M1 Carbine .30 Caliber, Semi-Auto, Original U.S. Military Rifle, WW2 Configuration, Refurbished To Excellent Condition, Saginaw Mfg. - C & R Eligible

What a great get. These are original military contract, WWII era M1-Carbine rifles that have been either lightly or fully refurbished by our friends at James River Armory. We are selling them by manufacturer code and the ones being sold under this SKU have the manufacturing stamp Saginaw. This group of rifles was manufactured for the war effort by the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of the General Motors Corporation in either Saginaw or Grand Rapids Michigan. The Saginaw manufacturing plant was multi-faceted and very valuable during the war effort. In addition to M1 Carbines, during WWII Saginaw Steering Gear manufactured Caliber .30 Browning Machine Guns (i.e. M1919A4), Oerlikon, and BOFORS guns, tanks, tank destroyers, vehicle subassemblies, and armor-piercing projectiles. They operated two different facilities, one in Saginaw and one in Grand Rapids, and between the 2 facilities, they produced a total of 517,212 M1 Carbines. Rifles have and are being sold under their original serial numbers and have not been importer re-marked. 

More about the WW II Configuration Rifles - As originally issued from 1942 to early 1945, the M1 Carbine was manufactured in the U.S. with a non-adjustable flip sight and had no provision for a bayonet. Nearly all photographs of U.S. troops during World War II will show this configuration. Classic Firearms acquired this small lot of rifles which appear to have been given to a U.S. ally after the war and were never “upgraded”. These rare guns were issued almost 80 years ago. Starting late in 1944, an adjustable rear sight was developed and appeared on late production Inland and Winchester carbines. The bayonet lug came out in 1945 and the belief is that none of these variations made it into combat before the war ended. Immediately after the war, virtually every M1 Carbine remaining in U.S. inventory was rebuilt at various arsenals to include the adjustable sight, bayonet lug and the flip safety. Historians estimate that over 95 percent of M1 Carbines were rebuilt, leaving very few in the “as originally built” condition. This original configuration is highly valued by collectors and over the years a limited supply has been available. It is unlikely that another lot like these rifles will be found.

The original manufacturing process for the M1 Carbine is impressive. Almost seven million were built in less than three years by eleven contractors. Additionally, hundreds of small companies received contracts to supply parts to the eleven main producers. Except for Winchester, which developed the
rifle, none of the production companies had any previous firearm manufacturing experience, yet they produced one of the most part-interchangeable firearms ever developed. As issued, the M1 Carbine would have parts with various metal finishes. Bolts, bands, and pins were normally blued, while the action
was parkerized in a zinc phosphate solution. James River Armory has closely duplicated the original finish to return these rifles to how they appeared during World War II. The stocks are original and have been meticulously refinished and restamped with the appropriate marking used during the war.
James River Armory kept each rifle’s parts together. While all of the metal surfaced have been re-blued back to as close to the original finish as possible there will be some variances in the stocks and the wood even in terms of color and grain and some will be cosmetically more attractive than others. As such, we are offering a hand-select option as well. Note, these are early pre-war/ WW II era guns in their original configuration and they are extremely collectible. As such, each of these fine rifles ships in a hard case for maximum protection.