Plainfield M-1 commando carbine
Need info I.E. value dates on mfg it has a wood stock with front and rear wood contour grips and a blued wire retractable stock its commercial make.
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Dates are difficult, as Plainfield was purchased by Iver Johnson in 1975, but parts may have been assembled into complete guns after that.
Not often seen today, so value is hard to say; quality varies, but is generally lower than USGI. I wouldn't pay > $100 for one; collector value is zero, and expensive repairs may be needed just to get it to work. On the other hand, if I owned one, I'd try to get $500 from someone who didn't know any better and just wanted a gun that looks "bad".
Neal0 -
i would give my eye teeth for one of those wood para stocks with the pistol grip front and rear. if anyone has one at a fair price e mail me at tvjunky@mail.com 0 -
plainsfield carbines were manufactured from 1960 until 1975
in three models standard, deluxe and paratrooper(aka commando model).
when iver johnson purchased plainfield the only thing they changed was the name all three model were continued until about 1983 when iver johnson moved to jacksonville, arkansas and expanded the model line up
the latest gun digest book of modern gun values list the paratrooper (commando) model $170 to $250
plainfield and iver johnson carbine were manufactured to military spec. and used some surplus mailitary parts until the move to arkansas
b.goforth0 -
quote:
I was told by a 35+ year class 3 dealer, that Plainsfield M-1 carbines were contracted to the Army.
That Plainsfield eventually made their own receivers which were better than some which were made for the Army. Ranking in the top 3. C) Early model Plainsfield were assembled from all GI parts (so how can they be junk) till PLainsfield made receiver's themselves. Some Plainsfield models have ALL ORIGINAL PARTS RIGHT DOWN TO THE ORIGINAL CANVAS CARRIER! So now what?
Edited by - michael minarik on 11/01/2002 16:19:470 -
i think it was all a matter of quality control (or Lack Thereof). i used to sell quite a few Plainfields . never saw anything but USGI parts for major components on those until later years when they made their own receivers..The fitting of the parts was a problem and the slide used to jump rail and detach from bolt..not a pleasant thing and a real pain to deal with, after two or three of the late model plainfields did that i quit handling them..wasnt too long after that that IJ took over and only piece i handled from their line was the enforcer pistol..a mini flamethrower an alot of fun..had a lot of LEOs buying them..after that came the reimport of M1s and Garands from Blue sky and for the price I was getting those for it made no sense to deal with anything else.
If your Plainfield works then you have a good shooter. You also should check and see which trigger housing they used, many Plainfields were assembled using M2 (Select Fire) trigger housing which was OK at the time..I think ATF would say no to that now but I am out of the loop on that topic..perhaps Mark Christian can further enlighten us..he is quite knowledgeable about this stuff!0 -
Plainfield Machine Company began manufacturing carbines around 1966 or 1967 and is the successor of the old Millville Ordance Company, of Millville NJ. This company was soon absorbed by the Plainfield Ordance Company and later renamed Plainfield Machine Co. and moved to an old candle factory to begin operations. Plainfield's earliest carbines were direct copies of late issue WWII M1 Carbines and were made with surplus government parts added to the companies recievers.
Once supplies of surplus parts ran out Plainfield was left to fend for itself and this included turning down surplus 1903 Springfield barrels until newly manufactured carbine barrels from Small Arms Co, of Bridgeville Pennsylvania, came on line. Most of the heat treating and finishing was done by outside contractors and Plainfield assembled the contract parts into completed rifle...not at all unlike the original carbine manufacturing/ sub-contracting program used during WWII. Quality in the first years was very good but soon dropped off sharply near the end of the production run with mixed parts and cast receivers.
Plainfield won many contracts to suuply carbines to foreign governments; including Central America, Asia, and a few African nations. During the companies heyday it employed around 40 people and was distributed and marketed by The Powder Horn Co., of New Brunswick NJ. Interestingly all of the wood stocks used by Plainfield were made by the S.E. Overton Co, an original WWII supplier.
There were actually 7 different Plainfield Carbine models available over the years of its production run. In addition the company also made a select fire version for police, military, and qualified individuals. A 1971 catalog listing for Plainfield shows 3 models available: Standard Model @ $105, Paratrooper (the subject of this post) @$125, and the delux Plainfielder with a Monte Carlo stock, also @125. I suppose I'd take a Plainfield over an IJ, but a good condition GI Carbine would be a better rifle overall and would far easier to find any needed parts for. Hope this helps you Geranimo.
Mark T. Christian
Edited by - mark christian on 11/02/2002 01:37:050
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