Korean War Era M1 Carbine
Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:51 pm
Some pics of my most recent acquisition:



Can’t see the manufacturer name in the photo as the Type 2 sight covers it-it’s Inland.


Barrel is marked Inland Division General Motors 11-43.



Based on the markings, this appears to be a correct Korean War era M1 carbine. The barrel and receiver look to be an original match as the s/n date range and barrel production date correspond to a late 1943 production date. This gun appears to be an early import, as the barrel has a nearly microscopic import stamp hidden under the hand guard and stock. All I could make out was the importer’s location: Oyster Bay, New York.
The only visible cartouche on the stock is the crossed cannons. The wood appears to be in very good condition-no signs of interior damage. Screws look nice and sharp-no real signs of damage. The gun was dry as a bone, so I gave it a good dose of Lubriplate before going to the range today. Fed it a box of Russian Wolf ammo-it ate the whole box with no trouble at all. Zero malfunctions.
I got the rifle from Jim Sharrah’s Frontier Gun Shop here in Tucson for $1k. Jim’s well known in the regional collector community. Genuinely nice guy and a real old fashioned dealer. Only real stuff makes it into his shop-no reproductions or fakes. If you’re looking for antique guns, he’s the man to see.
This weekend was the first gun show of the year here, I checked it out-okay but very few military surplus guns there. I did buy an extra mag for the carbine.



Can’t see the manufacturer name in the photo as the Type 2 sight covers it-it’s Inland.


Barrel is marked Inland Division General Motors 11-43.



Based on the markings, this appears to be a correct Korean War era M1 carbine. The barrel and receiver look to be an original match as the s/n date range and barrel production date correspond to a late 1943 production date. This gun appears to be an early import, as the barrel has a nearly microscopic import stamp hidden under the hand guard and stock. All I could make out was the importer’s location: Oyster Bay, New York.
The only visible cartouche on the stock is the crossed cannons. The wood appears to be in very good condition-no signs of interior damage. Screws look nice and sharp-no real signs of damage. The gun was dry as a bone, so I gave it a good dose of Lubriplate before going to the range today. Fed it a box of Russian Wolf ammo-it ate the whole box with no trouble at all. Zero malfunctions.
I got the rifle from Jim Sharrah’s Frontier Gun Shop here in Tucson for $1k. Jim’s well known in the regional collector community. Genuinely nice guy and a real old fashioned dealer. Only real stuff makes it into his shop-no reproductions or fakes. If you’re looking for antique guns, he’s the man to see.
This weekend was the first gun show of the year here, I checked it out-okay but very few military surplus guns there. I did buy an extra mag for the carbine.