*SOLD* Standard Pro. M1 Carbine .40 S&W *RARE SMITH & WESSON EXPERIMENTAL CARBINE*

Bryant Ridge's Analysis:

According to the included letters, My name is Bert DuVernay and I started as a Training Coordinator (staff instructor) at Smith & Wesson Academy on March 5, 1990. Prior to that time, I taught in a Police Science program at a technical college in Ohio, where I had been a police officer for 16 years. I am now the Chief of Police for New Braintree, a small town in central Massachusetts. When I began work at S&W, I learned of the soon-to-be-released .40 S&W cartridge. There was still a great deal of secrecy surrounding that project and the Model 4006 pistol. The cartridge was expected to be a great success, since it followed on the heels of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's terminal ballistics research which resulted in the recommendation of 10 millimeter "lite" cartridge. The 40 S&W cartridge met the same ballistic standards of the FBI 10mm loading but in a shorter, more efficient case. It was expected to give cops a politically acceptable big-bore cartridge. Of course, those predictions did come to pass and the 40 S&W cartridge is now a success and extremely popular with law enforcement.

During that same period of time, there was a great deal of interest in the use of handgun-caliber carbines to supplement or replace the shotgun for police patrol. Smith & Wesson Academy already offered a course in the use of the handgun caliber carbine for police and I soon became the lead instructor for that program. I taught that course many times over the next few years at the Academy facility in Springfield, Massachusetts, and at several police departments in various parts of the country. Smith & Wesson's Product Engineering section was exploring the prospect of producing a carbine to satisfy what was seen as a growing market during the early 1990s. I had many conversations with members of the Product Engineering staff concerning that project and shared my extensive file on the subject with them. Unfortunately, that project never came to fruition. It is interesting to note that it was common knowledge in the industry at the time that Ruger, Glock, and Beretta were all working on similar projects. None of those products were released until relatively recently.

Other manufacturers were also undertaking two contemporary M1 carbines-related projects. In 1991, Iver Johnson, then under the command of Louis Imperato (now of Henry Repeating Arms), advertised in Shotgun News a 9mm version of the M1carbine, which utilized Browning Hi-Power magazines. A start-up company called LeMag, founded by Tim LeGender, also advertised in Shotgun News an M1 carbine adapted to fire the .45 Winchester Magnum round in 1992. I had several conversations with Mr. Legender, and he promised to send me a gun for testing and evaluation. The gun never arrived, and about that same time, the phone number for the company was disconnected. I still have my files from that time, and they contain a number of letters from police firearms instructors exploring the prospect of using Ml carbines for patrol officers. This .40 S&W caliber Ml carbine, originally manufactured by Standard Products, serial #2220225, is a result of those three simultaneous influences; the advent of the 40 S&W cartridge, renewed interest in the Ml carbine and the accelerating shift from shotguns to rifles or carbines by police officers. It is my strong belief that this gun is an experimental design executed by the Smith & Wesson Product Engineering Department to satisfy that market of the early 1990s. Unfortunately, it never went beyond the experimental stage.

Soon after my promotion to Director of Smith & Wesson Academy in 1998, Kevin Foley, Vice President of Product Engineering (recently deceased), called me to ask if the Academy wanted to accept a number of carbines that they no longer needed. The Academy still offered a number of related courses and frequently needed loaner guns for students, so of course, I accepted them. The lot that arrived the next day contained Marlin Camp carbines, Calico 9 mm carbines, a Daewoo 5.56 rifle and a several other guns, including a M1 carbine with a Choate pistol grip stock and a large bore, but no magazine. I immediately thought of the .45 Winchester Magnum LeMag carbine and called Mr. Foley to ask about the history of that gun. Kevin said that he had no idea what the gun was and that it had been there as long as anyone could remember.

At the time, I presumed that the gun was the LeMag that had been promised years before and that it had been delivered to the wrong department at Smith & Wesson. Such misdeliveries were not uncommon. I intended to obtain some 45 Winchester Magnum ammunition and shoot the gun, but was totally absorbed by my new duties as Director and procrastinated too long. In May of 2001, Smith & Wesson was acquired by Saf-T-Hammer. Many people were let go in the restructuring, among them nearly all the Academy staff, including me. There, the story ended in December 2005, when Bill Porter, the sole remaining firearms instructor of the Academy staff, told me that they were disposing of unused items in the armory and, remembering my interest in the gun, asked me if I wanted to buy it. Of course, I said that I was interested, purchased some 45 Winchester Magnum ammunition, went to the Academy to fire, and probably bought the carbine.

After I arrived, I was surprised to find that the expensive ammunition I had just purchased would not chamber. Through some brief experimentation, we found that it would chamber and fire .40 S&W rounds. Even though the carbine was not what I had expected, it was obviously an interesting and unusual gun, so after exchanging funds and completing the required Massachusetts and ATF transfer forms, I was the owner of this one-of-a-kind piece of Smith & Wesson history. I hope that you now enjoy it in good health.
 
Specifications:
  • Manufacturer: Standard Products “Smith & Wesson Products Of Engineering"
  • Model: Experimental M1 Carbine
  • Serial: 2220225
  • Caliber: .40 S&W 
  • Finish: Blue 
  • Barrel Length: 19" Stainless Steel Barrel 
  • Optics/Sights: Winged Protected Post Front with Adjustable Aperture Rear 
  • Stock/Grips: Choate Tool Corp. Synthetic Pistol Grip Stock 
  • Action: Semi-Automatic 
  • Markings: Standard
Feb 13th 2025 Bryant Ridge

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