Very nice! I have a Garand, but a carbine would be a nice addition.
Printable View
Very nice! I have a Garand, but a carbine would be a nice addition.
I still have one or 2...used to buy them for $99 all day long, plus FIL was a C&R FFL...he collected them...probably had close to 40. Rock ola, United Postal Meter, Inland, IBM...his mission, which he completed maybe 2 times over was one of each manufacturer with all extra equipment.
Now, to break y'alls' hearts, when he passed, his wife decided to sell them (this was...what, 2006?). She enlisted her brother to broker the deals since she had no clue (yeah, FIL told her they were "about $100 each"...that she believed) and her brother royally screwed her. Gave her $100 per...then sold them. She finally contacted me, so proud of herself...until I explained the real value of them. The silence on the phone was deafening. Needless to say, her daughter (my wife) and I were in charge of liquidating the rest of the large collection.
What broke my heart...I had finally found a Wildey, and told FIL about it, was going to buy it after I picked my wife up from wisdom tooth extraction. Now, he lived 2.5 hours away. Wife and I get home, and he's on our porch...with the Wildey! Snaked it from me...he thought it was funny and told me I can use it whenever, and when he dies, he'd will it to me. Okay...guess I could live with that. Welp, he died, it wasn't in the will, and MIL gave it to her brother...can't stand that guy!
My father-in-law was in charge of some sort of field piece in Europe and was issued a 1911. He traded that for a carbine which he felt would be far more effective if he needed to shoot at someone.
A neighbor was a platoon leader in the Korean War and told me that he traded his carbine for a Garand because he felt that the Garand was far more effective.
Good on ya for completing the collection. Very cool for collectors. I never was, and critique firearms solely on merit. The 30 Carbine, while successful as a lightweight *in between* small arm, left much to be desired as a primary battle rifle. Problem problem was that anemic 30 Carbine round. 110gr FMJ @ 1900fps(maybe), was a good pistol round.....but many commentaries giving the M1 Carbine an effective range of 300yds was unrealistic at best!
Very nice. If you need Ammo, last I checked the CMP had some available.
I have wanted one of these for several years - every since Woolworths had them for $ 149 back in the middle 80's - but back then I didn't have $ 149 to spare..:(
All of the above is true , that being said the Army never intended the Carbine to be a front line battle rifle that was always the role of the Garand . The problem was that often times as is normal in war the carbine found itself at the front in the hands of an infantrymen who had traded his Garand for something lighter. The Carbine was the first "PDW" it just didnt know it yet. The Carbine had a service record from WW2 , Korea and even saw action in Vietnam( on all sides US , ARVN and VC ) . The cartridge was effective when used within its effective range, up to 200yrds the Army's assertation of 300 was always a stretch. The .30 carbine is almost equivalent to a .357 mag fired from a carbine.
The GI's who fought with them all had mixed opinions , some loved them some hated them. The Germans on the Western Front loved the little rifle and took them whenever they could, they called it the Selbstladekarabiner. It was very popular in the Pacific theater as a patrol rifle ,light and easy to carry ,but it struggled with penetrating heavy underbrush and vegetation. I can see how it was so well received when given the option of a 1911 or M1 Carbine and historically it was the most produced small arm of the war with over six million being produced. I would not feel undergunned taking one into action even today , BUT if given the option of my Garand or my M1 I would choose the Garand.
It really is interesting digging into the history behind this little rifle and really does open ones eyes to some of the mis-truths and anecdotes associated with this piece of history.
Don't know your definition of effective, but the US Army had us fire them at the 300 yard range. I scored the max 300 with the .30 Carbine. Last summer I was hitting a target at 300 meters with mine, shooting my hand loads. Minute of Man.Quote:
...many commentaries giving the M1 Carbine an effective range of 300yds was unrealistic at best!
Very cool. I have 1943 Underwood. They're great little guns. I'd like to get one of the civilian models like a Plainfield to wear out at the range. I'm getting well into my WW2 small arm collection. Finally got a P08 Luger recently. Museum grade 1941 Mauser, all matching. Boy have these things gotten salty!
SWEET! They are fantastic little carbines. I have a 1944 Underwood. I hope to get another with the early war features, as well as a civilian production model. I love shooting them, but I hate taking a $1,300 collectable out to the range if I can avoid it. A cheap beater would be nice. I don't know If I'll ever finish my WW2 collection. I think I'm up to roughly 25 pieces, and there's quite a few o go.