Winchester M1 Carbine

[Drake]

I finally got my hands on one of these. I've been wanting an M1 Carbine ever since I was a child since my grandfather told me countless times how much he liked the one he was issued during WWII. I resized these images once more, so open them in a new window to view the full size.

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The receiver and most parts are Winchester-marked.

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The barrel is an Inland GM dated 1-44. I understand differing part manufacturers is commonplace with these rifles.

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I found a nice Springfield cartouche on the stock when I removed the magazine pouch. Does this mean the stock was a field replacement?

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A previous owner's name (I assume) is carved into the underside of the stock.

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A shot of the nomenclature stamp on the chamber

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A few more pictures for the heck of it.

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Some comparisons with its bigger brother:

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I just need a few spare magazines now.

[Niner]

I love my carbine too. Great photos. Good to see the 30 cal cabine rounds next to the 30.06 for the big brother Garand too.

[joseyclosey]

Great pics, thanks for posting them up Drake,

Joe

[Brass Rat]

I found a nice Springfield cartouche on the stock when I removed the magazine pouch. Does this mean the stock was a field replacement?

Probably a post war rebuild. That is most likely when the bayonet lug was added and the rear sight and safety were changed out.

I like the flat bolt.

Nice Carbine!

[Drake]

Probably a post war rebuild. That is most likely when the bayonet lug was added and the rear sight and safety were changed out.

I understand that the windage adjustable sights weren't introduced until mid-1945, when were the bayonet lugs standardized?

So a 1944 Carbine would have had a push-button safety? I imagine the lever safety was introduced to avoid mistaking the magazine release for the safety button when seconds count.

[Drake]

I picked up a pair of 'Like New Refinshed' 15 round GI magazines for my Carbine from Cheaper than Dirt. Mixed results. The one on the left came with the rifle, the other two were from CTD's mystery grab bag. A shame one looks so nice and the other looks like trash, pitted to hell. It does fit and feed, however.

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I put the mag pouch on the stock to see how it feels when loaded, it interferes with my grip a bit so I think I'll leave it off. My grandfather said they carried their pouch on the belt rather than the stock.

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[Niner]

Probably found in a warehouse in some third world country.

That cloth bandoleer reminds me of what M16 ammo came in back in the day. Guess still in this day too....although I don't know. If the loaded magazines would fit in it I bet they were used by someone some of the time in some war to carry M1 carbine magazines.

I'm attaching a photo of myself before I became the FO. I was the FO's recon sgt and RTO, mostly RTO, in Cambodia May of 1970. Notice the cloth bandoleer over my shoulder. It had loaded magazines in it at the time. Easier to use than the canvas ammo pouches....held more too.

[Drake]

I have some M16 bandoleers as well for comparison.

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The bottom is a Vietnam-era seven pocket M16 bandoleer.



The next up is a British SA80 bandoleer. I like to store my 5.56 ammo in these on stripper clips since it's very conservative on space and the snap closures keep ammo from spilling out of you grab it upside down.

The next two are current four pocket M16 bandoleers. They come out of the ammo can with three stripper clips in each cardboard insert and one magazine guide in an end pocket. The white thread on the bandoleer can be removed by pulling it, this allows you to fit thirty-round magazines in it.

These four-pocket deals are the ones I saw while I was enlisted. I acquired a few of them since they would fit loaded magazines with the thread pulled out, but the need never arose so they were just added to my stash of militaria.

[Niner]

Interesting. The banoleers that will hold the 30 round clips are something that came later than Vietnam.

The regular seven pocket bandoleers that came with 20 round loads in each pocket were just right for holding 20 round magazines during the Vietnam era.

[joseyclosey]

Where/how did you acquire the solar topee Robert?

Joe