i have been a carbine whore for a long time. To really do it right, you need a couple of reference books and ability to tear the gun down right to the springs.
the safety is early, while the lug/barrel band came later, and you would think they would have replaced the safety.
if those small parts are black, thats another indication.
Having said that, i have ran across a few through the years that were 100% original, not parts guns.
One it took me all day and a couple of reference books to really understand what i was looking at.
People gravitate to the winchester because of the name, but there were other ones that are a lot more valuable.
I don't think i have seen any in this area for sale less than 800bucks or so.
of the 7 million or so made, i have read guesstimates only maybe a million left world wide. They were popular all over the world, and used hard. One thing i would do is guage the muzzle, and see how shot out it is.
if you can find one, cmp was selling a few years ago the "fat" carbines from italy, and the "german" guns from germany.
at the end of the war we had disarmed germany, patton rearmed them with carbines from the 3rd army. they were stamped with which department of the german govt. had them, such as forestry, etc.
the atvantage of them is the germans took care of them, and pretty much the same condition as at the end of WWII.
Last edited by RoninPhx; 11/11/19.
