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

Ruger/Dead Air’s Centerfire RXD
Ruger/Dead Air’s Centerfire RXD

Hunting For The Perfect Partner: Ruger/Dead Air’s Centerfire RXD

The result of a joint venture between two giants of their respective industries, the new RXD30Ti exemplifies just how beneficial a well-designed hunting suppressor can be in the field.

The Armed Citizen® Oct. 20, 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.

AI Summaries Reducing Firearm-Related Web Traffic, Sharing Incorrect Information

"[T]here are increasing concerns about how frequently AI systems invent false information—AKA hallucinations—with error rates in some tests reaching as high as 79 percent.”

Preview: Rite In The Rain 25 Meter M16A2/M4 Zeroing Targets

Precipitation and humidity can render a standard paper target unusable in only seconds, which is what makes Rite In The Rain’s line of weatherproof targets such a godsend for outdoor shooters.

Smith & Wesson Model 1854 Now Available In .30-30 Win.

Smith & Wesson expanded its Model 1854 series of lever-action rifles with several .30-30 Win.-chambered variants, just in time for deer season.

Preview: Making The Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket

In Making The Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket, author Peter Smithurst details the tools and processes used to produce this historically significant firearm.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.