Audie Murphy’s M1 Carbine Gift To DFC Recipient George D. Mclvor – For Sale At LSB

Taking Stock #26

Wyatt Earp’s Colt, Hickock’s Navies, Frank Jame’s S&W, Sgt. York’s Enfield, Patton;s Colt… This is a list of the greatest single guns in existence. You could certainly add Audie Murphy’s M1 Carbine to that list… And while his service carbine is in a museum, we have his other carbine for sale.

The gun is accompanied by a notarized letter, signed by Distinguished Flying Cross Recipient George D. Mclvor”. Mr. Mclvor and Audie Murphy became friends in the Los Angeles area, in the mid-1960’s. George had trained a race horse for Audie, and the two quickly became friends with their accomplished war histories. Audie asked George if he had a weapon to defend himself and his family during the Watts riots. George didn’t, and Audie gifted this carbine to him. A scan of the colorful notarized letter is included below and a hard copy will be included with the carbine. It only seems appropriate that audie would gift a carbine…

Audie was famous for his carbines, and if he was going to gift a gun to a dear friend, it could only be a carbine… Audie Murphy, in his book, “To Hell and Back” he referred to his M1 Carbine as his “lucky carbine”. He mentions specifically requesting a M1 Carbine over the Garand.  Excerpts from Audie’s book:

  • Within a moment I am involved in a duel with a German who climbs upon a cannon to get the advantage of elevation. I see him as he lowers his rifle upon me and whip up my carbine. He fires. The bullet kicks dust in my face as my carbine goes off. Frantically I try to blink the dirt from my eyes, knowing the German will not miss again. It is only a few seconds, perhaps, but it seems much longer before I can see. The kraut is sprawled in front of the gun. Later I discover that my lucky shot got him in the heart.” (Chapter 15)
  • “Grasping the carbine in my left hand and a grenade in my right, I step suddenly from behind the rock. The Germans spot me instantly. The gunner spins the tip of his weapon toward me. But the barrel catches in a limb, and the burst whizzes to my right. I lob the grenade and grab the carbine trigger with one movement. Before the grenade has time to burst, two krauts fall with carbine slugs in their bellies. I quickly lob two more grenades into the position; four of the eight Germans are killed; three are put out of action by wounds. The eighth, a squat, fat man, tries to escape…..I squeeze the trigger. The helmet jumps. The man falls as if struck in the head with a club.” (Chapter 17)
  • “Before reporting to company headquarters, I carefully clean my carbine. ‘I want to go up and try to get that sniper,’ I say….There is a rustle. My eyes snap forward. The branches of a bush move. I drop to one knee. We see each other simultaneously. His face is a black as a rotting corpse; and his cold eyes are filled with evil. As he frantically reaches for the safety of his rifle, I fire twice. He crashes backwards….At headquarters I make my report. Then I go to the room that serves as a kitchen, take my carbine apart, and start cleaning it.” (Chapter 17)
  • “Crack! It is like being struck with a ball bat. The ricocheting bullet digs a channel through my hip and knocks me flat….I raise my carbine and with my right hand fire pistol-fashion. The bullet spatters between the German’s eyes.” (Chapter 18)
  • “‘Wonder if I could get a carbine. I don’t like an M-1 for this woods fighting.'” (Chapter 19)
  • “The [German] officer hesitates. My finger begins squeezing the trigger of my carbine. I think perhaps with a quick rake I can put most of the Germans out of action, but at this moment, I would give my chances in Paradise to have a tommy gun in my hands.” (Chapter 14)

The notarized letter references a pair of magazines taped together (as Audie was famous for) and 50 rounds of ammo. The magazines and the ammo are also included, still taped together. The gun is on consignment from Mr. Mclvor and his son and we are trying to re-notarize the letter as the one we have now is a copy. Obviously there is no question as to the truthfulness of this story – A DFC recipient needs no qualifications…

>This gun is honest, early and certainly collectible on its own right, but it was owned by Audie Murphy AND  Distinguished Flying Cross recipient George D. Mclvor. Both True American heroes.  We can only speculate on where Audie got the gun from, how long he had it or where else he used it. But this is of little consequence, we do know it came from him in 1965 and remains a piece of history that any War, US Military or Firearms collector would search the globe for. This may be the most interesting gun we have ever handled. What a story!