First semi-assault rifle sold to public?

[Tazz]

So, does anybody know the year that the DCM (alone or with an NRA partnership) began selling M1 Carbines to the public?

This quote from a 1978 article in the NRA's American Rifleman magazine lists several models of guns the Army began selling their surplus quantities of, starting in the late 1950s, but it doesn't specifically which guns started being sold in which years.

"Between 1958 and 1967, when all sales were terminated, Americans purchased 12,000 M1903 rifles, 279,000 M1903A3 rifles, 3600 National Match rifles, 1600 service grade M1 rifles, 3200 NM and 145,600 service grade M1911 and 1911A1 pistols, 8,800 12-ga. shotguns and 207,000 M1 carbines."

Don't know for sure exactly when my Dad got his M1 Carbine or when they began selling to the public but it was early 60's when he got his, he started teaching me how to shoot it when I was six years old in 1964.

 

[Tazz]

I remember Dad telling me he got his M1 Carbine through the NRA for $25. Can you believe THAT price?!! Lol! I inherited it in '98 along with some old WWII ammo & Ga. Arms ammo, it's sitting in my safe right now. I still get it out and shoot it every now & then.

 

[Fatal_Bert]

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Yeah, my Dad got one through the NRA ... not sure when. But when my oldest brother was learning to shoot, around the early 1960s, it was already in Dad's gun collection. My oldest brother refinished the stock for a woodworking shop class project in high school some years later. It came out really nice.

 

[dadx3]

Winchester Model 1905-introduced 1905
Remington Model 8-introduced 1906

 

[Rambler]

Before 1934 you could buy a Thompson or a Colt Monitor, aka BAR.

 

[letusbuyyourcar]

Wouldnt a BAR count?

Didn't bonnie and clyde use a sbr version of that gun?

Actually I THINK the cops used BAR rifles on them when they lit their car up on that long dirt road. But I could be wrong.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

dadX3, that Win. 1905 looks like the oldest centerfire semi-auto rifle that used detachable mags available in a higher-than-needed-for-hunting capacity, sold to the general public. It used either 5 or 10 round mags. It might fit the definition of "assault rifle" due to that feature, even though it's basically a deer rifle, with a full length barrel.

That Remington Model 8 only had 5 round mags for the civilian market, but in the 1930s a law enforcement special production model had longer mags that held 10 or 20 rounds. I don't think that was meant to be sold to the public, and even if it "could be" purchased by the public, pretty much no individuals ever bought that rifle with those mags.

 

[coach482]

Actually I THINK the cops used BAR rifles on them when they lit their car up on that long dirt road. But I could be wrong.

The Barrow Gang was involved in five major gunfights with the law, always outnumbered. But not outgunned. One the day that Bonnie & Clyde were killed, these weapons were found in their car:

• Three .30-06 Browning Automatic Rifles (BARs)

• One sawed-off Winchester 10 gauge lever action shotgun

• One sawed off 20 gauge Remington Model 11 shotgun

• Seven .45 Colt 1911 pistols

• One .32 caliber Colt automatic pistol

• One .380 caliber colt automatic pistol

• One Double Action Colt Revolver

They also had 3000 rounds of various rounds of ammunition, plus 100 BAR magazines with 20 cartridges in each.

Many of Parker’s and Barrow’s weapons, and those used by law enforcement to take them down, are still with us, and on display at places like the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas—a must-see for any student of American history, or anyone who loves guns.

 

[coach482]