#M1Carbine

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and its many different types of guns, ammunition, shooting sports, and history! It’s probably pretty obvious at this point that I’ve had a recent habit of browsing GunBroker.com a bit too much in my free time. Just a few weeks ago we checked out a pretty rare takedown rifle that may have been novel for its time but has since been surpassed by modern versions of the concept. Last week we talked about the really cool H&K P7K3, which all of you really seemed to enjoy. I actually share the sentiment that a lot of you had – H&K should really put the P7K3 back into production, or at least, give us a dedicated 22LR P7 that does away with the hydraulic buffer system altogether but still keeps all the other odd quirks of the P7. It’s probably too much of an ask, but a man can dream. This week we’re back at it again with another GunBroker.com auction that has since ended without being sold – this time the very rare Iver Johnson M1 Carbine 22LR – Iver Johnson’s dedicated 22LR replica of the .30 Carbine M1 Carbine first introduced to the US Armed Forces in WWII.

Midway USA recently announced that they’ve purchased a large lot of M1 Carbines, which is great news for people that are still looking to get their hands on a genuine World War 2 production model. Some of you may recall that last year, a batch from Ethiopia was in the importation process, however this lot, according to Midway USA is coming from Italy, with evidence that they were in the European Theater, and stored since the 1950s.

If you’re into curio and relic firearms from the WWII era, then a recent discovery in the stimulus/appropriations bill should be interesting to you as it may give way to the importation of South Korean M1 Carbines into the US firearms market. M1 Carbines still remain a highly sought after firearms for both collectors and those who enjoy WWII era firearms in general.

As I get older and the world changes in so many ways, one thing that thankfully always feels the same to me is Christmas and the holiday season in general. Whether it is decorating the tree or chatting with my family, there is always something that makes me think back to when I was younger and Santa was a thing. I remember the top three things on my list as a kid; a Daisy Red Ryder bb gun, a plasma ball, and a paintball gun. Santa only felt like a Red Ryder was good enough so that is what I ended up with and as beat to crap, as it is, I still have it and cherish it as much as the day I opened it up.

Although they do sell some modern firearms, Royal Tiger Imports‘ bread and butter are historical and surplus guns. From British Lee Enfields and Italian Carcanos to German K98 Mausers and French rifles with unusually fun names, Chassepot Fusil Gras Artilery Muskatoons, if a gun is old and a bit patinated, odds are Royal Tiger has an interest in it. And when it comes to the firearms of the US military’s yesteryear, among the most important would have to be the M1 Carbine.

Last May, TFB reported that Thompson Auto-Ordnance released a commemorative D-Day series. This collection featured intricately-appointed special-edition versions of their 1911, M1 Carbine, and Thompson models. The artistic images emblazoned onto the bodies of each of these firearms paid homage to the valorous warriors who stormed the beaches of Normandy and Point du Hoc during “Operation Neptune” on that fateful June day in 1944. Now they are expanding on this idea by adding a new commemorative series, this time honoring the heroes of Iwo Jima. As with the previous D-Day series, the Iwo Jima collection will also include a 1911, an M1 Carbine, and a Thompson. These models will feature similarly elaborate artwork, this time in reverence to the Marines who encountered some of the fiercest fighting of WWII and overcame a tenacious enemy force in the Pacific theater.

The M1 Carbine was originally designed in the early days of World War 2 as a scaled-down version of the M1 Garand, the main battle rifle.  The intent wasn’t to issue the Carbine to smaller people, but for those keeping the war machine logistics running.  The idea was that people packaging or driving supplies for the front line didn’t need a large weapon or even full-power ammunition.  Because the M1 Carbine is scaled down in size and power, I’ve always believed that it was well suited for youth that have already learned the fundamentals of marksmanship on rimfire rifles.

The M1 Carbine was in service for three decades with the United States military (and others) and served in quite a few wars.  After the retirement of the M1 Carbine, it was still in use by police departments around the world.  The M1 Carbine gets mixed reviews online, but I’ve always found them a joy to shoot.  You can look back at the Carbine’s TFB coverage  HERE.  You can also view the M1 Carbine Field Manual HERE.  For a deeper look into the M1, M2 and M3 Carbines and its intricacies, you can view the Technical Manual HERE.  I’d like to thank my Father-in-law for the use of his Carbine for this article.

Auto Ordnance in conjunction with Outlaw Ordnance is releasing another one-of-a-kind firearm with their NEW Airborne M1 Carbine. Auto Ordnance and Outlaw Ordnance have created a unique partnership this year and have debuted multiple custom firearms. Their latest team effort pays homage to all of the airborne members of our military from WWII. Auto Ordnance shared this public statement elaborating on the new Airborne M1 Carbine:

Auto Ordnance from the Kahr Firearms Group has once again partnered with Outlaw Ordnance to bring us a custom new spin on a classic firearm. For this collaboration effort, they have produced a Custom “Vengeance” WWII M1 Carbine rifle. This rifle is of the same iconic construction that Auto Ordnance has always produced their M1 Carbines with, but now it has history emblazoned directly into the wood stock.

There are millions of United States Carbine, .30, M1 Carbines out there.  There’s a lot more to these light, handy, and once-affordable carbines than one might think if one hasn’t handled them before.  Despite their oft-repeated combat ineffectiveness, they make a well balanced and light home defense carbine.  I personally know someone who uses the M1 as their carbine of choice for such a purpose.  My personal version is a papered, 1943-dated carbine of General Motors manufacture.  While I enjoy taking it to the range, the .30 Carbine ammunition that I’ve been able to get for it  has been somewhat low-powered.  I’ve often wondered if I had to use this carbine for defensive purposes, what would be available as quality ammunition for such a purpose?

In this fourteenth installment of Personal Defense Weapon Calibers, we’ll be looking at a highly minimalist incarnation of the PDW/SMG round: The 7.65x20mm French Longue. The story of the French Longue begins with the US entry to World War I and the brilliant inventors John D. Pedersen and John Moses Browning. Faced with the stalemate of trench warfare, these designers were tasked with finding a solution in the form of handheld autoloading weapons. Both came up with semiautomatic rifles firing small, low recoil .30 caliber rounds. Pedersen’s “Device” converted a standard M1903 rifle into a rapid fire semiautomatic, but it was Browning’s autoloading rifle and its .30-18 round (very similar to the .30 Pedersen used with the “Device”) which caught the eye of the French Ordnance officials. The .30-18 Browning, as it is called, was evidently cloned to become the 7.65x20mm Longue used with the interwar French Mle. 1935 pistols and MAS-38 submachine gun.

Recently we’ve been looking at a number of high-profile developments that came out of Special Operations Executive. Namely the infamous Welrod and Welwyn suppressed devices, and the Norm and Welgun experimental submachine guns. In this video, we take a look at some of the much lesser-known developments of the spy organization during the Second World War. A fully automatic .22 LR Colt Woodsman that had an excessive rate of fire, a hip mounted handgun that was designed to be shot while the user had their hands in the air, some fascinating cover stories that allowed the gunmaker John Wilkes Brothers to modify and repair small arms for SOE, and finally a highly modified and integrally suppressed M1 Carbine. Some of these small arms armed the agents parachuting into Fortress Europe and across lands captured by Imperial Japan, while others barely left the drawing board and served more as experiments of curiosity. However, all of these weapons were indicative of a time when the Allies were willing to throw any amount of effort at even a half-baked idea that would get Hitler or Tojo to surrender their empires quicker.

Today on Modern PDW Calibers we’re going to look at what might seem like a humdrum round, but which represents an important performance band for the modern personal defense weapon. That round is the 5.56x30mm MARS, a purpose built “micro assault rifle” cartridge from Colt designed to fill a similar niche to the WWII-era .30 M1 Carbine.