An M1 Carbine story: Back in the 1980s my parents
traveled from NorCal to Anaheim to attend an 11th
Airborne Div Association reunion. My dad was an
original 11th AB “Angel”. My sister lived in Burbank
at the time and visited my folks at the reunion hotel.
Sis and mom were enjoying a conversation with other
wives in the lobby when a message came over the PA
system regarding the purchase of raffle tickets. The
prize was a commemorative M1 carbine manufactured by
Iver Johnson which, BTW, had NOT produced that model
for WWII. Anyway, my mom and the other wives found
humor in the prospect that one of the elderly
paratrooper “boys” could be lurking around the hotel
with a WWII firearm. As it turned out the winner of
the carbine was my dad. The joke was on my mom.
I inherited the gold trimmed carbine from my dad
and it still has never been fired.
when I repaired off brand M1 carbines (like the Univerals) I always used Iver Johnson parts to replace broken bolts or carriers. Those parts were heat treated properly so they were superior replacements.