opportunity on buying a m1 carbine

[mozeppa]

have a chance on a m1 carbine

all the hardware is all the same manufacturer....saginaw.
it has been re-stocked by C.M.P. wood looks perfect. action looks great , slicker than snot on a door knob.

functions like greased lightning.

$1200

what i want to know is....there are many different makers of the m1

saginaw
rockola
winchester
universal
inland
national postal
standard
i.b.m.
quality hardware & machine
underwood-elliot-fisher

of the 9 makers....who made the best?

where does saginaw rate in the list?

[lefty o]

all the usgi guns are good to go.

[mozeppa]

all the usgi guns are good to go.
isn't that a garand?

again....who made the best carbine?

[ShooterAZ]

All the ones on your list are good, except Universal. They are not USGI. Inland made the most, and had the most experience in manufacturing. Your question is a little ambiguous, as they all had to meet the quality standards set forth by Uncle Sam. Some are more valuable due to the quantities made, sort of like coins. I'd be happy with any of them, but not the Universal.

[jimb16]

Replace Universal with Irwin Pederson and you have the 9 USGI carbines.As ShooterAZ said, they all had to meet quality standards. Any of them are good, but the best barrels were Underwood. Otherwise, rarity is the only thing that makes a difference.

[TCLouis]

Is 1200 bucks the asking price for the gun you are interested in/described?

[Texas by God]

$1200 seems high but I'd rather get that than a $1200 AR. Best, Thomas.

[Mauser48]

No 1 company made the whole M1 carbine, all those companies made certain parts then they were shipped to another manufacturer for the other parts and so on. Basically, they were assembled with all the parts that were shipped in from different sun contractors. I'm betting that's a pieced together gun. Lots of variation in carbine parts. Get a bunch of pics then put it on cmp forum. Those guys will tell you exactly what you have.

[square butte]

Singer was a subcontractor for receivers for Underwood. I have one in the closet. I was surprised to find out about the Singer receiver - But I don't think they produced whole assembled carbines.

[lefty o]

isn't that a garand?

again....who made the best carbine?
USGI is US gvmnt issue, applies to anything. m1 carbines were usgi. the aftermarket ones, not usgi. many of the aftermarket guns are not very good quality. again, all the usgi guns are good to go.

[Ithaca Gunner]

By all means, buy a G.I. carbine. Maybe not the one you're currently looking at, at $1,200 it seems over priced for what it is. There are books available to guide you on what should be on what carbine at what time frame if that's a concern. If not, just get a G.I. carbine and enjoy! The percentage of "pure" (as issued at the time of new) carbines out there is very, very low, and very, very expensive. Like Colt SAA "Artillery" models, no effort was made at the arsenals to keep a gun original. They stripped them at one end of a building, inspected parts from bins, rebuilt them with upgraded or new parts at the other end of the building and reissued them. They served in WWII, Korea, and some in Vietnam.


The .30 Carbine cartridge is a pleasure to shoot and reload, and is a great candidate for cast boolits. Accuracy is so-so, about 3-4" at 100 yds normally and it's not much of a "game getter" being in the same class as the .32-20 Winchester more or less. It's just a fun, easy, pleasant gum/cartridge combo to shoot.

[Scharfschuetze]

USGI is US gvmnt issue, applies to anything. m1 carbines were usgi. the aftermarket ones, not usgi. many of the aftermarket guns are not very good quality. again, all the usgi guns are good to go.

Correct. As already suggested, the civilian copies are usually not up the USGI standards. Which manufacturer made the best M1 Carbine? I've never read or heard about that. I have with the M1 Garand, M14 and the M16/M4, but I've never noted that about the M1 Carbine. If it was GI, then it was made under tight supervision and had to make some pretty rigid acceptance guidelines.

Over the years I've owned a Winchester, an Underwood and an Inland carbine. They all shot about the same. The Winchester cost me $20 dollars in 1965 and the Underwood cost me about $100 in 1975. The inland was a bit more, but it didn't break the bank in 1995. It just goes to show you that investment in "valuable metal" is never a bad strategy! That $1,200 asking price this year will seem like a bargain in 20 years or so.


all the hardware is all the same manufacturer....saginaw

Finding an M1 Carbine with all matching parts is pretty uncommon as virtually all of them were rebuilt at some point during their military service. US Arsenals used the parts necessary to get the rifle/carbine up to snuff and didn't worry about the manufacturer of the parts.

[wrench man]

I have a 1st gen Universal, it's probably as good as the GI ones as most of it parts are surplus, the second and third gen give them all a bad rep!? don't know why they changed the design? and the parts are soft too!

$1200 sound a little high to me too?

[justashooter]

I have seen nice carbines at auction here in PA for $600-$650 in the last 6 months. gun show prices here are $650-$700. you need to shop a little more.

[bouncer50]

Are you looking for a collecter gun or a shooter. Iver Johnson made a good M1 carbine if your looking for a shooter. They are cheap to reload if you cast bullets but not very accurate.

[2wheelDuke]

I have a 1st gen Universal, it's probably as good as the GI ones as most of it parts are surplus, the second and third gen give them all a bad rep!? don't know why they changed the design? and the parts are soft too!

$1200 sound a little high to me too?

Like everything else, it came down to availability and cost. When the surplus parts weren't around anymore, they had to source them. It was cheaper/easier to change the design then to come up with a source or build mil-spec parts.

I'll never forget the time I got to see a guy's prized M1 carbine that supposedly was carried by his father in Korea. I looked under the sight and saw "UNIVERSAL - HIALEAH, FL" I felt horrible for ruining that for the guy.

I've known some people that had Universals and said they ran great. I'm assuming they had earlier ones. $1200 does sound a little high to me, but doesn't seem any higher than I see being asked for them around here.

For me and for what they cost, and what it costs me to make the rounds, I'll stick to AR's in 300 blackout.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My half brother had a Saginaw carbine in his M-3 light scout tank a `Stewart` in WW 2. He said it reminded him of his home here in Michigan. He shot quite a few `glass rabbits` as he called empty wine bottles while in France with the carbine.Robert

[Kevin Rohrer]

$1200 is way high. Check the online sites for lower priced guns.

[Sur-shot]

If you do not know ins and outs about a carbine, do yourself a favor and study up on the subject before you get bit. At today's prices you do not want to buy a parts gun for a premium all original gun price, because you do not know serial numbers and dates of correct parts. Example: my Rockola serial # indicates it was made in the month of the switch over from the flip up rear sight to the graduated rear sight, so both sights are correct, but it can only have one type of top for the forend to be right.
Ed

[mozeppa]

i passed on it....but it was sure purdy!

[pugjunga123]

1200 seems high.
They are around 600 to 800 for USGI CMP units here in CA.
Special Marked ones are around 1K such as those for Bavarian Forestry Service

[wrench man]

I've known some people that had Universals and said they ran great. I'm assuming they had earlier ones.

Mine will run with any of them!, the ONLY! time it ever had an issue was the first time the GF shot it, she grabbed the charge handle and held onto it while it slid forward, it did jamb up, I cleared the jamb and told her to rack it like she was pizzed off at it!, ever since then it'll rock thru two 30rnd mags and she only sets it down because it's to hot to hang onto!
A target rifle it is NOT!, a fun plinker, you bet!

[Shiloh]

Must be mint at $1200

Shiloh

[leadman]

I think that anyone that claims their usgi carbine has all the original same maker parts on it probably has been replacing pieces to acheive that goal. From what I have gathered on the CMP forum what was stated here up aways about all the different maker of the parts is true.
I have one that has many Saginaw parts but the receiver is Inland. The guys on the CMP forum said it probably left the factory like that.
When I was on vacation in Grand Rapids Michigan in August I was going to try to find the old Saginaw factory but when I got close I decided it was batter if I did not drive down in that area. Rough would be an understatement! I only lived less than 5 miles away from it for one summer when I was a kid.

[Ithaca Gunner]

I think that anyone that claims their usgi carbine has all the original same maker parts on it probably has been replacing pieces to acheive that goal. From what I have gathered on the CMP forum what was stated here up aways about all the different maker of the parts is true.
I have one that has many Saginaw parts but the receiver is Inland. The guys on the CMP forum said it probably left the factory like that.
When I was on vacation in Grand Rapids Michigan in August I was going to try to find the old Saginaw factory but when I got close I decided it was batter if I did not drive down in that area. Rough would be an understatement! I only lived less than 5 miles away from it for one summer when I was a kid.

True from what I've read in the book, "War Baby" which is a biography of the M-1 Carbine from inception to all variations. Makers would trade parts that they had a surplus of for parts they would be in need of, or outright sell them to whom might be in need of their surplus making a "pure" one manufacturer carbine a rarity, particularly the later ones.