6/18/21 - This is an interesting and early Winchester M1 Carbine that has been sporterized and re-barreled in what appears to be 5.7 Johnson, also known as .22 Spitfire. The "sporter" stock is nicely varnished and free of cracks, and has a Pachmayr recoil pad.
The handguard is not present, since the barrel band flange was trimmed off. The milled rear sight is staked in, with a commercial-style front sight. The receiver, barrel and exposed parts are highly polished and blued. The bolt is plated. Bore is excellent and shiny, and the barrel is not marked. A 5.7J round fits snugly in the chamber but this was not test-fired. The internal parts are a mixture of manufacturers as expected with markings as follows: Trigger housing (*U*), trigger (ROCK-OLA), hammer (LT-Q), bolt (*U*), firing pin (R.I.), extractor (*U*), op-rod (DA-Q). An aftermarket Korean-made magazine and a 50-round box of fresh 5.7 Johnson ammunition is included. Since the 5.7 Johnson is a necked-down .30 carbine cartridge, standard M1 carbine magazines are used. The 5.7 conversion was conceived by Melvin Johnson (Johnson Automatics) in the early 1960's. Several companies picked up the torch later in the 1960's and 1970's. The origin of this conversion is unknown.
