Reader Forum

M1 Carbine I noticed several letters in recent Reader Forums regarding the M1 Carbine. One answer mentions the Carbine being made by Singer and International Harvester, however, neither was involved. International made M1 rifles during Korea and Singer made a very small number of M1911-A1 pistols but neither made Carbines or parts.

Carbines were made by Inland Division, General Motors, Winchester Repeating Arms, Irwin-Pedersen, Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors, Underwood Elliot Fisher, National Postal Meter, Quality Hardware Manufacturing Corp., International Business Machines, Standard Products, Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation, and Commercial Controls Corporation. Commercial Controls made slightly over 200 and are the most rare.

Concerning the operation rod sometimes being hard to manually pull back, the recoil spring would have nothing to do with the problem. Most likely cause is a corroded chamber if the problem occurs with the gun loaded. Although the U. S. never used corrosive primers in Carbine ammo, large quantities of corrosive cartridges were imported in the 1980s from China. It was headstamped "LC 52" since that was the captured ammo it was copied from.

With an Iver Johnson, the next thing I’d look at would be a worn bolt lug or operating arm. The op arms were only stamped steel and not of good quality. Daniel P. Horn Steve Gerhardt S. D. Gerhardt, Gunsmith Author RK Campbell responds. Thanks so much for reading and for the information. I am filing this away for future reference. High Standard Help I’m trying to find a barrel for a High Standard HD Military .22. I currently have a damaged 6 3/4-inch barrel.

Also, what is the BATF stance concerning charging gunsmiths for another license if they have to make apart for a customers firearm? Mark Wiggins Availability usually depends on whether they made the gun or not but calling High Standard to find out is free. They’re located in Houston, Texas (HighStandard.com Regarding the part question, it depends on the BATF inspector’s interpretation of such a rule. If the part is available from a manufacturer or the aftermarket, it’s only a replacement.

If it isn’t and you are not altering the original operating principle of the weapon, you probably won’t need a manufacturer’s license. Producers of firearms must have one. AG