At the Machine Gun Shoot in Knob Creek, KY today there was a table set up with some "Gardner Guns" and some small cannons and other odds and ends. They also had 2 racks of Howa M1 Carbines. Apparently they were manufactured by Howa in Japan after WWII. They had 3 grades that, I believe, priced at $550, $600, and $650. I didn't get the full low down on them, but I heard one of the guys at the table say that there will probably only be 250 imported into the US...ever.
Pretty interesting. Anybody know the story behind these carbines?
Someone mentioned these in a discussion in the last couple months. Not much, but I think it was pretty much what you said as far as the amounts.. I believe there's some Howas brought over here, over the years, but I don't know how many..
The website format and style are much like that of the Bavarian/Austrian site linked by CMP. This material seems to have the Carbine Club's fingerprints on it.
ETA: The obvious questions are:
Who was the vendor?
What ( if any ) were the import marks on the Carbines?
With the ROK planning to release over 600,000 carbines to the American market over the next 10 years or so....
Last edited by gbear-48; 10-11-2009 at 10:01 AM.
Reason: A couple questions.
About 800 Howa carbines were imported into the country before importation of surplus rifles were cut off. Most are in excellent condition and they are almost an exact copy of the USGI carbine. Parts for the most part are interchangeable with USGI parts. Workmenship of these carbines is as good or even better then the USGI made carbines.The rear sight is a bit different then the USGI rear sight in that it's a flip sight but also adjustable for windage with wings on the sides to protect the sight from damage. None of the parts are marked in anyway other then an H on the barrel flat and the Thai crest on the receiver front. Serial number is on the rear of the receiver with most of the serial numbers being under 3000. Numbers made range from 5000 to 10,000 but no one seems to know for sure. The carbines are import marked and if you don't know where to look for it you might not ever find it as it's that small. An excellent shooting carbine that belongs in any good collection as a rare variation. Better made then any commercial carbine made here.
Milage varies.
The ( probable Carbine Club ) material at the link indicates that 4,000 or so were imported by one specific company alone , in the 1990's.
Last edited by gbear-48; 10-12-2009 at 08:14 AM.
Reason: Spelling
Another piece of the puzzle.
If only 4k or so of these reached the US -- the Howa-made Thai Police M1 Carbines would be rare and very interesting items . Perhaps on the par with Italian scratch built M1 Garands that bear the Danish royal crest. www.usarmamentcorp.com/other_products.html
Scroll down the page to just past Title 1 and just above the Liberator pistol for $3,300.00.
Vendor ID. 
