War Baby

Moderator: LAZY EYED SNIPER


.270 WIN
Posts: 494
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:10 pm
Location: Midstate, Pa.
PostPosted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 2:50 pm
Another addiction of mine is the little M1 Carbine. I don't collect them, and have never had more than one at a time, but I'm rarely without one. I came by this one from a fellow at work who thought money was more valuable than this carbine. I told him I would buy it, (provided it was a U.S. GI. Carbine and not some commercial knock-off) sight unseen for $300.00. He brought it in the next day and the thing that really caught my eye was the barrel stamping below the front sight, it read, Underwood-10-42. An early one to be sure! Underwood was the third producer of carbines following Inland Division of General Motors and Winchester. Underwood made their first delivery of carbines in December of 1942 and according to the serial number, this one was the 69th carbine made by them!..Probably on the first day of manufacture!

The carbine pictured is a far cry from what it was in 1942, as with most all carbines it underwent updates and rebuilds during and after WWII. Probably the first thing done to it in the field by an armorer would have been to replace the safety, (this update was done in the field during WWII) from a push button type behind the magazine release to a lever type as the safety and magazine release were commonly mistaken creating a very embarrassing situation if the wrong one was pushed in time of need. This carbine has all the post war updates except one, oddly the original Underwood flat top bolt remains. Most all were changed over to the round type post war. I did a complete replacement of springs after the first range session, and it shoots reliably now.

The M1 Carbine will never win bench rest matches with typical accuracy being about 3" at 100yds, nor will they ever be big game killers with the little 110gr. bullet at 1900fps. They are however fun little guns to shoot, being short, light, hardly any recoil, and when hand loaded with cast bullets, very economical, costing just a few pennies a shot. I've fired the M2, selective fire version of the carbine, and what fun they are! Just a gentle rapid pulse against the shoulder, brass flying in all directions, and very controllable. Something I couldn't say for my issue M14 on full auto!

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