Original WWII Rock Ola M1 Carbines Good to Very Good Condition

These Rock Ola carbines are in the type 2 and 3 configuration (adjustable rear sight and bayonet lug)

We are proud to present the M1 Carbine. We just received the final shipment of these highly collectible carbines and we are pleased to offer them to you in 100% original condition. These guns came out of Ethiopia, Africa for which State Department granted a retransfer authorization. They were purchased by Haile Selassi and shipped to Ethiopia in 1945. The condition is good to unissued. The famous original M1 carbine, which protected our boys in WWII, Korea & Vietnam is finally available for everyone. We have limited quantities available. Hurry, before they are all gone. Reserve yours today!

Please call for availability and manufacturer’s available for each condition. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction & we thank you for your business.

Click here to see our M1 Carbine Canvas Rifle Bags: https://www.royaltigerimports.com/product-p/m1gar002.htm

Click here to see our M1 Carbine Canvas Magazine Pouches: https://www.royaltigerimports.com/product-p/m1car001pouch.htm

Click here to see our M1 Carbine Slings: https://www.royaltigerimports.com/product-p/m1car001sling.ht

With any surplus item you can expect some dings, dents, chips, scratches, cracks, gouges, bluing wear, etc. We never make any promises as to bore condition on surplus items. We have however checked many and they have been surprisingly nice.

UPDATE!

We learned from our customers that the early M1 carbines are indeed 100% original and not rebuild. We also leaned that carbines with the adjustable type 2 rear sight might have been upgraded after 1945 and shipped to Ethiopia after 1947. We also leaned that all manufacturers except Inland and Winchester seized production in spring of 1944. Inland and Winchester continued manufacturing the rifles as the prime contractors. Learning all this is to us so interesting. We have early rifles with the type 2 rear sight installed and no bayonet lug. They must have been made after spring of 1944.

We have rifles with bayonet lug and type 2 rear sights. In other words. We have every version ever made of this fantastic piece of history.

Limited quantities! Please note that all firearms are importer marked in order to company with the law! Please watch this video where we apply the markings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWwR6BsVMrQ

• Caliber .30 carbine
• Length 35.6’
• Barrel Length 18’
• Weight 5.2lb

HISTORY

In 1938, the Chief of Infantry requested that the Ordnance Department develop a "light rifle" or carbine, though the formal requirement for the weapon type was not approved until 1940. This led to a competition in 1941 by major U.S. firearm companies and designers. Winchester at first did not submit a carbine design, as it was occupied in developing the .30-06 Winchester M2 military rifle. The rifle originated as a design by Jonathan "Ed" Browning, brother of the famous firearm designer John Browning. A couple of months after Ed Browning's death in May 1939, Winchester hired David Marshall "Carbine" Williams who had begun work on a short-stroke gas piston design while serving a prison sentence at a North Carolina minimum-security work farm. Winchester, after Williams' release, had hired Williams on the strength of recommendations of firearms industry leaders and hoped Williams would be able to complete various designs left unfinished by Ed Browning, including the Winchester .30-06 M2 rifle. Williams incorporated his short-stroke piston in the existing design.

After the Marine Corps semi-automatic rifle trials in 1940, Browning's rear-locking tilting bolt design proved unreliable in sandy conditions. As a result, the rifle was redesigned to incorporate a Garand-style rotating bolt and operating rod, retaining Williams' short-stroke piston. By May 1941, Williams had shaved the M2 rifle prototype from about 9.5 lb (4.3 kg) to a mere 7.5 lb (3.4 kg). Ordnance found unsatisfactory the first series of prototype carbines submitted by several firearms companies and some independent designers.[11] Winchester had contacted the Ordnance Corps to examine their rifle M2 design. Major René Studler of Ordnance believed the rifle design could be scaled down to a carbine which would weigh 4.5 to 4.75 lb (2.0–2.2 kg) and demanded a prototype as soon as possible. The first model was developed at Winchester in 13 days by William C. Roemer, Fred Humeston and three other Winchester engineers under supervision of Edwin Pugsley, and was essentially Williams' last version of the .30-06 M2 scaled down to the .30 SL cartridge. This patchwork prototype was cobbled together using the trigger housing and lockwork of a Winchester M1905 rifle and a modified Garand operating rod.

The prototype was an immediate hit with army observers. After the initial army testing in August 1941, the Winchester design team set out to develop a more refined version. Williams participated in the finishing of this prototype. The second prototype competed successfully against all remaining carbine candidates in September 1941, and Winchester was notified of their success the very next month. Standardization as the M1 carbine was approved on October 22, 1941. This story was the loose basis for the 1952 movie Carbine Williams starring James Stewart. Contrary to the movie, Williams had little to do with the carbine's development, with the exception of his short-stroke gas piston design. Williams worked on his own design apart from the other Winchester staff, but it was not ready for testing until December 1941, two months after the Winchester M1 carbine had been adopted and type-classified. Winchester supervisor Edwin Pugsley conceded that Williams' final design was "an advance on the one that was accepted", but noted that Williams' decision to go it alone was a distinct impediment to the project, and Williams' additional design features were not incorporated into M1 production. In a 1951 memo written in fear of a patent infringement lawsuit by Williams, Winchester noted his patent for the short-stroke piston may have been improperly granted as a previous patent covering the same principle of operation was overlooked by the patent office. In 1973 the senior technical editor at the NRA contacted Edwin Pugsley for "a technical last testament" on M1 carbine history shortly before his death 19 Nov 1975.

According to Pugsley, "The carbine was invented by no single man," but was the result of a team effort including Bill Roemer, Marsh Williams, Fred Humeston, Cliff Warner, at least three other Winchester engineers, and Pugsley himself. Ideas were taken and modified from the Winchester M2 Browning rifle (Williams' gas system), the Winchester 1905 rifle (fire control group), M1 Garand (buttstock dimensions and bolt and operating slide principles), and a percussion shotgun in Pugsley's collection (hook breech and barrel band assembly/disassembly). SIGHTS, RANGE & ACCURACY The M1 carbine entered service with a simple flip sight, which had two settings: 150 and 300 yards. However, field reports indicated that this sight was inadequate, and in 1944, it was replaced by a sliding ramp-type adjustable sight with four settings: 100, 200, 250 and 300 yards.] This new rear sight was also adjustable for windage. At 100 yards (91 m), the M1 carbine can deliver groups between 3 and 5 inches, sufficient for its intended purpose as a close-range defensive weapon. The M1 carbine has a maximum effective range of 300 yards (270 m). However, bullet drop is significant past 200 yards (180 m). Therefore, the M1 has a practical effective range of about 200 yards.

PRODUCTION

A total of over 6.1 million M1 carbines of various models was manufactured, making it the most produced small arm for the American military during World War II (compared with about 5.4 million M1 rifles and about 1.3 million Thompson submachine guns). Despite being designed by Winchester, the great majority of these were made by other companies The largest producer was the Inland division of General Motors, but many others were made by contractors as diverse as IBM, the Underwood Typewriter Company, and Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation. Few contractors made all the parts for carbines bearing their names: some makers bought parts from other major contractors or sub-contracted minor parts to companies like Marlin Firearms or Auto-Ordnance. Parts by all makers were required to be interchangeable. Often one company would get ahead or behind in production and parts would be shipped from one company to the other to help them catch up on their quota.

When receivers were shipped for this purpose the manufacturers would often mark them for both companies. Some of the strangest combinations were the M1's made by the combined efforts of Underwood and Quality Hardware, resulting in the manufacturer mark UN-QUALITY. The receiver was subcontracted from Union Switch and Signal, not Underwood. Many carbines were refurbished at several arsenals after the war, with many parts interchanged from original maker carbines. True untouched war production carbines, therefore, are the most desirable for collectors.