M1 Carbines

[evi1joe]

I'm helping out a widowed friend sell her husband's collections of guns, and decided to start with the M1 Carbines. However, it turns out there are a LOT of things I need to know in order to determine value.

There are 5 of them, made from Underwood (with a little bomb stamp), Inland, General Motors and one Blue Sky import. One is a paratrooper folding stock model, and I think they all have sliding peep sights (I'll have to check on the two I didn't bring home).

Where would I find other markings that would help me ask for fair price suggestions? One was never shot (just taken out of the crate), 2-3 are in near perfect condition and one looks like it was used quite a bit with markings on it and numbers painted--like it was in an armory or used by a certain division.
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I just have no idea where to find all the important markings I keep reading about, and so far no website has had much helpful info...I'd rather not break it down, but I might have to to see where the bolt was made and make sure they're not mixed-parts guns (though the Blue Sky probably is).

What are some good M1 Carbine forums/sites??

 

[hso]

Most M1 Carbines are mixed parts guns, so don't worry about that. You may have to take it out of the stock, but you don't need to disassemble it to have a good idea of how many "correct" parts are on each. Here's a nice source of markings info.

Stock markings are interesting as well. Pilgrim at NortheastShooters.com provided this nice list.


They will all have the ordinance stamp if they're "GI".

Import marks are usually on the underside of the barrels but some importers (CAI) put them on the side of the receiver.

Value depends upon condition, obviously, and how many parts are "correct" for the carbine as it would have first come into the armory. That's a whole study in itself and the Duff book is a great investment if you want to learn about them.

Look at the receiver and barrel markings and see if they're correct. Make a list of the front and rear sight, safety, trigger group, op rod and recoil plate markings and the stock markings. Be careful not to scuff anything up in the process. http://www.surplusrifle.com/m1carbine/rifledisassembly/index.asp

 

[evi1joe]

yikes. that's a lot of disassembling on guns that aren't mine. i think i'll just take detailed pics and see what people can tell. i'd hate to sell a $1200 M1 paratrooper for $650, but i'd also hate to sell a $600 paratrooper for $1000. I think the non-paratroopers will be a bit easier--$600-$700 seems the going rate for most M1 carbines....though I think the blue-sky import may be only worth $400 or so...my dad doesn't care about the collector's value and he wants one as a shooter, so he may buy that one if it turns out it's not worth much. Thanks for the info.

 

[Orlando]

Blue Sky Importers stamped theirs on the side of the barrel, very noticeable, another importer (cant remember the name now) stamped theres very small letters on the underside of the barrl. You need to looke real hard for it in good light.

There are alot of fake copies of the paratrooper folding stocks , you need to know what to look for

Stocks can still be USGI and not have the stock stamping. They were sanded off when they went through rebuilds and also replacemement stocks would not have the same cartouches

Painted on rack numbers are not uncommon.

You cannot go by looks alone , I can take a worn out piece of junk and repark it put it in a good stock and someone who didnt know better would think it was new never fired.
Also rearsenal carbines will also look "new" to the untrained eye.
You need to have someone who knows carbines look at them to get accurate value or atleast post some close up pics

 

[jcwit]

One was never shot (just taken out of the crate),

Really wonder about that one.

 

[evi1joe]

Yeah, this is a big job--there are like 20 rifles and 20 pistols, plus 20 swords from the civil war and stuff. I'm thinking charging her 7.5% is more fair for me than 5%.
I don't know anything about the unfired M1--it's not one of the three I grabbed to investigate and sell first. One of these is Blue Sky, one is Inland General Motors and the other is Underwood...but I guess I'm going to have to field strip it to get pics for people to help determine the values...though it seems most likely, they'll be in the 600-700 range, except for maybe the paratrooper or the unfired one (I don't know how an original one could be "unfired"--but I don't think he had anything newer than 20 years old except the Colt AR and a Ruger 10/22.