Rifleman Q&A: UN-QUALITY Carbines

by
posted on June 7, 2023
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
UN-QUALITY markings

Q. I recently saw an M1 carbine marked “UN-QUALITY” but can’t find any manufacturer by that name. The closest I could come up with was Quality Hardware, which marked its carbines “QUALITY H.M.C.” Can you explain the origins of the carbine I saw?


A. As was the case with several manufacturers of the M1 carbine, some receivers were produced by subcontractors. Each subcontractor was assigned a code consisting of one or two letters. The receiver of the carbine you saw was manufactured for Quality Hardware Machine Co. by the Union Switch & Signal Co., which used the code “UN.” US&S was the only subcontractor to incorporate its code letters into the name of the maker on the receiver; in all other cases, the subcontractor code was stamped somewhere on the receiver but was not part of the manufacturer’s name. To cite one example, the receivers made by the Auto-Ordnance Co. under subcontract for International Business Machines were marked “AO” below the serial number on the receiver bevel, and the standard “I.B.M. CORP” name was not changed. 

The “UN-QUALITY”-marked receivers are quite scarce, since just fewer than 29,000 were produced out of a total production by Quality H.M.C. of 359,666. Original examples are avidly sought after by collectors today.

—Brunce N. Canfield, Field Editor

Latest

Taurus GX2
Taurus GX2

Review: Taurus GX2

From cars to cellphones, as a product gets more sophisticated, it usually also gets more expensive. And, as modern handguns get more modular and optic-ready, their prices tend to go up.

Rifleman Q&A: A Garand Puzzlement

"We are a father-and-son NRA member tandem in search of an answer regarding the branding of an M1 Garand rifle. We own an M1 rifle that has markings indicating it was a “lend lease to England,” and it also has a .308 barrel/sleeve."

$160K Raised For HAVA At SIG Sauer Event

SIG Sauer hosted its 9th Annual Honored American Veterans Afield (HAVA) Charity Golf event early last month and raised more than $160,000 to support disabled veterans.

Scout The Trail To A General Purpose Rifle

The search for a universal longarm—one suitable for both hunting and defensive scenarios—is a trek that involves a bit of doubling back.

Trijicon Releases Green-Dot RMR

For the first time, the Trijicon RMR will now be available with a green aiming dot, providing some benefits to shooters with astigmatism and red-green color blindness.

The Armed Citizen® Sept. 15, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.