today that it likes Remington JSPs, so I'll lay in a supply to enhance its utility in a social encounter.
On the way home from the range I stopped in at Clayton's on PA-611, just South of the Willow Grove Joint Reserve Base. I was in the market for a companion for my Underwood, which I found in the form of a Rock Ola M1 that followed me home. A couple of pictures:
Like most M1s, it's a mix of WW2 and postwar parts. The barrel appears to be original to the gun, being marked Rock Ola. It has a flat M1 bolt rather than the more common later round type. The rear sight is the middle-period milled unit, it has the flip-type safety, bayonet lug barrel band, and M2 wood. I'm not sure if the wood is GI or aftermarket, since it has no markings. I looked but couldn't find any importer markings, so it's possible this was one of the Carbines released for sale to NRA members back in the 1960s.
Before I cleaned it today I think the last time it was cleaned was sometime around the Korean Armistace, but it cleaned up nicely. The bore looked grungy and I even saw green fouling in the lands just inside the muzzle, but after a good cleaning with Hoppe's No.9 and Sweet's 7.62 it came out looking like a mirror.
I'm thinking about dropping it into one of the repro M1A1 folding stocks, since the wood isn't anything special. I got to shoot another guy's Auto Ordnance Carbine so-equipped today and I liked it a lot.
On the way home from the range I stopped in at Clayton's on PA-611, just South of the Willow Grove Joint Reserve Base. I was in the market for a companion for my Underwood, which I found in the form of a Rock Ola M1 that followed me home. A couple of pictures:
Like most M1s, it's a mix of WW2 and postwar parts. The barrel appears to be original to the gun, being marked Rock Ola. It has a flat M1 bolt rather than the more common later round type. The rear sight is the middle-period milled unit, it has the flip-type safety, bayonet lug barrel band, and M2 wood. I'm not sure if the wood is GI or aftermarket, since it has no markings. I looked but couldn't find any importer markings, so it's possible this was one of the Carbines released for sale to NRA members back in the 1960s.
Before I cleaned it today I think the last time it was cleaned was sometime around the Korean Armistace, but it cleaned up nicely. The bore looked grungy and I even saw green fouling in the lands just inside the muzzle, but after a good cleaning with Hoppe's No.9 and Sweet's 7.62 it came out looking like a mirror.
I'm thinking about dropping it into one of the repro M1A1 folding stocks, since the wood isn't anything special. I got to shoot another guy's Auto Ordnance Carbine so-equipped today and I liked it a lot.
