A Midway Italian Return Details

I'm going to post the details of this carbine while entering them onto the club data sheet.   There's a few items I'll have questions about, and others I just think are interesting and perhaps provide a clue into the story of these returns.  Perhaps this thread will also be useful to other newbies filling out data sheets.

I did not buy mine from Midway but from someone else who did.  The only changes I know he made are swap of rear sight, and addition of a sling and oiler.   He was supposed to send the adjustable sight it came with from Midway and perhaps he still will.

  UNDERWOOD 4043XXX with Ordnance bomb under serial number.

 Based on Ruth and Scott, by serial number this probably a Sept. 1943 manufacture.

 There's no letter in the bomb.  Does this mean it was made in house ?

UNDERWOOD  8-43 with a 5/32" P and an Ordnance bomb.

Receiver, barrel, front sight are all a matte black finish.

Unmarked Type 1 with sling swivel that has the later, larger, sling opening (5/16").

The swivel is stamped from 0.065" thick steel.  It sseems thin and the unrelieved sharp punched edges of the opening seem likely to abraid the web sling quickly.  I do not have an original to compare with.  

Underwood.  Sight key retention I'm calling a notch.  (yes?)

Sight has been slightly damaged on top. :(  

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Winchester ? low wood (Type 3)and shows some deep sanding after original acceptance. 

Two rivet wide groove handguard seems to match but has a glossier finish that lies on top of the surface.  No stamps found.

The cavity under recoil plate leaves plenty of room indicating manufacture before the size of this mortice was reduced.  Recoil plate is later type, stamped D.I.  ( Inland ?

G.H.D. is the only stamping I could find.  Letters are 1/8" tall and look like WRA G.H.D. examples I've seen in photos on the forum and in Riesch.

There is European style number 7 on the bottom of the pistol grip.  Presuming this a rack number from Italian service.  ???? 

Butt plate is US manufacture. Winchester ?

Type 1 extractor

4 million range was not subcontracted.

can you post pick of the rear of the receiver and the rear of the trigger housing?

Any markings inside the stock? check the bridge and the side walls

Some trial fitting confirmed what Dan suspected - when installed in the stock, the back of the trigger housing and receiver are contacting the wood. 

In this thread Floyd and Charlie observe a number of Midway Italian returns have distorted sling swivels.

http://www.uscarbinecal30.com/forum/new-here-and-to-m1-carbines_topic5584.html

There's also a photo of a carbine with a rack number on the grip.  Unlike the one in this thread its on a metal tag rather than painted on the wood.

Inthis thread Floyd and Charlie observe a number of Midway Italian returns have distorted sling swivels.

I can't help but think the rifles must have been hung on a nail or peg of some sort for the amount of distension . I can see where the weight of the rifle setting down on the peg over time would do that. Hell, I've hung one of mine by the swivel (carefully, though) a few times when I didn't have a good surface I wanted to lay it on. On the bright side though, it shouldn't be hard at all to square them back up.

John

Smokpole wrote: I wonder if those distorted swivels were bent so that a clip type hook would go through and stay centered. Makes as much sense as hanging on a nail.

More sense or more likely IMHO.  Did you see the photos French Addict posted here?

That doesn't look to me like a canvas web sling in either photo.  I'm not even sure there's enough length in the web slings to use like that.

Comparison of the sling swivel that came with this carbine and the new one from Northridge.

Posting in case other Midway returns have the same or similar replacements.

Also for anyone wanting to know what Northridge's look like close up.

To address the contact of the receiver with the stock, I carefully shaved some wood off.  Since its to be a shooter tightened the recoil plate and also replaced the firing pin and extractor with later revisions.   Reinstalled the adjustable sight and also replaced the sling with a good condition post war D-tip.