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Posted: 1/14/2007 1:14:04 PM EDT
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Hey all, I'm interested in getting an M1 Carbine around the beginning of summer time but according to Wikipedia, during WWII, there were reports of the weapon not working properly in cold weather, the .30 Carbine ammo not being able to stop enemies (even after multiple hits) or penetrate trees and other objects, etc. I was wondering you M1 Carbine owners could give some input on this. Thanks. |
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Well, what do you want your carbine for? If you're going to be using it in the middle of a french forrest in December against big germans wearing several layers of thick wool jackets- it might not have the stopping power you are looking for. If you're primarily going to use it to make holes in paper targets inside of 100 yards it will be a lot of fun. don't think of a carbine so much as a little rifle, but more like a big pistol, with similar limitations. |
1: Any weapon can malfunction in extreme conditions, most of the reports I've read came out of Korea during severe winter conditions. 2: The .30 carbine ball ammo tends to drill right through people doing relatively little tissue damage. Multiple hit "failing to stop" stories happen no matter what cartridge is used, a highly motivated human can be difficult to bring down and the less powerful your weapon the more likely it is to happen Good softpoints make the 30 carbine quite lethal. Plink with ball, Remington softpoints for defense and hunting small game. 3: My carbine had no problem shooting through walls, car bodys, 6 inch wood beams, mild steel up to 1/4", takes chunks out of concrete, pretty much anything one might use as cover. A 30-06 round will out penetrate pretty much anything, and that is what the carbine was being compared to. Stories that it couldn't penetrate heavy winter clothing are complete BS. Anything that can punch holes in thick hardwood or several layers of sheet metal will penetrate a parka. |
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There were issues regarding the M1 Carbine, cold weather, and stopping power. However, much or most of that can be traced to lack of training on the part of the military. Most soldiers, stationed in Japan and later transferred to Korea, had only fired their weapons in basic training. There were no shooting ranges in Japan for them to practice/learn. Also, many of the M1 Carbines had been converted to M2(full auto) Carbines by Korea. Standard combat load was only 4 mag. Assuming 4x30 rd mags, that does not give much shooting for a full auto weapon that can empty its mag in about 2 seconds. One general even commented the Carbine shouldn't be used in the dark, but in daylight it was okay. Too much spray and pray and night. There were many complaints regarding the Carbine's reliablity in the cold. Improper lubing caused some problems, but there were problems with ignition and water corrosion on a lot of the ammo(possibly improperly stored WW2 ammo??). However, at ranges under 150 - 200 yds, and properly maintained, it can be effective. After all, stick a "stock" mag pouch on it with 2x15 rd mags, and a 30 rd mag in the gun, and you have a relatively light, handy weapon with 60 rds availible. |
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www.theboxotruth.com Thanks to Old_Painless for shooting stuff and sharing the results with us! 
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Those reports are true; they are bad guns. Don't get one. 
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The M1 Carbine was designed as a replacement for the pistol for rear echlon troops and officers.........................any one whose duties would normally have them carry a pistol. It being much easier to train someone to shoot a rifle properly than it is to teach them to shoot a pistol. Plus, actually give them some offensive power due to its added range over the pistol. Problems arose when it was used in place of a rifle. It might be used to supplement, but not replace. Used properly it has its place. |
Put aside anecdotal "evidence". The truth is here. Don't ignore this link. A 110 Grn FMJ bullet pushing 1900 FPS doesn't have "penetration problems" within it's effective range. |
| The problem with the M1 Carbine is it is compared to the M1 Garand and its 30.06 round. Of course anything called a "carbine" that chambers a weaker round is going to be overshadowed by the Garand and called inferior because of it. In his book Testing the War Weapons, Timothy Mullen pointed out that everyone loves the German MP43 and its 7.92x33mm round, even though it was much weaker than the standard 8mm Mauser round. If the M1/M2 had been introduced as the M4 Assault Rifle more people would have embraced it instead of calling it underpowered. |
Too true, the "Old Salts" had trouble with wood stock = rifle = effective at 500 yds. |
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