Buffalo Arms

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Yep if it passed all the assembly, inspection, test/sight in it was good enough for the US gov't then it was good to go at that time and accepted. Of course 78+ years have passed and now it depends on the condition of the barrel - straightness, bore condition, muzzle wear, crown, etc.

Thanks for the information.  This is particular interest to me as I live in Rochester, NY and once worked in the factory where the NPM carbines were manufactured. It was a General Motors factory in the 1970's. (Rochester Products) and I worked there during summer breaks from school. . I assumed that Buffalo Arms was located in Buffalo, NY but wanted verification it's a Western NY carbine.  The carbine is in very good condition, an early model with flip sights, "I" oiler sling slot, flat bolt and Type 1 barrel band. Thanks again. 

For what it's worth, during WWII, Buffalo Arms was in Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo. I grew up in Buffalo and never heard of Buffalo Arms until I got started collecting carbines. By then, they were gone.

BTW, Larry Ruth had collected some tidbits from Buffalo Arms...a patch, a small banner, a couple small lapel pin awards and two certificates awarded to workers. Both awards were to women.   I just shipped a 49 pound (!) box of non-firearm goodies like this to my home, and once it gets here, I'll be putting that stuff up on ebay, a few items at a time (on Larry's family's ebay account, ruthintheoutfield).

I'll make a post when I start to list the Buffalo Arms items.

And somewhere in this Forum, there is a very interesting post on "Where are they now?," which shows recent photos of the various carbine manufacturers' factory sites. I cannot remember if any of the original Buffalo Arms buildings are still standing, but I think the street locations are named in that post. I found it all very interesting.

Regards, mb

Edited by New2brass - Mar 13 2023 at 2:45pm

"War Baby," pages 206-207 detail the problems that the prime manufacturers had with Buffalo Arms barrels, I'm sorry to say.

Regards, mb

Well, you guys got my curiosity up, so I did some internet searching.

Buffalo Arms Corp was reportedly at "2003 Walden Ave, just east of Harlem Rd. in Cheektowaga." Using Google Earth Pro, that address is now a Cabela's, which is actually "behind" Walden Ave in a large plaza. Along the street is an Olive Garden restaurant at 2011 Walden Ave. Further east is Jim's Truck Plaza at 2125 Walden Ave.

Using the overhead view, a large flat area of concrete, piles of concrete rubble, and the "footprint" of at least one long-gone building are easily seen between the large plaza and Jim's Truck Plaza...which may have been the location of Buffalo Arms.

Looking around that area using "street view," all the buildings appear to be modern construction.

My childhood best friend's office is only a few blocks away on Harlem, and I'll ask him to make a drive-by around the plaza and see if any old buildings - resembling a factory remain. I doubt it. If he finds anything, I'll make another post.

The fun of all this is "in the hunt!"

Regards, mb

Matt_X, that is a very accurate statement!!! :-)   As smart and skilled and resourceful as Larry Ruth was, he was dyslexic and had absolutely terrible trouble with spelling. His spelling was phonetic as he heard it. He couldn't recognize misspelled words. And he never learned to type or use a computer.

I'm not putting him down. Larry was a great friend. He accomplished more in carbine research and authorship than anyone else in the world. When his first book was published in 1979, we all asked "Who is Larry Ruth?! And how did he compile so much information on the Carbine, without any of us noticing?"

He certainly found his way, despite his handicaps. An Eagle Scout, almost 40 years as a Jr. High School art teacher, and active in local City Councils and other community service activities. May his soul rest in peace.

Regards, mb

Very good....I see the northerly re-routing "bump" on Walden Road when the NYS Thruway was put in. The Cabela's location could very well be the original location of Buffalo Arms Corp. It's certainly the correct address.

On the other hand, the description on the internet that Buffalo Arms was at "2003 Walden Ave., just east of Harlem Road" SEEMS to indicate maybe the factory was closer to Harlem. That would put it at the location of the present day Thruway Plaza. Too bad we don't know the exact distance that "just east of Harlem Road" was.

Intriguing.   Regards, mb

Excellent job, Matt Magellan ! ! ! ! ! Using Google Earth Pro street view, I "drove" up Kennedy Road, north from Gruner to where it ends at Broadway (Rte 130) by the RR tracks. That's the entire length of the Buffalo Arms lot space shown on the 1942 map.

A large "Kennedy Industrial Park" with what appears to be a huge semi-truck warehouse/loading facility (with odd multiple angled roof panels) is set back from the street, but if you go to 525 Kennedy Road, and move north slightly, you will come upon an old 3-story brick building on the street front, that is what I envisioned Buffalo Arms looked like! Just slightly further north is a small 1 story cinder block building (painted blue) that may have been part of Buffalo Arms.

And it's very interesting that Kennedy Road was named Houdaille Rd on the 1948 map!

I'll ask my childhood friend to drive up to those buildings and see if there are any signs or other indications that those buildings were part of Buffalo Arms.

That was quick work, Matt_X ! ! !   Thanks for all that!

Regards, mb

Edited by New2brass - Mar 13 2023 at 11:22pm