muricaaaaa
so last time we talked about the m1 garand
but guys did you know america had more than one gun
its true
we made at least three different guns
were less good on names tho
this one is also called the m1
lol
friggin military
its a totally different weapon tho
this is the m1 carbine
completely different parts caliber and fills a totally different role than the m1 garand we talked about last time
so how did it come about
man
you know im gonna tell you why are you even asking
so wed just adopted our sweet new m1 garand
and were passing them around to all our soldiers and theyre all like man this is awesome
except some guys are actually not riflemen you know
some guys are busy carrying a bigass mortar
or trying to fit four men in a tank
each chunk of mortar weighs like 50lbs
and the interior of a tank is very cramped
a long heavy rifle is kind of a pain in these situations
garands were falling off peoples shoulders
bonkin em in the head
and if things are going right these guys werent even supposed to be using the rifle anyway
plus the nazis had these new paratroopers they could send way behind the front lines
so now your truck drivers and cooks and headquarters staff all need guns too
but seriously that garand is so long and heavy
maybe we should give them a different gun
pistols are really light and small
but if theres only one thing you ever learn from me
learn that pistols suck
you could give em thompsons
but those are expensive and just as heavy as a garand and still shoot pistol rounds
man lets just make a new weapon
so thats what they did
in 1940 the military made a new smaller rifle cartridge called 30 carbine
and started asking for a new gun design to go with it
meanwhile
ok so like john moses browning right
patron saint of all gun owners
well he had a half brother ed
and ed had been working on a design for a full size rifle to compete with the garand
well it was this weird annular gas piston thing with a tilting bolt
it was all right but lost to the garand
and ed sold the rights to winchester
winchester kept trying to score some military contracts with it and kept tinkering even after they were building garands
they even took some garand parts and put it into the rifle
so it got a two lug rotating bolt system
then they hired this bootlegger fresh out of jail
and he changed the gas system to a tappet short stroke system
so eventually they ended up with this whole team of people who kept adding improvements to the design
it ended up lighter than the garand
detachable magazine
its pretty cool
but by now the army is like dude give it up with this full size rifle thing
nobody is replacing the garand this far into the game
but your rifle is pretty light
i bet if you scale it down itd work really well for that m1 carbine competition
and winchester is like hmmmmm
so they took their full size design
and scaled it down for the new smaller cartridge
and ended up with a rifle that only weighed like five pounds
and was only 34 inches long
but still shot 15 rounds of semi auto out to 200 or 300 yards
and was more powerful than any submachinegun using baby pistol rounds
and the military is like oh heck ya
it was adopted in october 1941 and produced by all sorts of people
the m1 carbine is a huge team effort
many designers helped make it
and many companies produced it
like ibm and general motors and even rockola jukebox lol
it was distributed to the troops in big numbers
in fact over 6 million were made
there were only 5 and a half million garands made
overall the troops generally liked it
its not nearly as powerful as the garand
like maybe one third the pew pew
and how well it was liked often depended on how often you had to use it
guys who carried it a lot but didnt get into much combat really liked it because is so light
it was also good at close range because it was short and quick and handy
so its good for jungles and urban fighting
and it was issued from the beginning with noncorrosive ammo
much lower chance of rusting
so it was much easier to take care of
especially in the tropical pacific
meanwhile cold weather gave it some troubles
cold ammo is less powerful and when combined with thick lube getting thicker in cold it sometimes caused some jams
another potential cause of jamming was the magazines getting beat up
but honestly they were originally supposed to be disposible
that never works out well whenever the military tries it lol
if you got new magazines they worked fine
at longer range it lacks power and accuracy
but keep in mind what it is
this isnt for regular frontline combat
nowadays we call this type of gun a personal defense weapon
guns for guys whose main job isnt using guns
there were several important variants too
the first was the folding paratrooper stock
that stock sucks so bad
but it looks friggin sick tho lol
and it folds in half which is very important when you need to jump out of an airplane
and the m1 carbine is great for that role
its very light and compact but has longer range than a submachinegun
the other big variant is the m2 carbine
they just added select fire
so semi auto or full auto
and slapped a 30rd magazine in it
in fact its so simple you just swap a few parts and boom
the m1 is now an m2
the military made a bunch of kits to retrofit all the m1s to m2s
and if you think about it
select fire
intermediate cartridge
hey that sounds a lot like an assault rifle
and that argument can definitely be made
this is right about the time that concept got practical
tho its definitely on the weak end of intermediate cartridges
the m1 and variants were major players in wwii and korea
and served through vietnam
it was also popular on the civilian market
whether defending against assassins sent by the nation of islam
robbing a bank to fund terrorism
or something normal like just hunting and plinking
so lets see how it works
ok so its a short stroke tappet gas system
the barrel has a gas block attached to it
that picture shows the rifle upside down
the barrel has a gas port drilled into it that vents down into the block which hangs under the barrel
and there is a very short gas piston in there
the gas pushes the piston and the piston punches hard on a slide
the tiny piston only moves a couple millimeters before stopping but it hits the slide so hard the slide cycles the whole weapon
and as a result the m1 carbine is resistant to ammo thats too hot
the piston gets enough oomph to hit the slide then vents the remaining gas away
good for safety and reliability
this was the most important contribution from the bootlegger
and how he got his nickname carbine williams
the bolt is a miniaturized derivation of the m1 garand two lug rotating bolt
to field strip
up at the front of the stock is a barrel band and retaining spring
loosen the screw push down the retainer and the band slides off the front
the barrel and receiver lift out at this point
but to remove the bolt and get at the action and barrel you gotta punch out a couple pins
its pretty stupid and not the easiest thing in the field
so soldiers didnt do it as much
but on the plus side
the 30 carbine round was designed from the start to be noncorrosive
so it was more forgiving of neglect than other rifles
surplus examples can be bought today
and there are several companies making new ones
pretty neat
you could use it for hunting small animals like maybe a small deer
low recoil so its fun to shoot
plus itd even be good for home defense
women and teenagers can handle it just fine
compact to get around corners easily
and rifles are both easier to shoot and more powerful than pistols
im not aware of a huge aftermarket for accessories
because usually people buy one to have an m1 carbine like in wwii
but the personal defense weapon is a concept that lived on and stayed useful for both military and civilians to this day
so there are other rifles that have the same general concept as the m1 carbine
even if they took a very different path
maybe ill talk about them more in the future hmm i dunno lol
but even with modern weapons filling the same role
theres just nothing like an m1 carbine
a unique piece of americana
pew pew
#click here for previous articles
thedirtypuma ago
Thanks for another great article. I didn't know about all the differences from the garand. Very educational.
Sorry for being late. I fell asleep early last night.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
we had a thirty minute taco delay lol
ya if i remember right the only shared parts are the screws holding on the buttplate
very long interesting path from it took failed rival to great complement
IanTheTerrible ago
I’ve always had a soft spot for M1 carbines. Very comfy, easily pointable, and just an all around fun rifle to shoot. I’d love to get my hands on a good one someday.
Nice review, thanks for also liking the guns that I like and talking about them lol.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
dude ive never shot one but they are beautiful
you can pick them up newly manufactured
but nowadays there are other modern rifles that despite being very different are actually very similar too
youll be interested in seeing my next article
Battlefat ago
Great article as always, clammy.
Home birth you say...Good luck my friend
BakedMofoBread ago
Nice one, Clammy.
Looking forward to the next one.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
thank you sir
im pretty excited about the next one too
KVD ago
I'm not claustrophobic at all but that yank situation bothers me.
Browning HI-Power. A really pretty and distinctive looking gun.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
fuuuuuuck
browning hi power is one of the best pistols ever
theres a reason i always say john moses browning
patron saint of all gun owners
con77 ago
what cal? 30? how much energy compared to 5.56?
clamhurt_legbeard ago
.30 carbine
basically this is the only thing that uses it
im sure you could get a tc contender in it tho lol
5.56x45 is about 30 percent more energy at the muzzle
also the 5.56 uses a spitzer cartridge so it has better energy retention at longer range
drakesdoom2 ago
You can get a 1911 chambered in 30 carbine.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
daaaaang
got any links
drakesdoom2 ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMT_AutoMag_III
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/817593134
Apparently there are also Ruger Blackhawk revolvers in 30 carbine as well.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
holy shit
look how long that grip is
my dad has a 10mm smith and wesson and its uncomfortable to grab
i cant even imagine this thing lol
ruger blackhawk makes sense tho
those things are rock solid
drakesdoom2 ago
I don't think it's much different in size then a desert eagle.
Plus if you use it in close quarters and miss your enemy will be wondering why their face is on fire and why they can't hear their own screams.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
hahaha awesome
con77 ago
you da man clam
clamhurt_legbeard ago
lol thx
clamhurt_legbeard ago
fuckin tacos lol
KVD ago
Try putting a hotdog in a taco shell! Oh no, don't that's how you ended up in this mess
clamhurt_legbeard ago
lol oooooops
Nadeshda ago
I really thought for a minute there was summin up, it’s any minute right? High/medium high alert, bagged packs yet type stuff...
Thank this was a fantastic article! I had no idea, that stock and how it came about is pretty interesting!
KVD ago
He dug a pit in his backyard with his special shovel, filling it with tapioca and they're doing a "bobo-birth.".
Weird, huh?!
NoTrueScotsman ago
The tapioca is very relaxing, and it's been shown to significantly decrease pain in labor. Plus, it improves the flavor of the placenta afterward!
clamhurt_legbeard ago
mpl50
soviet infantry shovel
KVD ago
Yeah, but we call it "clam's special little shovel."
clamhurt_legbeard ago
lol
my clam digger
thats canon now
KVD ago
Shut up you're stopping me from fishing.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
these posts are specifically for me to be available to talk to people about guns lol
looks like you shouldntve posted if you didnt want to talk
KVD ago
Let's talk about tapioca-placenta m1 tacos!
OK, OK sorry. I have boundary issues. You know that.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
lol oh did you not hear
were doing a home birth
Nadeshda ago
Well I did, but in case of an emergency one still has to have a bag packed regardless. Just saying...
clamhurt_legbeard ago
true stuff
ya were definitely in any day now red alert bag pack mode