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M1A1 Carbine Question


one50
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I have or had a photo of a dead GI in Belgium that had an M4 bayonet. I have been looking for it for the past 45 minutes with no luck but the ring on the bayonet is very clear in the photo.

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Carrying M4 bayonets dont mean your carbine, if you have one, is equipped with bayonet lug. I'm far to be an expert of the matter but I have an elephant memory and I've read (maybe wrote by Cunningham) that M4 wad distributed at first to replace M3 knife because it arrived a lot of time before the carbines were equipped with proper lug.

I'm positive even in the forum we can find a thread about.

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Gary Cunninbham wrote in his fabolous Bayonet Points site:

 

 

The 7 companies manufacturing the M3 Knife were given the new specifications and were instructed to convert to the M4 as soon as the new parts (guard and butt plate) were available. First deliveries began in late July and quantity production began in the following months. Final deliveries of the M3 trench knife were in August 1944.

Although quantity production of the M4 began during 1944, carbines fitted with the bayonet adapter did not reach combat troops until very late in the war. From available photographic evidence and veteran recollections, it appears very few, if any, bayonet-equipped carbines were used in combat operations in the European Theater. It is possible that some saw action on Okinawa, but if so, it was a small number.

However, the fact that the M4 saw little or no use as a bayonet in World War 2 does not mean that it was not used in combat zones during the war. Once production of the M3 knife ceased, the M4 became the substitute and was issued in place of the M3. So although the M4 saw little or no action as a bayonet, it was extensively issued and carried as a general-purpose belt knife.

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I didn't want to offend or critizise anybody, I should have formulated my post in another way.

 

 

 

BTW:

 

I also know about battlefield leftover M4 bayonets but I only found one pic, from Operation Varsity, which dates later, where a GI is shown with an M4, does anybody know about more pictorial evidence?

 

varsity.jpg

 

This is the pic I'm talking about, I have it in a much better resolution in a book, where you can see the ring to fix the bayonet quite well.

 

 

Not offended anyway, the problem is my bad english which can make a wrong impression. I didn't ask for bayonet pics, but bayonet lug pics in ETO.

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If made that late in the war it along with many others may have never left the United States which is why few or no photos in the ETO exist. That does not mean the band is incorrect for this particular carbine.

 

But some people, collectors and reenactors both, are hell bent on fixing something until its broke.

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If made that late in the war it along with many others may have never left the United States which is why few or no photos in the ETO exist. That does not mean the band is incorrect for this particular carbine.

 

But some people, collectors and reenactors both, are hell bent on fixing something until its broke.

 

 

Yes it's true, but it seems unlikely that after january 1945 they didn't shipped carbines to ETO troops. Anyway everything's possible.

This thread remember me the big mess about swivel bails at D day. After chasing dor months, they were able to find a single pic of an M1 with swivel bail.

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Bolt

 

Mine is identical to the one shown here except never had a bayonet lug--dated 9-44. I doubt seriously that mine was ever a M-2 version. My other carbine, a M1, also has a round top bolt, and was certainly never a M2. Am I missing something? Jack

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Yes it's true, but it seems unlikely that after january 1945 they didn't shipped carbines to ETO troops.

 

 

It has to be taken into consideration how many carbines were in the supply pipeline at the time, you can only ship them from the factory to the front line so fast.

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I'm thinking out loud.

So to answer my original question...Looks like this gun is correct based upon the numbers that Skip Mentions from Craig Reisch "US M1 Carbines, War Production".

Except the safety possibly.

If I were to make this look like an M1A1 in the photos we mostly encounter, I need to replace and change a few things, but in doing so I would actually make the gun "Less correct".

My best bet is to leave it alone and hang it on the wall...I'm thinkin.

 

Now, I have an M1 that has no Lug, flip up rear, push safety and a flat top bolt...It's an Underwood (which doesn't matter since you can't see manufacture from the wall) BUT, it's parkerized.

If I get a re-pop folding stock, would that parkerzing be hokey looking in a display?

Thank you all for your help...maybe the wall will turn into an M1 display soon :)

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Newscotlander

I'd be willing to bet that the bolt is stamped AOB on the end of the right lug. It may be hard to read because it was often times stamped very light. The X on the top is the give away. BTW, the bolt should be blued on ALL original carbines produced in WW2. The receiver finish can vary depending on manufacturer and time period. Most had a phosphate finish (Parkerizing). The safety needs to be a type-3 push button, The bayonet lug, blued round bolt, 4-rivet hand guard, low wood stock and adjustable rear sight would be correct.

 

Reisch's book is alright for the person trying to do a so-so job on restoration or to determine correctness. If you really want to know about the carbine history and production, along with what an original carbine should have in terms of parts and finish, buy Larry Ruth's two books, War Baby! and War Baby Comes Home. Then join the Carbine Club and buy all the old newsletters.

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