WEAPONS OF THE WORLD WAR II GYRENE

The U. S. Carbine, cal. 30, M1

The M1 carbine was developed for troops who needed more firepower than a pistol could offer, but who could not be burdened with the weight of the service rifle. It was intended primarily to equip officers, heavy weapons crewmen, communicators, etc. The U.S. Army first issued a requirement for a light rifle in June 1940.

The Army specified that the new rifle would fire a .30 caliber rimless cartridge. Nine companies submitted prototypes and extensive tests were conducted in the Spring and Fall of 1941. On 30 September 1941 the Army Ordnance Department accepted the Winchester design as the winner, and this weapon became the M1 carbine. The Marine Corps adopted the M1 carbine almost immediately.

(Left) A carbine-equipped Marine on Iwo Jima, February 1945. An M8 grenade launcher is attached to the muzzle of his weapon. USMC Photo

The carbine did not have the range or penetrating power of the service rifle's ammuntion. It was never intended to replace the M1. Still, its light weight and ammuntion capacity made it an attractive weapon for many Marines. Table of Organization F-100 of May 1944 authorized 10,953 carbines in the Marine division.

"It is one thing to stand on a well-policed firing point on a nice spring day and carefully aim in at a nice round, black bullseye superimposed on a lovely white background. It is quite another to run up a hill, stumble over a log, fall into a water filled shell crater, then aim in with a palsied hand at an erratically moving target which would just as soon exchange a few with you in transit. The pistol carriers will argue that it is better to be inadequately armed than not to be armed at all. The odd thing is that you occasionally run across ex-pistol carriers who gave gotten tangled up in a few torrid skirmishes. Significantly, they're always carrying carbines or rifles… A pistol carries about half as much ammunition as a carbine… This means you are obliged to change magazines twice as often for the same amount of fire. Maximum effective range is all with the carbine… [T]he maximum effective range of a pistol in combat [is] five to seven yards… They both jam on occasion, but the pistol has more functional jams… Neither of them takes any prizes as "brush cutters" or penetrators, but in this field too the carbine has the advantage. Arms For Officers anonymous Marine Corps Gazette November 1944

(above) US Marine Corps Historical Co. Marines firing their carbines at a public demonstration of World War II tactics. The Marine at left wears an M2 ammuntion vest filled with 60mm mortar rounds. Solomon Island, Maryland (2003) USMC–HC Photo

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