M1 Carbine

[Gildwiller1918]

In WW2, the US military had several main weapons they used, such as the M1 Garand, M1903 Springfields, and the M1911 pistol, they also used the M1 Carbine rifle. Like the M1 Garand, the M1 Carbine was semi-automatic, firing a .30 caliber cartridge (7.62 x 33 mm). This cartridge is not the same .30 caliber used in the rest of the US weapons, this bullet was basically a updated .32 Winchester cartridge for the 1905 model rifle. This cartridge although smaller than the standard .30 caliber rounds, had twice the stopping power of the M1911 pistols that were .45 caliber. The carbine has an effective range of 200 yards and was designed for close combat. The carbine was also very light, it weighed half the weight of the thompson submachine gun at 6 pounds fully loaded with a 15 round magazine. There were to be many improvements to this weapon, the M2 carbine came out in October 1944 which allowed for selective fire, from semi-auto to full automatic. This change also increased the magazine size from 15 to 3o rounds. The last major modification was the M3 Carbine which was a night vision capable model, that was first used in the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. This versatile weapon was used all the way into the Vietnam war. 

This weapon was designed for those whose primary job did not entail using a rifle, such as radio operator, engineers, officers, etc. 

The weapon below is the M1 Carbine, made by Underwood in 1944, serial number 2865919. It has the OD colored web sling as well as the double magazine pouch on the stock which held two 15 round magazines, this was never authorized, but proved very popular and practical. In the butt stock where the sling attaches in the oiler. This rifle has both the 15 and 30 round magazines as well as the M4 bayonet. When the rifle first came out in 1942, it did not have a bayonet lug, this was corrected in 1943. 

Still a fun weapon to shoot, has almost no recoil.

[Gildwiller1918]

Here is a image of the M3 Carbine with the night vision device and related components, this is from the Korean War timeframe, where 20,000 of these units were employed. It looks unwieldy to say the least. 

[Gildwiller1918]

Another variant was the M1A1 folding stock version for paratroops. It functioned the same, just was collapsable.