Educational Zone #67 - Great Firearms - The M-1 Carbine - Page 1

During WWII, it was recognized that many rear area troops, and even front line troops with jobs that required them to carry other equipment, did not need or want to carry the heavy M-1 Garand battle rifle. The M-1 Garand weighed around 10 pounds and was large and somewhat cumbersome for use from a vehicle.

But these troops needed more than a pistol, as, even then, knowledgeable people knew that "Rifles are rifles and pistols are pistols".

So it was determined that a smaller, lighter weight carbine was needed. That led to the development and issuance of the .30 M-1 Carbine.

The M-1 Carbine weighed only a little over 5 pounds and was less than 3 feet long. It fired a 110 grain round nosed jacketed bullet at approximately 2,000 fps. Not as powerful as a full-sized battle rifle, but more powerful than a pistol.

The troops that carried this weapon quickly fell in love with it and it became widely used in both theaters. It was even widely used by front line troops and airborne troops that wanted a lighter weight weapon.

And at 300 yards, the sights were almost at the top of their adjustment and it was about at its accuracy limit, just lobbing the bullets into the targets.