US Carbine, cal .30, M1 This short, lightweight, shoulder weapon was originally adopted by the United States Army in 1942. Eventually other branches of the US Military adopted and used the Carbine. It was designed for use by support personnel who needed a weapon that had greater effective range and was easier to shoot more accurately than a pistol, but not as powerful or possessing as great a range as the US Rifle, cal .30 M1 (Garand). The cartridge it employed was much lower powered than that used in the Garand rifle and was much shorter in length which in turn contributed to the Carbine's compactness. It was issued to, and used by, a widely diverse group of support personnel such as clerks, vehicle operators, cooks, military police, artillery crews ..... and so on. Eventually it was also used by front line combat personnel, particularly NCOs, who found it ideal for house-to-house and jungle fighting. Its light weight, reduced recoil and compactness made it a great favorite among all troops. In its original M1 configuration, it was a gas operated, detachable magazine fed (15 round capacity), semi-automatic shoulder weapon whose operating parts look and function like a minature Garand rifle (there are subtle differences, however). A folding metal stock version designated M1A1, developed specifically for use by Airborne troops in 1944, saw extensive use during and following D-Day operations in Europe. Toward the end of the war, in 1945, a version designated M2 was produced that provided for semi-automatic or full automatic fire via a selector lever with specially configured internal parts (provided with a 30 round detachable magazine) and provisions for mounting a short bayonet. The final iteration, designated M3, was essentially an M2 carbine fitted with an infra-red sniper scope that was produced at the very end of the war in 1945. The M1 carbine could also be fitted with the M8 grenade launcher which used the M6 grenade launching cartridge. The launcher clamped on the end of the barrel and was held in place by a wing nut. Over six million Carbines were produced on contract to the US Government by a number of manufacturers from 1942 until 1945 (a 38 month period) the vast majority of which were M1s. After WW2 large numbers of M1 Carbines were modified to incorporate various upgrade modifications and saw extensive use in the Korean War and the early stages of the war in Vietnam. I have composed a Web page that depicts an M1 Carbine in original early WW2 configuration together with a Korean War era M1 carbine (incorporating upgrade modifications) for comparison: http://jp29.org/carbine.htm
The Carbine was also sought-after by German soldiers. I've seen several photo's with German soldiers carrying captured carbines as weapons.
