M1 Carbine Costs in WWII
 

The current issue of The American Rifleman has an interesting article about M1 Carbine costs in WWII. On page 50, there is a chart that lists the lowest cost manufacturer which was Winchester at $37.75 each and the highest which was National Postal Meter at $69.43. The author, Bruce Canfield, says the average cost per carbine was $48.03. The actual costs were:

Winchester Repeating Arms Co. $37.75
Saginaw Steering Gear Div.of General Motors $38.00
Inland Mfg. Div. of General Motors $39.60

International Business Machines (IBM) $42.39
Quality Hardware Machine Corp. $45.52
Underwood-Elliot-Fisher $47.82

Standard Products $53.79
Rock-Ola Manufacturing Co. $58.00
National Postal Meter $69.43

All the best...
Gil

Gil,

Excellent post; I just got my Rifleman yesterday and saw the article. Bruce Canfield lists the prices of Garands and Carbines in his fine book, " A Collector's Guide to the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine." Another Canfield book worth having is "U.S. Infantry Weapons of World War II."

Adam

Man, modern contractors would blow that out of the water!
Course, then, I guess there was 'national effort'.....today, only$$$$$$$.
Dan