What do you think of my carbine

Hell all from France

Recently the French authorities organized a census of illegally held weapons. The holders were invited either to abandon them to the police, to regularize their situation or to sell them to people authorized to hold them, without penalty.

Many weapons from both world wars have been abandoned by their holders. However, some have been offered for sale. This is how I became the owner of a USM1 rifle made by Inland Overton, found in a region (Saône and Loire) where many weapons were parachuted to the French resistance (operation Cadlllac 14 july 1944).

 

 

My carbine is all  Inland Overton  in the 525000 batch.

 

-          The barrel is marked 5-44 Inland Overton with a little p -  with Inland hieroglyphs

-          The stock is type II with the bridge  it is marked IO with the crossed cannons mark  on the right side

-          The handguard has four holes , it’s  marked IO

-          The trigger housing group is marked Inland – vertical logo – the safety push button is type III

-          The magazine catch is type III

-          It’s a round bolt, the left log is marked IO –F with the punch mark test firing

-          The slide is angled marked 7160091 F – P inside

-          The rear sight is type II

-           

Only the oiler was missing. it was replaced by a small wooden rod of the same shape. The strap is the original one’s. Apparently this rifle didn't shoot much.

Something special a little cross of Lorraine, symbol of the french underground, is engraved on the handguard.

 

What do you think of this carbin?

 

Thanks for your opinions

 

Wise62  - FANCE

My carbine when I found it

Imagine your barrel is marked Inland Mfg Div/General Motors/5-44 not "Inland Overton"

Thanks for posting it.

What a fantastic and important Carbine!  

In doing some research on Operation Cadillac and the weapons of the French Resistance, I came upon this article.  Scrolling down, the second photo in the article shows a Resistance fighter with an Carbine very close to the spec of the one in the photos here.  

It definitely suggests that Carbines did not linger long in warehouses after production!  Late spec Carbines on the ground in France by July.  Very interesting.  I would love to know more about these Resistance Carbines.  Were they chosen haphazardly as simply the latest off the production line?  Were they all equipped with the adjustable sights?  

Fantastic stuff.  Thank you for sharing!

No, they have not. They remained unsold for many months, « Adn023/Galerie de Mars », the seller, was asking way too much!! Definitely the most expensive carbines on the French market.

One of the 2 supposed to be coming from Cluny was bought in last September by a good friend, I examined it, helped him with maintenance and firing as he had some troubles with, and still has, but was for sale since at least may 2022… 16 months before being sold.

And this seller Galerie de Mars is not the one I would trust about the stories… taking a look at this one, he is selling a 11-1943 Inland with type 2 sight and bayonet lug as a fully original from Haute Savoie, « pure 2nd WW, not a rebuild » 😂😂

Talking about the « abandon to government » procedure, none of the weapons were supposed to go back to the market. And none given to the government is back on the market. All the collectibles, examined as collectibles by experts(a few USM1 and M1A1), around 1500, are being now offered to museums only, all others are destroyed. What happened sometimes is that the officers in charge of the procedure were also collectors and explained to the people coming they could get some money if going to the gunshop instead of giving to them. My gunshop got a few like that. But it was not the procedure, just an happy initiative of a few…

But the shootings before the loss were really great!