![]() ![]() This could leave them short on ammunition by the time communist troops charged them at short range. In a survey, he found that inexperienced draftees tended to waste ammunition firing prolonged, inaccurate bursts at long range rather than switching to semi-automatic fire when appropriate. Marshall documented the downside of issuing large numbers of automatic rifles. You can check out the bizarre-looking M3 in this video below. ![]() The extra equipment weighed a whopping 28 additional pounds, and so was mostly used from static entrenched positions to spot and eliminate approaching infiltrators at night. These had a flash suppressor and an early M2 or M3 infrared sniper scope, coupled with a huge infrared spotlight attachment, allowing a viewing range of up to roughly 90 to 115 meters. The Army even deployed more than 2,000 night-fighting variants of the M2 to battle in Okinawa and Korea, designated the M3. There, the carbines allowed rear-area troops to quickly lay down heavy suppressive fire in response to ambushes by communist infiltrators, who liked to sneak as close as possible to American lines to make effective use of their PPsH-41 “burp guns.” Because the M2 was capable of responding with automatic fire, it was also favored for leading night patrols, where combat would inevitably occur at short range. However, they saw wider-scale action five years later in the Korean War. Small numbers of M2s made their way to the troops in the closing engagement of World War II in the Pacific, particularly in the brutal Battle for Okinawa. Numerous kits were issued to convert M1s to M2s. Externally, the M1 and M2 seemed almost identical, save for a fire-selector switch and a “2” etched on the latter’s receiver ring. The new weapon had a cyclic fire rate of 750 rounds per minute, and could use a new curved 30-round magazine. In 1943, the War Office decided to produce an M2 Carbine capable of automatic fire, entailing the addition of a small number additional parts, and strengthening the butt of the gun and the magazine intake. Even the German military captured enough that they designated it the Selbstladekarabiner 455(a). An M1A1 variant with a folding metal stock was also produced for paratroopers. Moreover, the M1’s 15-round box magazine proved advantageous compared to the eight-round clips used by the Garand. Marines in the Pacific, who often fought in in dense jungle terrain in which engagement ranges were short. Many made their way from support troops and vehicle crews to grunts on the front line, some of whom preferred the lighter weapon to a service rifle. Nine different companies produced more than six million M1 Carbines, averaging a unit cost of only $45. 30-caliber cartridge, with hitting power in between that of a pistol and rifle round, that remained accurate up to 180 meters.Ībove - U.S. The wooden-stock M1 used a unique intermediate-strength. The handy carbine had curved wooden stock, weighed only 5.2 pounds unloaded, measured 35.6 inches long, and came with a built-in sling-slot, making it highly portable. ![]() The rear-echelon troops needed self-defense weapons with more firepower than a pistol, but that weren’t as cumbersome as long, 9.5-pound M1 Garand rifles that were difficult to lug in and out of a vehicle.Ī design team at Winchester came up with the M1 Carbine, which used a short-stroke gas piston for semi-automatic fire - simplified from an earlier version intended for automatic fire. Ordnance Department appreciated that the advent of paratroopers and fast-moving armored columns meant that rear-line support and artillery units were more likely than ever to be ambushed by enemy forces. Immediately prior to World War II, the U.S. Carbines are infantry rifles shortened for portability, originally conceived as a handier weapon for cavalry. The M2 was a simple modification of the ubiquitous M1 Carbine. Therein, however, lies the controversy: can a fully-automatic “carbine” properly be described as an assault “rifle”? Late in 1944 it began issuing fully-automatic M2 Carbines to Marines and U.S. However, the United States was not very far behind. Later renamed the Sturmgewehr 44 - literally “assault rifle 44” - this used an intermediate-strength kurz cartridge that balanced the long-range accuracy of heavy, slow-firing bolt-action rifles then prevalent with the automatic-fire capability of submachine guns, which were deadlier at close quarters and capable of laying heavy suppressing fire for infantry assaults. Germany is generally credited with developing the first assault rifle with the MP-43, which entered service with select units towards the end of 1943. ![]()
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