New Member from MD

My name is Chris, and I am excited to be a member! I've owned an M1 Carbine for several years now, and this site has always been a great source of information. I figured it was time I finally join and try to contribute a little.

National Postal Meter 146****

Underwood barrel dated 2-43

The upper of the carbine appears to be fairly correct for an NPM from this timeframe. It's very similar to the featured carbine from November 23rd, 2018 (including the trigger group retaining pin and beveled housing for those of you who get excited about that kind of thing http://www.uscarbinecal30.com/forum/featured-carbine-national-postal-meter-1457503_topic3770.html). The stock (along with the tang and butt plate) is Underwood, while the hand guard is JLB (IBM subcontractor). The flat bolt is Underwood, but the components all have NPM sub-contractor markings according to this resource (https://m1family.com/part-markings-check-here-first-t46.html). I suspect those few parts were swapped at some point in the 40s-50s, but the carbine clearly did not go through the typical arsenal rebuild. If anyone has an extra Trimble Nursery stock laying around in good condition, I might be interested in putting this NPM back in an original stock.

My grandfather originally acquired the carbine sometime in the 50's. Over the ~60 years he owned it, he kept it clean and only occasionally shot. He never acquired other parts nor had major work done to it. I've never had the opportunity or time to take it for a spin. That said, I have tried to learn everything I can about this particular carbine.

I finally bought some proper gun care equipment (Hoppe's oil and grease along with some other miscellany). I’m also waiting on a Forster field length headspace guage, just to double-check that it’s in spec.

I'm currently in the northern Virgina, DC, Maryland area (DMV for you locals). The current ~$1 per round cost isn't very enticing, but I hope to be able to shoot it sometime. If anyone has suggestions for a local place to pick up reasonably priced ammunition and/or a decent place to shoot a carbine, I'd happily take suggestions!