Back when I was in high school, I joined the Army Reserve two days after I turned 17. My dad had to sign for me. Being that I had a September birthday, I had to finish out my senior year and wouldn’t be able to go to Basic Training until the following summer. I was still able to start drilling with my unit immediately, though, under the delayed entry program.
I put those first drill checks to good use and bought my first rifle, an M1 carbine not long after I started. Actually my dad had to buy it since I wasn’t yet 18, but it eventually became mine. I still have that rifle today, and it’s still one of my favorites.
My National Postal Meter M1
The late 1980’s were a time when surplus firearms were plentiful and comparatively cheap. With my drill pay burning a hole in my pocket, I made a trip to one of our local gun shops to see what could be had. What caught my eye was a batch of M1 carbines that had been re-imported from South Korea. These were real deal, US issue carbines that had been given to South Korea.
I looked over a few that they had in stock and settled on one that was made by National Postal Meter. I paid a whopping $159 at the time, which was pretty much my whole drill check. It may even have been a little more than one check at that time.
National Postal Meter was one of 10 manufacturers who made M1’s during WW II. They made them in 1943 and 1944, with a total of 413,017 being made by the company. Overall 6,221,220 M1 Carbines were made between all of the manufacturers, more than any other small arm of the period.
As the name implies, before the war National Postal Meter made postal equipment, including metered mailing machines and postal scales. They had no prior firearms manufacturing experience. Despite that, they still made an M1 that got the highest rating during the military’s adverse conditions performance testing.
Like many of the M1 manufacturers, not every part was made in-house. National Postal Meter didn’t make their own barrels for instance. They were sourced from other manufacturers. NPM did the final assembly work in-house though.
Original Issued Condition? Not Likely.
The earliest National Postal Meter M1’s would have been made with the two aperture, flip-up sight, a flat bolt, and no bayonet lug. Like most M1 Carbines that remained in service though, my example had been updated somewhere along the line to the later ramp sight and the addition of the bayonet lug. Mine still has a flat bolt and it has the later style rotating safety rather than the early push-button style. The changes were possibly done while still in US service but, being that it saw use by the South Koreans, some of those parts changes could have been done later in Korea as well.
My rifle was likely refinished at some point as well, as the parkerizing, while not new, was in very good shape. The wood on my carbine was another story. None of the guns in the shop when I bought it had great wood and my rifle was no exception. While functional, it had more than its share of dings and dents, and there was a good sized chip out of the buttstock.
My particular rifle was imported by Blue Sky Imports. If you’re familiar with them and M1’s, you know that they used a hydraulic press to stamp their import marks on the barrels without having them properly supported. This sometimes led to some being stamped so hard that it actually either bent the barrel or left a flat spot on the inside. Thankfully my stamp isn’t overly deep, and I never had any issues with mine.
Wherever or whenever my M1 went through the arsenal for a rebuild, the folks who worked on it must have known what they were doing. Despite the ugly stock, the mechanics were fine and the carbine has always run well. If you’ve read any of my other pieces, you know I like to plink and that’s largely what I’ve done with my M1.
I may have put it on paper at some point, but I honestly don’t recall at this point. I’ve had the gun for over 35 years now and have done a lot of shooting at milk jugs, clay birds, and steel targets. I used to shoot the steel pig and chicken silhouettes at 200 yards at my old gun club with it regularly and could run the line of plates with no problem.
If you haven’t had the pleasure, the M1 Carbine is a joy to shoot. At only around five pounds and 36 inches in length, it handles a lot like a Ruger 10/22. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that the 10/22 handles like an M1 Carbine.
Recoil is extremely mild with the .30 Carbine round. It’s definitely a gun you can shoot all day long and not be concerned about having a sore shoulder afterwards. Rapid follow-up shots are easy with it as well. While some folks question the stopping power of the .30 Carbine round, it’s not hard to see why so may more people who carried and used them fell in love with them.
Updates and Changes
Over the years I’ve done a couple of minor updates to my M1. The first thing I did was replace the stock. I initially picked up a pot belly M2 Carbine stock and used that on the gun for years. The M2 stocks had a fatter reinforced grip to handle the full-auto fire of the M2. There was also a slot cut in the wood on the left side of the receiver to accommodate the M2’s selector switch.
It wasn’t uncommon to see M2 stocks on M1’s in service though, as they were used as a replacement for both M1 and M2 carbines when needed.
At some point Iver Johnson had acquired a bunch of surplus M1 Carbine stocks. I noticed that some of them still had Korean rack number on them. I reached out and asked if I could get one with some good markings when I ordered one, and they delivered.
I figured that since my gun was a South Korean issue and needed a new stock anyway, one with Korean rack number was appropriate. The stock I got was also an M2 stock. It had a glossier finish to it than my US surplus stock and, of course, the hand painted rack number. It was a good fit and the stock wear was appropriate for the finish wear on my gun.
Since I was going that route anyway, I also picked up one of the Korean manufactured M4 bayonets to go with it. These were identical to the post-war US made M1 Carbine bayonets with the black plastic checkered handle scales. The bayonets are well made, and the main way you can tell the difference is the K prefix on the bayonet guard and on the scabbard. The guard is stamped K-M4 and the scabbard is stamped K-M8A1.
Most recently I replaced my worn WW2 sling with a Vietnam era nylon M1 sling. While this probably wasn’t what the South Koreans used, I haven’t seen anything so far indicating that they used an indigenous made sling. Being that this was an M1 that definitely saw late service though, I figured the 60’s era sling worked well enough.
Still a Favorite
I’ve had a lot of rifles and pistols come and go over the years since I bought my M1. It’s still one of my favorite firearms, though. I love the history behind it and its light weight and low recoil make it one I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of shooting. The fact that it was the first gun I purchased has some nostalgia as well. I don’t plan on ever letting this National Postal Meter rifle go, and hopefully my kids feel the same way when it becomes theirs.
I’ve still got a bunch of those post-war US made M1 Carbine bayonets in storage, the real deal. Picked them up years ago back when there was a neighboring defense depot that had auctions. Gave some away over the years. They were just mixed in with a bunch of assorted lots stuff we bid on that had some items in it were were looking for.
I have one manufactured by Underwood from 1944 that I picked up in the late 70s. I had to do some work on it because the action was pretty worn but it still shoots and was used to hunt deer when I still lived in Missouri up until the 90s.
I bought a Blue Sky Korean re-import in the 1980s as well, although I was a bit older than you. Mine is an Inland. When my son was old enough I gave it to him, and he became a real Carbine fan. I think he owns at least three of them by now. They are, above all, extremely fun to shoot, just as you wrote.
Back in the day, my M1 loaded with 110 gr. Sierra HP accounted for many an Oregon Jackrabbit.