Introduction and Winchester

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post here. I’d like to start by thanking all of the members here for sharing a lot of incredibly useful information. I’ve learned quite a bit just reading through many of the posts, so thank you for that.

Several years ago, I inherited several firearms from my father, who was a collector and had himself inherited some guns from his father. One of the firearms that I inherited was an M1 Garand in pristine condition and another was an M1 Carbine. I believe that the Garand was a CMP purchase that was made by my father many years ago but he never assembled or fired it. I remember the Garand from my childhood though. I have no idea where the carbine came from. I never shot it as a child and I don’t remember it being in his collection prior to when I moved out after high school, so I assume that it was inherited by him when his father passed away, since I doubt that he purchased it. He quit collecting guns in the mid-1980s, so I assume that it was passed down to him by his father. My father’s uncle (my father’s father’s brother) had served in WWII and it may have been his… I really don’t know, but I knew that I liked it.

After inheriting the firearms, I added them to a spreadsheet with manufacturer, S/Ns, and any info that I had about them and locked them away. I had set aside the carbine without really looking it over. Unfortunately and fortunately, I’m too busy with work to do as much recreational shooting as I’d like. One of my sons got interested in shooting so of course I started him on a bb gun. Later, I figured that the carbine would be a logical next step after a couple of .22 rifles (Ithica single shot then Marlin 39A). I had never really looked at the carbine, so we grabbed it and a couple of 15 round magazines. I noticed that the carbine was really dirty, like it had been sitting in someone’s garage for a few decades, followed up by sitting in someone’s attic for another few decades. Regardless, we took it out and I shot 5 or so rounds through it to test it out. It worked fine. I ejected the magazine, cleared the carbine, then showed my son the operating features. So then it was my sons turn and he fired one round and then had a light primer strike. I cleared it for him and then he finished shooting a few more rounds. I researched the light primer strike issue but didn’t do anything with it. A few weeks later, after sticking with the .22 for a while, he wanted to shoot the carbine, so we took it out again and again, we both had an issue with a couple of light primer strikes. Since I knew that it had an issue, I’d been watching it and I was watching the operating slide. I worked it a few times and noticed that the bolt wasn’t easily traveling fully forward so we quit shooting it and I took it in, took it apart (except for the bolt, trigger assembly, recoil plate, and piston) and cleaned it. After putting it back together, we took it back out and it worked perfectly.

I really like it and wouldn’t mind owning another one (or two or three), since I have two sons who will inherit them one day (the other is a bit young for the carbine). I started researching the one that I have and found that it might be fairly collectible, so I thought that I’d post it here so that the experts could weigh in on it and let me know what I really have, so that hopefully I can fill out a data sheet and add to the set. Below are photos and some of the features that I noticed after doing some research here:

Winchester S/N 1346---

Walnut upper and lower with high wood; “WRA GHD and crossed cannons cartouche”; “W” stamp in sling recess, “Z” stamp on bridge; “174” stamped on inner stock below barrel, no other stamps 

“W” and “8” stamps on handguard,

Lacks bayonet lug on band

“W” on recoil plate

Flip sight stamped with “S” in square

Barrel stamped with “W” and another symbol in an oval that I’m not sure about… possibly a “P” running through a “W”; no other marks on barrel

Trigger housing stamped with “W” on the side and “J” on bottom

Hammer stamped with “W” on one side and “S” and “1” on the other

Magazine catch stamped “W”

Push button style safety with “ “EW” “ stamped on the left side

Bolt possibly stamped with “W”

Operating slide stamped with a large “M” and small “W” in the recess

Gas cylinder lug has a mark

Underside of barrel stamped with “D” “8” and “V” and “8”

I’m fond of firearms but I'm far from an expert, so I’m happy to hear insights or corrections from more knowledgeable folks. I’d like to hear what you all think of this carbine. I had some of my firearms appraised for insurance purposes and the appraiser set this carbine at $2,100, I think. Do you all think that is ballpark? I know that you all probably hate doing valuations but I'd like to have an appropriate figure for insurance purposes and I thought that they were low on every one of the firearms that I brought in so I may seek a second appraiser. They said the the M1 Garand would be $1,400! I thought that was ridiculously low.

Now, let’s see if I can load some photos of the carbine… I took a bunch because I saw that there's a lot to these!

Regards,

Quercus alba

Is there a limitation to the number of photos? I posted a bunch but only see 2 more?? 

Even more... although I still don't quite have the hang of this!!

Again, feel free to use any of these as you see fit. If you need higher resolution, just PM me or let me know and I can make it happen.

I apologize that the photos were not in the order that I'd intended and came through in several posts, rather than one. 

D'OH! Two more that didn't load earlier...

Agree, very good pictures. Really nice Winchester.

beautiful rifle....get a bolt tool to take it apart and do it in a plastic/ziplock bag.....the extractor plunger is very small and you dont want it flying out into never to be seen again land

Very nice original Winchester! Examples like that are getting hard to find, my advice would be to limit the shooting you do with it. Stocks do crack/chip, bolts break, etc. There are plenty of good shooting mixmasters out there where if something is damaged or breaks it can be replaced without seriously affecting the value. On the value, prices have really shot up over the last year or so. Auctions have been doing really well, would probably bring at least 3k.
The estimate for the CMP M1 Garand probably isn't that far off at $1400 assuming it's a service grade. If it's a collector grade, national match, or something more rare then its a different story. Winchester's and International Harvesters bring a premium.

GotSnlB28 wrote: Very nice original Winchester! Examples like that are getting hard to find, my advice would be to limit the shooting you do with it. Stocks do crack/chip, bolts break, etc. There are plenty of good shooting mixmasters out there where if something is damaged or breaks it can be replaced without seriously affecting the value. On the value, prices have really shot up over the last year or so. Auctions have been doing really well, would probably bring at least 3k. The estimate for the CMP M1 Garand probably isn't that far off at $1400 assuming it's a service grade. If it's a collector grade, national match, or something more rare then its a different story. Winchester's and International Harvesters bring a premium.