I picked up what I thought was going to be an Underwood M1 Carbine from a friend tonight. Seems he got it a while back from a fellow who purchased it from the CMP. He put it away as soon as he bought it, without shooting it, and evidently without really looking it over well. He made quick assumption based on the barrel marking that it was an Underwood carbine. I bought it off of him for $500. I haven’t torn it down yet, but doing so is a lot of fun in my opinion, and I plan to spend time going over the parts this weekend. Giving it a quick look over with my carbine book in hand, here is what I’ve noticed so far. It turns out he was mistaken about it being an Underwood (receiver wise). It is a total “Mix-master” with a Winchester receiver 558****, early 1944, and a 10-43 marked Underwood barrel. Some other things I noticed are the stock has a “J” and a flaming bomb in the sling slot. According to my book this indicates a wartime replacement stock. Top handguard is the two rivet type. Round bolt, Type II rear sight, Type III front barrel band marked MMQ (Quality Hardware).
It’s not a bad looking carbine, and I the $500 price tag seemed reasonable for a decent condition albeit total mixmaster M1 Carbine.
I do have some questions though. Anyone know the going price for a Winchester receiver mixmaster these days? Does the Winchester name command any higher premium without the matching barrel? I ask this because I may use this for trading fodder for a M1 Garand. Is it common for the barrels to be mismatched to the receivers after refurb? Also, I forgot to mention that the stock also has a "9" over a "114" on the right side of the buttstock, and a stamp of a star above the letters SABO above the letters SSAB, above a 62 (then the J and the flaming bomb in the sling cutout). Does this provide a clue as to where the rifle was imported from?
Thanks for any feedback.
It’s not a bad looking carbine, and I the $500 price tag seemed reasonable for a decent condition albeit total mixmaster M1 Carbine.
I do have some questions though. Anyone know the going price for a Winchester receiver mixmaster these days? Does the Winchester name command any higher premium without the matching barrel? I ask this because I may use this for trading fodder for a M1 Garand. Is it common for the barrels to be mismatched to the receivers after refurb? Also, I forgot to mention that the stock also has a "9" over a "114" on the right side of the buttstock, and a stamp of a star above the letters SABO above the letters SSAB, above a 62 (then the J and the flaming bomb in the sling cutout). Does this provide a clue as to where the rifle was imported from?
Thanks for any feedback.
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