U.S. Carbine, Caliber .30, M1 & Gear

Very nice set up. I can identify all the item except for the green rectangular tin, what's that?

bersaguy said:

Very nice set up. I can identify all the item except for the green rectangular tin, what's that?

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Battle dressing. Goes in that little pouch under it.

Ah, there you go, knew the pouch was the aid kit, guess I've never seen what's supposed to be in it

Should be a dressing and a package of Sulfa in it.

Want to turn this into an M1 Carbine show and tell?

Here's mine. A 1943 National Postal Meter with a really cool/rare/original Buffalo Arms barrel. Also has flip sight, flat bolt, and I cut stock.

Any midwesterners here remember Fetlas Trading Post in northern Indiana? This was originally purchased there in 1964 for $69.

The coolest M1 Carbine that I have ever seen was owned by a friend of my Dad by the name of Fred Saltus (Really old timers might remember his name from Camp Perry shoots). His bomber crash landed in occupied Europe, and he grabbed that carbine. A German patrol came after them, and even though he was shot through his flying glove (which he also still had), he and his crew were able to kill all the members of that patrol. They were soon hooked up with the Resistance, and made it safely back to England.

He kept the carbine after being demobed, and it was his most cherished possession when I saw it in the 1970's.

I have an Underwood, unfortunately bubba'd with a recoil pad and plastic wood. Shoots great, bore perfect. I'm going to Dremel out the filler. Have a buttplate, sling and oiler to put on. If that fails, a Winchester stock sits in the corner.

Thanks for posting the pic. A friend had one out at the range a couple weeks ago with the butt-mounted mag pouch and that was the first time I'd seen that and thought it was pretty cool. He said it improved his cheek weld, too, ha ha. He was playing with a GI-issue flash hider that he said was throwing off his point of impact by 12 inches. It's on my "wanna" list but free cash flow lately has been kinda tight.

I believe the canteen cover with the crossed tabs was USMC. Goes well with the Kabar.

The bayonet lug on the carbine was a retrofit. These only came out at the very end of the war.

If you want to get USMC picky, this is a Carbine belt.

my rearsenaled winchester carbine ready for duty if needed.

trackskippy said:

If you want to get USMC picky, this is a Carbine belt.
View attachment 1019713
View attachment 1019714

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That was a very limited issue experimental item. There was just too much existing web gear in inventory to add one more, and you still needed to be able to carry a canteen, first aid, compass, etc.--and that belt was not found to be up to that task.

JCooperfan1911 said:

Hello. The other day I thought it would be fun to get out my 1943 dated Underwood produced M1 Carbine as well as the battle rattle I have for it:

View attachment 1019571

Everything you see minus the modern KA-BAR and the sling on the carbine are authentic. Including magazines and ammunition. I greatly enjoy this carbine. Take care.

-J.C.F.

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Nice Squad Leader rig. It ought have the "Jungle" First Aid kit attached, and as a leader belt, a compass pouch would be appropriate.
JFAK:


There's a tab on the bottom for stowing the regular dressing pouch. Most contemporary photos show the JFAK centered in the back of the belt. About half show the dressing pouch under, other wise it's on the right front.

Engineer Compass pouch

Not hugely common in PTO or SWPTO, but used when available.

I wouldnt hesitate to use mine either if it were what was at hand. I wouldnt go looking for it though if it wasnt.

The GI pouches are realistically probably fine, but I prefer chest pouches, and with just a bit of paracord modification, a standard SKS chest pouch works great. Holds 10 30 round mags comfortably and compactly.

I never understood putting the mag pouch on the gun, Carbine (and AR for that matter). I know it looks cool and all, but they just screw with the balance and handling of the sweet handling little gun.

Heres the modified SKS pouch, if youre interested. Its very comfortable and compact, and the last pouch on the right (as you look at it) carries a 15 rounder as well, if you dont keep a loaded mag in the gun.

Not traditional, but very functional.

i like the double mag holder on my carbine, i don,t have to look around for spare ammo if i,m in a hurry or have to move quickly with not much time, but to grab my rifle and go.

Another piece of Carbine kit, although since the rod is steel, I wouldn’t recommend using.

That M1 cleaning rod is missing the 3rd section. It's not specifically for the Carbine. In fact, they were generally issued with the .30 machine guns.

AlexanderA said:

That M1 cleaning rod is missing the 3rd section. It's not specifically for the Carbine. In fact, they were generally issued with the .30 machine guns.

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When I bought my Carbine in the 70's from a brother officer and veteran of of the Pacific theater WWII Navy Seabee, he included this. Guess he figured he didn't need the third section for the Carbine.

Guess he also figured with the $75 he was getting he could be generous. I should have bought the Nambu he also offered, but thought $125 was too much.

As an adviser in '66, my issue weapon was an M2 carbine -- same as the M1, but with the full auto selector kit. It got wrapped around a tree, and I bummed an M1 Garand from the ARVN and carried that for the rest of my tour.

My CMP Inland SG, along with 1943 dated pouch and Norwegian made bayonet (also a CMP purchase). The bayonet sheath was my Dad’s in WWII. He didn’t use a Carbine, he carried a fighting knife in it.