M1A1 Paratrooper Carbine

Jim, I really respect your opinions on things, but on this I must disagree with you. Were 'bringbacks' such as a carbine like this common? No. Where they encouraged? No

Did they happen? Yes. To say that they didn't because too many things have fantasy stories attached to them is missing the point in my opinion

Here's an illustration of what I mean, and on this same type of firearm. bringbacks are very very rare but they do, respectfully, exist

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=117406&hl=bringback

And, if it needs to be said, I'm so jealous of the guys that are lucky enough to have an original M1A1 that it almost hurts. Here in MA, this type of carbine is especially evil. I was lucky to get my very 'undocumented' one with a repro stock. That used up about all my luck for the rest of my days, when you consider that I ended up knowing the man who had it on consignment at the gun store, it's a really nice carbine, and it was only 700 dollars in 2010
 
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There is one issue that needs to be cleared up.
This may have been a mis-statement:

The SN >IN FRONT< of the rear flip sight is 115182

M1 Carbines had the serial number stamped BEHIND the rear sight.
The only Carbines that had numbers stamped in front of the rear sight were Carbines that had the adjustable sight added as part of a rebuild.
Since the adjustable rear sight over hung the area where the serial number was stamped, on some Carbines the serial number couldn't be read, so Ordnance re-stamped the serial number in front of the sight.

Ordnance manuals show the special stamping fixture that was used to re-stamp the number.
A re-stamped serial would have been done only on a late to post-war Carbine rebuild.
There would be no chance that a paratrooper Carbine would have had an adjustable sight installed, the number re-stamped in front of the sight, then had the adjustable sight removed and an original flip type sight re-installed.
 
^ It was a mis-statement as I don't have the firearm in front of me and wasn't thinking. Now that I think about it from the shooting extravaganza yesterday, it is behind the flip sight towards the shooter.
 
A good source of full information on your carbine would be to buy a copy of "The War Baby" by Larry Ruth.

This is a collectors book that covers each carbine maker in great depth, including all marks on all parts, and all accessories, including the paratrooper stock.
This book will tell you just about everything you could possibly want to know about your collectible paratrooper model.

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-U-S-Cali...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314063401&sr=1-1
 
Why can't all of this information be posted online for free :confused:

Who reads books anymore anyways? I definitely appreciate the link, I'll forward it to my Dad, I think his generation still knows how to read things printed on paper :)

I can't wait to get my hands on it for some detailed photography and inspection. Work week can't end soon enough and this hurricane coming isn't going to speed things up either :mad:
 
Chris, I never said it didn't happen. But some folks seem to think that every GI came home toting his M1 rifle or carbine. Someone even painted a picture c. 1945, showing a returning vet in full combat gear, rifle, pack and helmet, kissing his wife in front of the traditional rose-covered cottage. Didn't happen.

Jim
 
An uncle of mine served on a US Navy ocean going tug in the pacific theater. This tug was used to pull landing craft off active invasion beaches, and my uncle was sent ashore to coordinate. Armed only with a 1911, he picked up a carbine from a pile and carried it for the rest of the war.
When the war was over, he walked off the ship with his gear, including the carbine, slung over his shoulder...nobody said a thing.
 
My dad came back from the Pacific with no less than 5 Jap Arisaka rifles, the first one he picked off the pile on the dock in Tsingtao along with the rest of the crew of his carrier, every sailor got a trophy, and a lot of Navy officers got a pistol or sword. The other 4 rifles he bought on board the carrier heading home in early 1946, they sold for as little as two dollars when the card and crap games were going.

The mums were ground off as they came aboard the ship, but a bunch got by. Dad said quite a few spare 1911's in the arms lockers walked off the ship back in Long Beach. I have a photo of him, taken late 1945, he is guarding a work detail of Japanese soldiers unloading some lighters at the beach in Tsingtao, armed with a Thompson. He said he wanted to bring that home with him, but no dice with the automatic weapons, the pistols were another story, however, being traded and sold all over the ships.
 
The way I figure, if things along these lines (although not directly the same in regards to firearms) can still occur in our military today (which they do for a fact) then it wouldn't be all that difficult to do in the 40's.
 
I'm in the process of reading "Warbaby! by Larry Ruth.
Looking through the wartime data I find that:
1. Production tests were run on 5 Inland produced M1 Carbines, randomly chosen from production - tests were run on Aug 30, 31 and September 1to 7, 1942 at Aberdeen. The s/ns chosen for testing were 9570, 10707, 12893, 13109 and 13242 - all having been made before Sept. 1, 1942. These were standardized tests. Note the serial numbers chosen.
2. M1A1 production began, undercontract in Nov. 1942 - by the end of Oct. '42, Inland had made 39,554 serial numbered carbines. By this reckoning the lowest serial numbered M1A1 would be some where above 39,554.
3. Serial number in the 115K range would have been made sometime in Jan. 1943 - during that month Inland made34,894 M1 and approx. 9,900 M1A1.
Total production of the M1A1 which ceased in December of '44 was right around 140,000 pieces.
This book is a treasure trove for Carbine collectors or anyone who wants to know the FULL story behind the Light Rifle/Carbine development. I even learned the H&R had submitted two versions of E. Reisings light rifle during the early stages of testing and later Marlin submitted a modified version of the Reising light rifle.
A good book - a slow read - but full of facts and figures.
 
Very cool! Thanks for the additional info! Tomorrow starts my weekend so the pics we've all been waiting for (including myself) should be posted.
 
That's what I've been trying to say!! lol Thank you though. It will forever be a cherished family relic that goes bang every time :) Want to clean it more thoroughly one of these days (not refinish or sand anything though, just a few spots that still have a little gunk in them).
 
I know this thread is old, but I found the content interesting. I was looking for info on a M1A1 that I got my hands on while stationed here iat an embassy in Africa. Long story short, the weapon was siezed from a drug dealer by local police, and placed in their lockup for an unknown amount of time. An embassy employee saw the weapon on a tour, and asked where it came from, because it was a U.S. military weapon from WWII. The police chief said, "You want it? Take it!" and sold the weapon as an auction piece. Very few locals can have weapons, but diplomats are allowed. He didn't want to go through the trouble of BATF paperwork, so he sold it to me. We couldn't find any info on the weapon, except that it is in Africa for some reason, possibly since WWII? It was well kept, with the original stock. S/N is 151XXX, and reading the post from rangerryda it could have been manufactured on the same day as his. Small world. Now, I am getting my ATF forms together to bring this piece of history home next year.
 
love reading these story's and always get a kick out of what all the "experts" seem to know.
what I get out of it is that ...for all they think they know they still don't know everything.... mostly about "bring backs" .
most of these "old Vets" are no longer with us (including my father) and the story's they told will fade with time , but some story's will stick with you and be told over and over ( I have a few of my/his own) and I believe them word for word.

yours is a great one.
Matt.
 
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