M-1 Carbine/? Serial Number
Our family has 2 carbines that date to WW-II when my dad worked in the ballistics lab at Winchester in New Haven.
No Serial Number on either. One has the letter "A" on the rear of the receiver, and the other a "B".
Are they legal to own? Transfer?
Thanks,
Rob
No Serial Number on either. One has the letter "A" on the rear of the receiver, and the other a "B".
Are they legal to own? Transfer?
Thanks,
Rob
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Serial numbers weren't required when they were made. I would consider them numbered A and B myself. I once had a single shot pistol numbered A. 0 -
As Charlie said, back when they were made there were no requirements for serial numbers. Since these are US military issue, no civil regulation would have applied to them in any case.
Winchester M1 Carbine serial number A Rifle .30
Winchester M1 Carbine serial number B Rifle .30
That is what they are to me, and that is exactly what I'd put in Section D of a 44730 -
Nice have not seen/heard of those... Cool... 0 -
Thanks. I was afraid I might have to "give" them a new number in order to be legit. 0 -
As the folks up there ^^^ rightly said- serial numbers were not required by law on rifles and shotguns until 1968.
It is still illegal as hell to REMOVE an existing serial number, but if it never wore one, perfectly legal- and that A and B can be a serial number.0 -
Historically you may have examples of Winchester receivers that were
sent to the Ordinance Department for acceptance before serial number
blocks were assigned. All M1 Carbines were assigned serial number in
blocks.
The A receiver was the first submitted and was approved. The B
receiver had been slightly modified to correct a weakness in the A
receiver.
You may have very significant (rare) carbines. Before selling them
i would research the history of ballistics lab during WWII and take
the carbines apart and look for letters stamped on each part.
Every part was required to have a letter stamp designating the maker
and if yours are devoid of marks, even on the stock, than you may
have an early sample....just saying it could valuable to a collector.0 -
Possibly these are 2 of the 5 toolroom samples requested by the Ordinance Department on October 5, 1941. (If so, there could be someone sitting on C, D, & E.) The only person who might know for sure is Bruce Canfield.
Neal
EDIT: Photo of the OP's carbine
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Interesting. I do know that part of my dad's job was to test fire weapons and record the point (I.e. number of rounds fired) at which various part failed. In time much of this hardware ended up in a large pile of rusted iron, open to the elements and surrounded by a barbed wire topped chain link fence. Others, like "A & B", vacated the premises when a supervisor said to a technician like my dad, " I suppose you're one of these guys that just has to have a carbine."
And how do I get in touch with Mr. Canfield?0 -
Most likely your post will be passed on to every Big time Carbine collector in the upcoming weeks and you are going to be inundated
with guys wanting to buy one. Think winning the lottery [:D]0 -
"And how do I get in touch with Mr. Canfield?"
If you don't already have the answer, it's not too tough. www.brucecanfield.com
yooper0
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