My Birthday Present

Hint: It's not a magic ring.  But we wants it, precious, we WANTS it!  😂

My birthday present to myself this year is a rifle I’ve been looking for for at least 15 years. I was deployed overseas when the last batch of Bavarian Police carbines were returned to the U.S. and offered for sale through the CMP. I didn’t have an address to which I could have them delivered, so I missed out. In a nice coincidence, a very good example came up for sale just last week. I spent a couple days checking references and refreshing my memory about the history, markings, etc. and asking the seller some questions. When I was satisfied it was genuine, I pulled the trigger and bought it.

The WWII U.S. Carbine, Caliber .30, is a special interest of mine, and I have a modest collection of them. This particular one is a two-fer, as it fills two gaps in my collection at once. In the first place (and the part that initially got my interest), it is marked “Bavaria Forestry Police”. In the years immediately following WWII, various German police agencies were re-formed and re-armed with U.S. weapons, both to keep internal order as well as to help counteract the growing threat from Russia as the Cold War intensified. People who know me will understand my special interest in Bavaria, forests and forestry in general and the Bavarian forest in particular, and especially the Cold War. All these aspects made a Bavarian Forestry Police carbine an article of special interest and desirability to me. They don’t come up for sale very often, and I had not yet seen a desirable one for sale at a time and place when it was feasible for me to buy it. So that was point one.

Point two: This is a very desirable, extremely early-production carbine from August 1942, the third month of production. Out of a total production of over six million U.S M1 carbines between 1942 and 1945, this carbine has a four-digit serial number (!). It has the original July 1942 barrel and mostly original features of the early Model 1942 carbines, with some of the expected late- or post-war modifications made to almost all the early carbines that remained in service after the war (the adjustable rear sight and rotating safety being the most obvious). The later model replacement wooden stock is also not uncommon, but I can live with that as I know that this carbine is in the exact configuration in which it was returned to the U.S. from the Austrian police agency (another part of the history) from which it came. It has an Austrian Police-marked trigger group and includes the Austrian leather sling and cleaning kit marked with the town in which it was in service (Ebreichsdorf). It is also in extremely good condition, especially for such an early example.

A beautiful example of an early-production WWII M1 Carbine. One of my very favorite rifles.

It would originally have had a high-wood stock with an I-cut slot for the oiler, so this is a later replacement stock.

Inland Manufacturing Division, General Motors, barrel dated 7-42. Finished carbine assembled and delivered in August 1942.

The post-war marking I’ve been looking for.

Landes Gendarmerie Kommando Nieder Österrreich (State Gendarmerie Command of Lower Austria)

The cleaning kit and sling have additional markings helping to pin down the post-war history of this carbine.

I love these German and Austrian cleaning kits - added bonus that it is included!

Today I sent the cashier’s check via certified mail, and should have the carbine in my possession in a week or ten days. Then I can tear it down to look at the internals, catalog the parts, and fire a few rounds through it before it goes on display with my others.

This one will never be a regular “shooter”. It is too valuable for that, as it is a remarkable artifact that tells a lot about an important chapter in our history, for those who know how to read the record contained in its markings. For the history geeks like me, here is some information on the history of the “occupation carbines”:

http://www.bavarianm1carbines.com/

Happy Birthday to Me!

Music:  Silence

Mood:  Happy