M1
Carb
History
M1
Carb
Works
M1
Production
Info
Still in Construction
01/01/00
M1
Carbine "The
War Baby"
131. M-1 Carbine
2. Additional Information
by Robert Gibson (RGIBSON@ua1vm.ua.edu).
Over a span of just 38 months (the first carbines were delivered in June 1942, the last in August 1945) nine primary contractors established manu- facturing facilities, tooled up and turned out some six million carbines of all types - M1, M1A1, M2 and T3/M3. The production program was such a success that, excepting Inland and Winchester, the remaining contracts were cancelled in mid-1944. Those two companies completed their carbine production runs in August, 1945.
| Inland Manufacturing Division, G.M.C...... | 2,632,097 | 43.0% | |
| Winchester Repeating Arms Co................ | 828,059 | 13.5% | |
| Underwood-Elliot-Fisher Co.................. | 545,616 | 8.9% | |
| * | Saginaw Steering Gear Div., G.M.C........... | 517,212 | 8.5% |
| ** | National Postal Meter Co.................... | 413,017 | 6.8% |
| *** | Quality Hardware & Machine Co............... | 359,666 | 5.9% |
| International Business Machines Corp (IBM).. | 346,500 | 5.7% | |
| Standard Products Co........................ | 247,160 | 4.0% | |
| Rock-Ola Co................................. | 228,500 | 3.7% | |
| --------- | |||
| Total: | 6,221,220 |
* Note that Saginaw had two plants in operation, one in Saginaw, MI and one in Grand Rapids, MI. The Grand Rapids facility assumed a contract that had been originally awarded to Irwin-Pedersen Arms Co....I-P had assembled only 3,542 guns at the time, none of which were accepted by the government.
**Note that a few early NPM receivers are marked "Rochester", for the Rochester Defence Corp. A very few late receivers are marked "CCC", for Commecial Controls Corp.
***Note that some Quality Hardware carbines were assembled using receivers made by Union Switch & Signal Co, hence the "UN-QUALITY" marked carbines. These are highly prized by some carbine aficionados.
* Note that Saginaw had two plants in operation, one in Saginaw, MI and one in Grand Rapids, MI. The Grand Rapids facility assumed a contract that had been originally awarded to Irwin-Pedersen Arms Co....I-P had assembled only 3,542 guns at the time, none of which were accepted by the government.
**Note that a few early NPM receivers are marked "Rochester", for the Rochester Defence Corp. A very few late receivers are marked "CCC", for Commecial Controls Corp.
***Note that some Quality Hardware carbines were assembled using receivers made by Union Switch & Signal Co, hence the "UN-QUALITY" marked carbines. These are highly prized by some carbine aficionados.
The
history of who made what during the brief 38 months of production is a
story that can (and does) fill a book. Might I suggest you find a copy
of _WAR BABY_ or _M1 Carbine Design, Development and Production_ by Larry
Ruth. Another recommended book is _Guide to Collecting the M1 Carbine_
by Robert Gibson (no relation BTW
Which are the most collectable? Depends on what your own personal criteria might be. Rock-Ola's are always desirable, not only because there were fewer made than any other make but because Rock-Ola was a famous juke box maker of the period who's product was quite familiar to the WWII GI's. Others look to the Winchester carbines because of the name on the receiver....I own one these myself. There are all kinds of reasons to own a particular "brand" of carbine...I've worked with IBM mainframe computers systems for some 20 years, I think it would be rather fitting to obtain an IBM carbine sooner or later. 20 carbine owners might give 20 different reasons for owning their particular carbine....you really need to read up on M1 history and decide what YOU want.
Finding what you want is another matter. If not available at your local gunshops or gunshows you could get a current issue of _Gun List_, the indexed firearms paper....many, many M1 Carbines will be found listed in the Military Weapons section. Another source is Fulton Armory....call (301) 490-9485; the current advertised price is $499.95 for service grade M1 Carbine.
In my own rather biased opinion there are no "bad" government-built World War II era carbines....they were all built to the same milspecs and thoroughly inspected before acceptance by Uncle Sam. True, there are many out there now that are in need of large doses of TLC due to their hard travels around the world for the last 50 years. A good service rifle gunsmith can do wonders with one of these rather sad re-imports if someone were so inclined to rescue it. NOTE: supplies of re-imports are rapidly drying up. That Win carbine I mentioned above was one of these neglected war dogs when I stumbled upon it. It now rests in the gunsafe with my Garands, M1911 Govt pistols, M1903-A3 Remingtons 'n others from the World War II era...including a German KAR 98k. Quite a sight actually, old cronies...and mortal enemies...resting together with actions gleaming and stocks giving off the odor of fresh linseed oil.
There were also commercial M1 carbine models produced from 1960's to 1980's by Iver Johnson, Plainfield Machine Co., & Universal Sporting Goods. I don't much care for commercial M1 carbines so am not really up on their history, OTOH some do prefer them over GI carbines...different strokes for different folks. I did see a nickel-plated IJ once that was quite striking....well, to be perfectly honest I thought it was rather gaudy. ;-)