Post Reply - Quality H.M.C. German Police (Close to Original)

    Hi there,

I posted this on the Milsurps forum as well and I’ve received some fantastic information, but I figured I’d post it for the experts to mull over here as well. 

I’ve been doing some research on the Quality Hardware M1 Carbine that I recently purchased and I need some help with the stock. First, let’s talk about the metal parts, I believe these to be original except for the magazine catch and sling swivel:

Receiver: Quality H.M.C. serial # 1638xxx
Barrel: Rock-Ola (undated) with P proof mark
Gas Cylinder: Rock-Ola
Type II Flat Bolt: EM-Q (Quality Hardware)
Slide Well: DA-Q (Quality Hardware)
Trigger Housing: Q-NL (Quality Hardware)
Sear: GE-Q (Quality Hardware)
Hammer: LT-Q (Quality Hardware)
Magazine Catch: To be determined (M on right side)
Front Sight: JQ (Quality Hardware)
Type I Rear Sight: GE-Q (Quality Hardware)
Type I Barrel Band: Unmarked, looks originalSling Swivel: Unmarked, looks aftermarket

I have not done a full disassembly of this rifle yet, so these are just the markings visible from doing a field strip. So far, the modified magazine catch (and possibly the sling swivel?) appear to be the only non-original metal parts. Now, let’s talk about the German Police markings before we move onto my questions about the stock:

Top Rear Receiver: 282
Recoil Plate: L.P.W. (Landespolizei Württemberg)
L/H Side of Receiver: 0818
Bottom Trigger Housing: WB-LP-0818

Alright, now the stock. It’s a Type II walnut stock with the oval cut and high wood. The hand guard matches the stock and is Type I with the wide channel and two rivets. The entire rifle is well used and showing it’s usage - the stock is no exception. Here’s the issue: inside the sling well is LW-B (Lumb Woodworking Co. for IBM). Now my initial reaction is that the stock is obviously non-original, but I’m not quite convinced. As far as I can tell it’s the right type, with oval cut, high wood, and two rivets, and like I said, the wear on the stock is consistent with the rest of the rifle. Lastly, on the bottom of the grip is a stag horn marking which is consistent with Württemberg. So..

1) Did Lumb Woodworking Co. supply any stocks for Quality Hardware? I know the manufacturers were sharing supplies with each other during the war. The easiest explanation would be that this stock was with the rifle from the start, although I think it’s probably more complicated than that.

2) Did this rifle get a replacement stock sometime while it was with the German Police? It bears the stag horn marking, so it was obviously with the Landespolizei Württemberg. Maybe a couple stocks got mixed up? It’s a bit of a coincidence that it found another oval cut, high wood, two rivet stock, but not totally unreasonable.

What makes this mystery more difficult is I can’t find any other markings on the stock or hand guard! I think any other markings have long been worn off through the war and it’s time with the Police. Any help with this stock (or the replacement magazine catch or sling swivel) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Tyler