US M1 Carbines: Wartime Production, 4th Editon [Paperback]

Craig Riesch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

More than 7 million M1 and M2 Carbines were manufactured by ten different companies between 1941 and 1945 when production ended for all time. In a feat of organization and industrial coordination unparalleled before or since, the U.S. Ordnance Department supervised the design and production from scratch of this second-most famous American shoulder arm of World War II. The M1 Carbine served in every single theater of the war and was present at every major and minor battle from the Philippines to Okinawa. When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, thirty-four years later, it was still in service with certain American special forces units, the U.S. Navy and with South Vietnamese forces.

Today, the M1 Carbine is one of the most popular U.S. military collector rifles. It is relatively inexpensive and offers a wide variety of collecting options. It is also a modern firearm and is therefore fun, easy and cheap to shoot.

The fact that it was manufactured by ten different companies, combined with the military's propensity for improving, updating and refurbishing its weapons has provided collectors with a great challenge finding and original, as-manufactured specimen or else restoring a battle- hardened veteran to original specifications. Perhaps 40 to 50% of all M1 Carbines manufactured were provided to military allies and friends during World War II and the Cold War. The first M1 Carbines available to the collecting public were those obtained from the Director of Civilian Marksmanship and they remained relatively few and far between. Then in 1986, Congress allowed the reimportation of a significant number of M1 Carbines and other military firearms considered to be collectible. Hundreds of thousands of M1 Carbines returned home. Most had been upgraded and refurbished in foreign armies, but with parts from the vast stores manufactured before production was shut down in 1945. The collector, faced with the task of restoring an M1 Carbine to its original condition can obtain parts readily available from many dealers, local gun shows or any one of a dozen or more mail order dealers. The problem is which part goes with which rifle. All told, there are more than 90,000 possible parts combinations for any single carbine!

"The M1 Carbine: Wartime Production" book provides this information. Through a combination of text and charts, every single part of the M1 Carbine manufactured by ten different manufacturers is listed by serial number range.

Is your M1 Carbine manufactured by Inland the barrel is stamped Saginaw Gear? This may or may not be correct depending on the serial number of your carbine.

The barrel date on your IBM Carbine is 1944 and it has a rear sight adjustable for windage. Is this correct. No. IBM manufactured M1 Carbines only until very early 1944. The windage adjustable rear sight (there are two variations to confuse things further) were not installed until beginning in mid-1945.

Will replacing a barrel or a rear sight reduce the value of my M1 Carbine? No, in fact if you install the correct part, the value will be increased.

You can take an M1 Carbine that saw its last service with the Israeli, South Korean or Philippine armies, for instance and which has undergone many repairs and refurbishments until there are only a few original parts left, and restore it to completely original condition, making it a very valuable collector's carbine.

In addition to explaining which parts are correct for which M1 Carbines by manufacturer and serial number range, the book also explains all those mysterious markings on wood and metal parts and shows how they can be used to select the correct parts for restoration.

Also included in the book are descriptions and proper identification for all accessories issued to the soldier with the M1 Carbine, including various types of ammunition. Also, complete instruction on assembly/disassembly and on maintenance and cleaning.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

While other books exist on the M1 Carbine, none exceed "The M1 Carbine: Wartime Production" in the completeness of its coverage. The book is currently in its third edition (1999) with new, up-to-date information.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: North Cape Publications Inc; 2nd rev edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882391233
• ISBN-13: 978-1882391233
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,897,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars U.S. M1 Carbines Wartime Production, March 8, 2001

By 

J. Maxwell (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: US M1 Carbines: Wartime Production, 4th Editon (Paperback)

This book has helped me greatly in restoring my Quality Hardware carbine back to "as manufactured" condition. The book works more as a quick reference, rather than other M1 books which may or may not have a lot of reading just to find parts differences. After getting this book I realized my Q.H.M.C. carbine had only a few original "as manufactured" parts on it and the rest of the gun was a mixmaster of assorted maker parts. With this book I have been able to quickly see what stampings are on a part I need, different variations and improvements within a certain part,and tips to tell the difference between authentic and repro parts. Drawings are included to aid in parts identification and I.D. different types (type I,II,III,IV, etc.)within a part. Other areas of the book touch on receiver differences and militaria accessories for the M1. If your not into the historical restoration and just want a "shooter", then this book is not for you. My copy is well used and getting greasy, I will definitely get Riesch & Poyer's reference book for the M-1 Garand.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Clear data presentation, but a disservice to collectors, July 15, 2003

By 

The Wumpus (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: US M1 Carbines: Wartime Production, 4th Editon (Paperback)

The positive aspect of this text is that it lays out the data in a clear and concise tabular format. Thus, a collector can use the book to quickly and efficiently assess a rifle's theoretical originality prior or subsequent to purchase. "Parts Charts" for each carbine part, which contain the variety, manufacturer, and possible markings for said part, make this an even handier format than the other US references in the "For Collectors Only" series.

The big problem with this book is that it advocates destroying/sterilizing the history of these carbines, which is exactly what the audience (collectors) should strive to avoid. Specifically, Riesch advocates using spare parts to "restore" a carbine to "factory issue" (p. 7). Later, under the heading "Collecting Imported M1 Carbines" (p. 113), Riesch states "Many collectors have, and are continuing, to purchase, these imported carbines with the intention of finding the correct parts needed to restore them to their original configuration. These can present a collector with a challenging, and rewarding endeavor, and will certainly increase the value of their carbine." This is patently false!

Firstly, by discarding parts from an otherwise as-imported or as-arsenal-refinished carbine, you are sterilizing it of its history. Second, when you arbitrarily replace parts in a military arm, you are *not* making it "factory original" or increasing its value, but rather bringing it even further from its martial provenance and configuration. Collectors desiring a factory original piece are paying for exactly that, not for a gun that some bubba tracked down spare parts for, and reassembled accordingly, so that it would *appear* factory original. Barring fraud or misrepresentation of the piece, an arsenal-refinished carbine is worth more than a hodgepodge of pieces some "collector" picked out at gun shows.

Further, the parts that a Lend Lease country employed are part of that carbine's unique military history; it's difficult enough to discern a US small arm's history without new collectors being encouraged to sterilize away all signs of it. The advocacy of doing future generations of collectors such a vast disservice is significant enough to knock an otherwise four-star text down to two stars.

Buy this book for its data, but not its advice to "collectors".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Getting to Know an M1 Carbine from WWII, part by part, and each manufacturer., April 19, 2006

By 

James P. Mock "jpmock" (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: US M1 Carbines: Wartime Production, 4th Editon (Paperback)

There is no 1 book that covers everything to do with the M1 Carbine. This book clearly was not written for the purpose of covering the M1 carbine from A-Z. The focus of the author is on each individual part, the variations, and the markings the original manufacturer put on their parts at various points in time. This book is about documenting the parts of your M1 Carbine, knowing who made what, and which carbine it was likely on.

For a buyer, it will tell you what you are looking at in the way of original parts. M1 carbine parts were shared amongst manufacturers, in an effort to get the rifles out to the troops. Typically they are a mixture of parts from several manufacturers. Without this book, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

For people starting to get to really know the history of their M1 carbine, this is where you start, with this book. Then move on to intermediate and advanced.

Collector's usually own more than a few books. Many of them have this one as a quick reference aid. No other puts it so clear, simple, and easy to find.

If you are looking for a book for shooting the M1 carbine, try The M1 Carbine Owner's Guide by Ruth and Duff. If something breaks and you want to replace it with an authentic part, then look inside this book.

I recommend it to everyone just starting to get to know their U.S. M1 carbine. Post WWII commercial variations are not included. Original WWII M1 carbines, their parts, and manufacturers, are detailed. It does a great job of it. Simple and to the point.

As to the restoration issue, the first reviewer is absolutely correct when he says piece by piece rebuilding an M1 carbine destroys it's history and value. Those who seek to do so should do a fair amount of research first. The conclusion you come too will likely stop you from using this book for that purpose.