M1 carbine facts for kids

M1 carbine

The M1 carbine is a short, lightweight semi-automatic rifle, or a carbine, used in the United States military from World War II until late in the Vietnam War. It was made to arm soldiers with less of a combat role and more of a support role, such as medics and radiomen. The kind of weapon the military wanted was a gun that would be more powerful and accurate than the M1911, but shorter and lighter than the M1 Garand. The M1 Garand was too long and heavy for support troops to carry, especially since combat was not their main job.

Even though the M1 carbine looks similar to the M1 Garand, the two guns are actually very different. First, the M1 carbines bullets, the .30 Carbine, are much smaller and lighter than the Garand's .30-06 bullets. Second, the gun itself is much lighter, smaller, and shorter range than the Garand. The M1 carbine weighs less than half of the Garand. Third, the M1 carbine is loaded with box magazines that holds 15 bullets, while the M1 Garand is loaded with clips that hold 8 bullets.

Even though it is not used by the military anymore, it is still popular with civilians.

The M2 carbine is a selective fire version of the M1, which means it can switch between semi-automatic and full automatic fire.

Images for kids

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  The M1 rifle and M1 carbine share only a buttplate screw and use different-sized .30 caliber ammunition

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  81 mm mortar crew in action at Camp Carson, Colorado, April 24, 1943. The soldier on the left has a slung M1 carbine.

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  A U.S. anti-tank crew in combat in the Netherlands, November 4, 1944. The soldier on the far right is holding an M1 carbine

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  .30 Carbine cartridge

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  WW II M1 carbine with a magazine pouch mounted on the stock that held two spare 15-round magazines

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  U.S. Army Rangers resting in the vicinity of Pointe du Hoc, which they assaulted in support of "Omaha" Beach landings on "D-Day", June 6, 1944. Ranger in right center is apparently using his middle finger to push cartridges into an M-1 carbine magazine. The carbine and a backpack frame are nearby.

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  Paratrooper armed with a folding stock M1A1 carbine fires a bazooka at an enemy pillbox on Greary Point, Corregidor

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  A marine armed with an M1 carbine and M8 grenade launcher attached to the muzzle, during the Battle of Iwo Jima

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  American infantrymen of the 290th Regiment fight in fresh snowfall near Amonines, Belgium. Soldier in foreground is armed with an M1 carbine.

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  U.S. Marine in combat at Guam

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  M1 carbine at first Iwo Jima flag raising

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  U.S. Marines fighting in the streets of Seoul, South Korea. September 20, 1950. The M1 carbine in the foreground has a bayonet mounted.

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  M1 carbine in action during Korean War with 30-round magazine, stock pouch for two 15-round Magazine and grenade launcher near a captured Soviet DP-27 machine gun

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  U.S. Marines with M1 carbine with mounted bayonet holding captured Chinese soldiers during fighting on the central Korean front

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  ARVN soldiers with M1 carbines and U.S. Special Forces with M16s

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  Winston Churchill fires an American M1 carbine during a visit to the U.S. 2nd Armored Division on Salisbury Plain, 23 March 1944.

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  British officers: Brigadier "Mad" Mike Calvert (left) gives orders to Lieutenant-Colonel Shaw, while Major James Lumley stands with M1 carbine under his arm, after the capture of Mogaung in Burma during the second Chindit expedition, June 1944.

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  South Vietnamese Popular Force members on patrol with M1 carbines

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  Che Guevara atop a mule in Las Villas province, Cuba, in November 1958, with an M2 Carbine

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  South Korean soldiers training with M1919A6s. Note: ROK soldier armed with M1 carbine to the left. Photo taken August 13, 1950.

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  Ethiopian soldiers deployed with U.S.-made weapons somewhere in Korea, 1953. The M1 carbine has two 30-round magazines taped together "jungle style".

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  Dutch police officer shoots teargas ammunition from the muzzle of an M1 carbine, during a blockade and demonstration against the nuclear power plant Dodewaard. September 18, 1981

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  M2 carbine with the selector lever on the left side, opposite the bolt handle

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  Original Korean War era USMC M3 night vision scope

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  An Auto-Ordnance AOM-130 carbine manufactured in 2007

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  Patty Hearst holding a sawed-off M1 "Enforcer" carbine during her infamous bank robbery attempt

See also

In Spanish: Carabina M1 para niños