Genuine pieces of living history, these handy small arms were commercially produced in various iterations and are still in production today as GI clones, by Auto-Ordnance, a division of Kahr. The Carbines and Garands were sold for civilian shooting matches through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and then as surplus on the commercial and police markets.
The Carbine served well for its intended purpose alongside the venerable and more powerful Garand, until they were both retired in favor of the M14 starting in the late 1950s. The Carbine’s shorter range was less of a factor, as it was designed to replace the pistol-it only fell short when it was used (optimistically) to replace the rifle. There are always tradeoffs, however, and the cartridge did not have great penetrating ability-a problem in jungle warfare and a problem in Korea when shooting through layered winter clothing.
The M1 Carbine was intended as a more-effective defense weapon.īecause the ubiquitous Carbine proved so popular, it was occasionally employed as a battle rifle where the relative weakness of the cartridge was balanced by the fact that there were 15 (and later, 30) rounds. Further, the assault rifle was designed to serve as a first-line infantry weapon. Auto-Ordnance M1 Carbine was chambered for a round that was essentially a more-powerful pistol cartridge. The historical difference was that an assault rifle fires a reduced-power rifle round, while the U.S. The design and performance parameters of the initial requests came close to-but fell short of-the classic definition of an “assault rifle”: shoulder-fired, detachable box magazine, selective fire, reduced-power round. It could function as a submachine gun but with greater range and accuracy, a lighter but more lethal cartridge, and less overall weight.įrom concept and MENS to its cartridge and the actual fielding of this new weapon, the Auto-Ordnance M1 Carbine was the first of the genre now known as personal-defense weapons. But what was stipulated in the mission essential needs statement (MENS) approved in 1940 and the exemplars submitted for tests in 1941 were a new animal: tactically, this carbine was not a scaled-down rifle but an enhanced-ability weapon designed to have better range and lethality than the pistol. “Carbine” traditionally meant a scaled-down rifle, like the trapdoor Springfield cavalry carbine or the Krag carbine the Rough Riders had when they stormed San Juan Hill. In 1938, the chief of infantry expressed interest in a “light rifle” or carbine, for non-infantry troops, noncoms and officers as an alternative to the M1911 pistol. They needed weapons that were more combat-effective and could be constantly carried while they performed their primary duties.
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45 pistol, it was apparent there were millions of support troops who would become full combatants. With no aspersions on the worthiness of the. The bulk of these soldiers would not serve as infantry, but they would soon all be duking it out in the hedgerows of Europe, in the jungles of the Pacific and, for all we knew at the time, on Main Street, U.S.A.Īlthough wildly successful as a short-range manstopper, the M1911 pistol did share the handgun’s inherent weakness: Its effective range was limited by its cartridge, non-adjustable sights, short sighting radius, and the dearth of combat training. Millions of hastily trained American troops would soon be pressed into service, troops who did not yet have weapons. In 1938, there was an unavoidable punch-up looming between America and the Axis powers-we had a miniscule standing army at the time. All military personnel need a primary weapon, no matter their primary specialty.