M1 carbine info and value???

[BlueFalcon76]

I have a National Postal Meter M1 Carbine Serial Number 148xxxx. It appears to be in very good condition. There is no pitting or rust. It has 70%-80% of the original finish. The barrel is stamped Underwood 4-43, and just below that is what looks like a circle with fire coming out of the top. On the bottom of the receiver where the trigger housing pin goes is stamped II. The front sight has an N stamped on it. The barrel band is stamped KI. The rear sight is the adjustable one and is stamped Hl. The operating slide is stamped with a Z. The bolt is the flat one not the rounded one and is stamped with an N and l4. The trigger housing is marked ROCK-OLA. The hammer is stamped II. The sear has an S on it. The trigger is stamped LT. On the safety it looks like a horseshoe with a 3 in it. The mag release is marked CC and below that there is a M. Those were all the markings I could find. Does this have any collectors value? Is it worth putting money into it or just keep as a shooter? I will add some pictures if you would like. Thanks for your time.

 

[Sunray]

It's what is known as a typical 'mixmaster'. That's not a bad or unusual thing. 99.99% of all carbines went through an arsenal rebuild after W.W. II. Nearly all of the so-called 'all original' carbines you see on the internet were made that way by somebody with too much time and money. They're still 'rebuilt'. None of the original manufacturer's made all the parts(60ish) . National Postal Meter made a total of 431,017 carbines, but only 4 of the parts. So even if you had the time and money, you couldn't get the parts anyway. There were over 1600 small shops, all over the Eastern U.S., that made parts.
Mixmasters don't have much collector value, yet, but they are a great deal of fun to shoot. It's worth reloading for it too. There's little or no milsurp ammo and factory gets expensive fast.
Carbide dies, 110 grain jacketed bullets(HP's work fine) and IMR4227. There are other powders that will do. My carbine likes Speer 110 grain HP's with IMR4227. It doesn't just go bang, either. It BARKS!!!

 

[Tinpig]

CMP sells NPM carbines.

Rack Grade is $479
Service Grade is $575

http://www.thecmp.org/m1carbine.htm

Like yours, these would be typical USGI rebuilds of mixed parts. Sounds like yours might be comparable to a Service Grade, depending on the bore.

If you're interested in the history of WWII and it's a good shooter, to me, that's where the value lies. I'd leave it as is, enjoy thinking about where it might have been and what it represents, and have fun with it.