Category: All About Guns
The “U.S. Carbine, Caliber .30, M1” was the most produced American infantry arm of World War II. And it’s back in production today. As this is written, my cheek is gleefully stained with linseed oil (either that or I have jaundice) from test-firing the M1 Carbine and M1A1 Paratrooper Carbines as made today by Inland Manufacturing in Dayton, Ohio.
The guns look great and capture the nostalgia and function of the originals made from 1942 to 1945 (read an earlier review by B. Gil Horman here and watch a video of it being fired at SHOT Show 2015). But carbines go much further than their use by the “Greatest Generation” during World War II.
Here are some things you may or may not have known about the gun that started out as the U.S. Army’s “Light Rifle.”
1. The M1 Carbine as a round is ballistically effective.
Remember, the M1 Carbine was designed to replace the M1911A1 in the hands of support troops, machine gunners, etc., whoever did not need a full-size rifle. No one doubts it is better than a pistol at any but the shortest of ranges, and, unlike Marines at “Frozen Chosin,” you can use modern defensive ammo.
Our troops back then used 110-gr. ball ammo. At 100 yards, the Hornady 110-gr. FTX delivers 1600 f.p.s. and 626 ft.-lbs. of energy. In contrast, a 55-gr., .223 Rem. at 100 yards delivers 983 ft.-lbs. of energy. A 158-gr. XTP out of a .357 Mag. at 100 yards at 1073 f.p.s. delivers a mere 404 ft.-lbs. Anyone want to call .357 Mag. puny?
2. If the Carbine was so bad, why did Audie Murphy use one?
American’s most-decorated soldier of World War II, Lt. Audie Murphy, used a field phone, a .50-cal. M2 Browning and an M1 Carbine when he fought off a German combined arms attack pretty much by himself on Jan. 26, 1945.
If you ever watch “To Hell and Back” starring Medal of Honor recipient Murphy as himself, you can tell he really knew how to handle a carbine.
3. It was the chosen weapon of our enemy.
During the early fighting in the Vietnam War, our main enemy—the Viet Cong—armed entire units the M1 and M2 Carbines, guns they took from the French, then from ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) and local forces of the South Vietnamese.
It was in this way that guns given to our allies were used against our troops. The AK-47 become more common as more and more NVA got into the fight.
4. It was the only gun made specifically for U.S. Airborne Forces during World War II.
The M1A1 carbine with its pistol grip and folding metal stock was adopted in May 1942 specifically for use of American Airborne troops. Inland was the only original maker (others were later converted in the overhaul system) and produced 140,591 during World War II.
It even came with a nifty web belt holster called a “jump scabbard.” Okay, there is the Reising 55, too, but that is a story for another day.
5. You can’t get them surplus.
The last big import wave of M1 Carbines came in from Blue Sky and Arlington Ordnance decades ago. In 1963, about 240,000 M1 Carbines were decommissioned and sold (without magazines) to NRA members for a $20 each ($17.50 plus $2.50 S&H).
There is a large quantity of surplus carbines warehoused in South Korea, but there has been no success in getting them to our shores. The good news is that Auto-Ordnance and the new Inland Mfg. offer new versions of the original “Light Rifle” in a host of variations for both collectors and shooters.
6. Winchester—even though it was invented there—wasn’t the largest producer.
Nope, that honor goes to the Inland Mfg. Division of General Motors with 2,362,097. Winchester made 828,059, followed by Underwood Elliott-Fisher at 545,616, Saginaw Steering Gear 517,212, IBM at 346,500, Standard Products at 247,000, Rock-Ola (yes, the juke box maker), with 228,500, Quality Hardware at 359,666, National Postal Meter at 413,017 and Irwin-Pedersen made a few thousand but had trouble.
7. It was the U.S. military’s first night-time sniper rifle.
When fitted with an ungainly infrared scope, the T3 Carbine was used as night-fighting weapon in the closing days of the Pacific Theatre of Operations during World War II.
It’s also the main plot device in Stephen Hunter’s novel “Black Light.” Darn, I just ruined the book for you. Read it anyway.
8. The M1 Carbine was used by police, too.
In the 1960s, Jim Cirillo, from the NYPD’s Stake Out Squad, and author of “Tales of the Stakeout Squad,” used a NYPD-issue M1 Carbine with G.I. ball ammo. Cirillo was involved in more than 20 gunfights. Doubt the Carbine’s use for law enforcement? You should ask one of the NYPD’s top gunfighters.
9. You can shoot the National Matches with one.
During the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, the Civilian Marksmanship Program conducts the M1 Carbine Match to be sponsored this year by Inland Mfg., on July 21.
You can also shoot them in some classes of NRA High Power, but the bullet drop is pretty severe at long range. That’s why the CMP match is fired at 100 yards.
10. Carbines aren’t cheap.
The days of the $400 gun show carbine are over. There are dedicated collector’s groups (the Carbine Club) and books by Carbine historian Larry Ruth as well as Field Editor Bruce Canfield that have upped the collectability of the carbine greatly. Good research does that.
Original carbines, especially in high condition, are rare, and they are a collecting field unto themselves Even beat up guns go upward of $700 these days. How ridiculous are the prices? In 2008, an Inland M1A1 “paratrooper” Carbine with ironclad D-Day provenance sold at auction for $20,125.
By the way, I also want to confess up that I stole this from that excellent Blog Mt Daily Kona. Which I recommend as they guy is ten times the writer then I am. Grumpy
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Heckler & Koch VP9 Review
They didn’t contend that the current murder spree had anything what-so-ever to do with letting criminals go free without bail, defunding police and criminally prosecuting law enforcement for doing their job. Nah as that would mean taking responsibility for these actions! Grumpy
John Moses Browning was the most famous and competent gunmaker the world has ever known. He was the son of Jonathan Browning, himself a highly competent gunsmith, and Elizabeth Clark.
John Moses was born January 23, 1855 in Ogden, Utah, U.S.A., where his father settled after the Mormon Exodus of 1847. It was in his father’s shop that John Moses first learned the art and secrets of gunsmithing.
John Moses, however, was much more than a gunsmith in the sense that he was much more interested in designing and building new, innovative, firearms than repairing broken ones. His first creation was a single shot rifle he built at the age of 14 for his brother, Matt.
1879 was an eventful year for the Browings. Jonathan Browning died on June 21 and, soon thereafter, John Moses and his brothers started their own shop. There they first used steam powered tools, tools that were originally foot-powered but were converted by John Moses to get power from a steam engine. That year also saw John Moses marry Rachel Teresa Child, and his receipt of his first gun patent (No. 220.271) for the Breech-Loading Single Shot Rifle.John and his brothers began producing this rifle in their Ogden shop but customer demand soon exceeded their shop’s production capacity. They were unable to expand the “Browning Gun Factory,” as their shop was called, because they lacked the capital required for expansion and didn’t have a well established distribution channel to market their products. One has to note here that although John Moses Browning was very satisfied with the sales of his guns he was also very unhappy that the production chores and the daily work prohibited him from working on his new ideas.
A salesman for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company named Andrew McAusland happened to see one of John’s Single Shot rifles in 1883. McAusland immediately bought one and sent it to Winchester’s headquarters. The gun drew Winchester’s interest and T. G. Bennet, Winchester’s vice president and general manager, went to Ogden to buy the rights to Browning’s gun. When Bennet arrived in Ogden, it didn’t take long for the men to agree on the sale and Winchester paid John Moses $8,000 for the rights to produce the gun. The agreement was beneficial to both parties. Winchester was happy because they turned competitor into a benefactor, plus they added an excellent rifle to their product line. John Moses was equally happy because the money from the sale and the ensuing relationship with Winchester allowed him to concentrate on inventing things instead of manufacturing them.
From 1883 until 1902, John Moses Browning designed several firearms for Winchester. Some of them reached production status while others were never produced. They all, however, were ingenious and innovative designs. In addition to that first Single Shot Rifle, other guns that John Moses designed and which became best sellers were: Winchester Model 1886 Lever Action Repeating Rifle, Model 1887 Lever Action Repeating Shotgun, Model 1897 Pump Action Shotgun, Model 1894 Lever Action Repeating Rifle, Model 1895 Lever Action Repeating Rifle, etc.
At the same time, John Moses was also working on another of his ingenious ideas. He wanted to invent an automatic shotgun that would use the expanding gases of a fired shell to recock the gun and make it ready for the next shot. John got this idea while watching a friend of his, Will Wright, shoot his Browning-made rifle. A clump of weeds just in front of the firing line bent with the muzzle blast. This gave John the idea of using the gases for something productive like cocking the gun. He designed a testing gun with which he tested his ideas.When the testing validated his theory, John applied the principle on three different guns: two machine-guns and a repeating shotgun. His machine-guns, the first fully automatic guns which used expanding gases for cycling, were later sold to Colt and the U.S. Government and served the U.S. Armed Forces through three wars. One was Colt Model 1895 Peacemaker machine-gun, while the other was the famous Browning Automatic Rifle, affectionately called BAR by GI’s. Browning’s machine-guns are still used by US and other armies around the world.
The repeating shotgun that John invented was the primary reason for the break between Browning and Winchester. When Winchester denied production of this gun, John Moses, packed a sample of his shotgun into his luggage, crossed the Atlantic, and negotiated an agreement for Fabrique National de Belgique (FN) to produce his gun. FN was then a young company in dire need of products to produce. Browning’s automatic shotgun revolutionized the hunting market. This same shotgun was later produced in U.S.A. by Remington, as their Model 11. Still later, variants of this shotgun were produced by almost all of the large shotgun manufacturers, including Savage, Franchi, and Breda.
John M. Browning was usually working on more than one project at one time. He started working on automatic pistols before 1900. He was the first to invent the slide which encloses the barrel and the firing mechanism of a pistol. Pistols of his invention were produced by both FN and Colt and they range from baby .25 caliber pistols to the .45 Government Model. The first automatic pistol designed by Browning was produced by FN as FN’s .32 caliber Model 1900. The most famous pistols of John’s design, however, were Colt’s .45 ACP M1911 Government Model and FN’s Browning High-Power Model P-35 in 9mm Parabellum. A highly decorated sample of P-35, is shown at left, while a contemporary version customized by Wayne Novak can be found here.John Moses Browning passed away in Liege, Belgium, the day after Thanksgiving, 1926. He died of heart failure while in his son Val’s office at the FN factory. It was the last day on earth for this ingenious person who invented more firearms than any other gunmaker in the history of the world.