Sporto modified Carbine

[Bulletguide]

This is a follow up to my post in the Garand section on a sportorized Garand and Carbine. I stated my opinion on these sporto conversions there and won't dwell on it here except to say
that it's not to my taste but the work done reflects a high degree of skill and care. This one was done in 1963 as well by the same armorer who did the Garand. I'd say this one is somewhat less
removed from the realm of original as the receiver and barrel are parkarized and done well. The jeweled bolt is not to everyone's taste of course as are man other modifications. But considering
the time in which they were modified, the value of the rifles at the time and the period trends and preferences, these would have been considered as very nicely done rifle. The owner is still going strong at 91 and values them just as highly as he did when they were sportorized. They will be a part of his family for generations to come and, I hope, cherished as much by his family
as they are by him.
I have not removed the stock on the Carbine as I did on the Garand, I may do so but expect to find little of note as I can't see any reasons for other modifications as this rifle has dimensions that match those of an original Carbine. It's an Inland and the barrel is original, the stampings on the receiver are still quite clear. It's serial number corresponds to a 1945 build.









I'll ad a few more views in the next post....

[Bulletguide]

More images and some comparisons to an original Inland Carbine...









It's worth noting that the owner is tall and felt that by changing the stocks on both rifles he could gain an actual shooting advantage. He seems to have requested an additional 2-3 inches
in stock length to suit him. Overall, high quality work done in a time when these rifles were very inexpensive and also done, in part, to make them more user friendly to the owner. I am
sure they will be carefully maintained over the years by a family who appreciates the service their father gave to the county and his love of rifles and their use. I'm glad to have had a chance to photograph them.

[Orlando]

Thanks for posting

[Jersey Devil]

I'll tell you what.....that's a neat sporter right there. Looks like a handy little carbine, and I can certainly appreciate the work that went into that (and the M1 rifle).
Thanks for posting this, and super nice photography to boot!

[m14brian]

You can definitely improve your shooting with a custom/adjustable length of pull stock. That is an interesting Carbine, nice wood.
m14brian

[RCS]

There was a period when you could buy a carbine through the NRA for around $20 shipped from Rock Island to your door. A lot of carbines were sporterized and necking down the 30 carbine case to 22 caliber was popular. There was a 22 Wildcat and 5,7mm Johnson both offered with loading dies and most were sporterized. On the extreme end was the 30 Kurz, a modified 308 case necked down to fit the carbine magazine (using 110 gr bullets), a longer barrel and bolt face opened up. Other wildcats included cut down 223 cases in 9mm to name a few.

photo shows 22 Wildcat and a 30 Kurz both for the carbine

[Bulletguide]

Good point, I remember ads for the Garand at 79.99 plus 1 dollar shipping (!) and in the same ad was a M1D scope mount for a dollar or two....
I think the cartridge changes to the Carbine are fascinating. It would have lent itself to some really interesting options, I think the Wildcat might have been ideal. At 20.00 they were
obvious candidates for modifications. I suppose though, factoring in inflation, that would now represent more like 250 to 300.00 for that Carbine at 20.00. As I understand it the Olin/Winchester
people developed the cartridge as per military specifications and then the call went out to build the rifle. Both the Garand and Carbine had interesting histories when it comes to cartridge
selection.

[RCS]

Photo shows the early Winchester self loading cartridges: 32 WSL, 35 WSL, 351 WSL and 405 WSL, the 30 M1 carbine was developed from the 32 WSL cartridge, very early M1 Carbine cartridges had the 32 WSL headstamp from the old Winchester bunter. Other photos show the Model 1905 self loading rifle that chambered either the 32 WSL or 35 WSL