M-1 Carbine Myth vs Reality

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There's a lot of variation between M1 carbines when it comes to accuracy. My CMP Italian return is capable of quite good accuracy, certainly better than I expected when I got it, but the Italians took real good care of it. The attached picture shows a target I put 15 rounds of S&B fmj into at 100 yards using my range bag for a rest. The flyer is entirely my fault. It isn't M1 Garand accuracy but still not bad at all The little rifle will definitely hold "minute of thorax" at 200 yards.

My carbine as I received it, did have occasional failures to feed, about once every 100-150 rounds or so, but re-springing it fixed that almost entirely and now any failure is very rare. I should also say that an M1 carbine feed or ejection malfunction is very, very easy to clear in my experience.

Magazines are always semi expendable and damaged magazines are always a source of malfunctions. Add to that the fact that M1 Carbine magazines aren't the most robust I've ever seen and I can understand a high turnover rate.

Shot Snow shoot match at the Souther Michigan range, with a M1 Cabine, first five sighters, were @ 1 o'clock on the 9 ring, all five in a row touching.

Have known retired Marines that were South Pacific or Korean, with comments on the effectivenes was is specific events. Basically was 50/50 but aznything was nicer that nothing.

Both indicated that magazine were expendable and readily replaced. A USA officer with Merrills Marauders, had a shorten Magzine due to limited supplies that still function.
Mine carbine is on HD duty with two mags ready to go. I have polished /smoothed the feed ramp to minimize "stutterring' of soft-nose ammo/

A long story but love to tell it. When I was 15 back in 1953, I spotted an ad for a M1 Carbine completely assembled from a legal govn surplus purchased receiver in the Shot Gun News...This was years before the Government released carbines to the public for sale and only stolen ones were around..Talked my brother who was 21 to send for it for me. I missed the post man at home but he left the pick up notice at the PO...Had my mother drive me there to get it. The clerk brought the package out and asked, is it your birth day as it looks like some one send you a 22?. Lol, Long story, shortened. Went to the range with it, Quite an interest in it as it would still be a number of years before the government released any carbines for sale.. Fired it standing at 100 yrs at the steel plate. 15 hits out of 15. People were amazed at the accuracy and so was I .

My cousin, who saw combat in Korea and was seriously wounded, said the carbine would not reliably stop a a North Korean soldier dressed in winter gear. Bullets would not penetrate his clothes. My cousin's comrades would swap/steal a M1 garand whenever they could to replace the "pop gun".

Nothing to do with the clothing, Testing found the bullet would through it easy as well as through a good number of wooden boards behind the coats. The coats would not stop the bullets. Stopping all depended where the NK was hit. Nothing to do with the clothing..Of course the Garand would do a better job of stopping him..

That and many of the men who were sent into Korea had little to no range time with their rifles. Many had a hard time telling distance and using the adjustable rear sight had it set too high or too low to make hits on target. Those who still had the original rear flip sight did much better with hits on the enemy.

Superstitions evolve from a series of unverifiable anecdotes, endlessly repeated. The Army tested, investigated, and explored every conceivable element of ground warfare. Instead of endlessly repeating fantastical anecdotes, adherents should use their time to look for "actual tests" by Aberdeen, Infantry School, etc. (not just by well intentioned websites).

There were numerous complaints lodged in "actual reports" about the carbine's cold weather performance in Korea; none I have seen on penetration. Since no one has yet turned up test reports on these subjects, I would suspect the reason is, in both cold weather and supposed penetration complaints, that the claims were too dumb to justify any followup effort.

I would be happy to be proven wrong. Until then, 'not established' would be the most generous interim verdict for the rational amongst us. However, the anecdotes retain their entertainment value.

When will people learn that Carbines and Garands are two totally differ firearms. The .30 carbine and 30-06 are not the same. Use a little common sense, if you have any left! IMHO

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Originally Posted by Art

Attachment 45359

There's a lot of variation between M1 carbines when it comes to accuracy. My CMP Italian return is capable of quite good accuracy, certainly better than I expected when I got it, but the Italians took real good care of it. The attached picture shows a target I put 15 rounds of S&B fmj into at 100 yards using my range bag for a rest. The flyer is entirely my fault. It isn't M1 Garand accuracy but still not bad at all The little rifle will definitely hold "minute of thorax" at 200 yards.

My carbine as I received it, did have occasional failures to feed, about once every 100-150 rounds or so, but re-springing it fixed that almost entirely and now any failure is very rare. I should also say that an M1 carbine feed or ejection malfunction is very, very easy to clear in my experience.

Magazines are always semi expendable and damaged magazines are always a source of malfunctions. Add to that the fact that M1 Carbine magazines aren't the most robust I've ever seen and I can understand a high turnover rate.

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I count 16 rounds in this target but the group is about what I expect from my 1961 DCM gun at 100 yds. (including the flyer).

Lt. Col. John George who served on Guadalcanal and in Burma with the Marauders stated in his book "Shots Fired In Anger" that his testing showed the .30 Carbine would penetrat a Japanese helmet which satisfied his requirements.