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Only one U.S. military weapon rivaled the M-1 Garand in numbers produced and widespread use during World War Two. That weapon was the M-1 Carbine. It had originally been conceived and adopted as a new class of weaponry, the light rifle, and eventually was manufactured in greater numbers than any other American military firearm, including the M-1 Garand.

The carbine began its development soon after the end of the First World War when the concept of a light rifle had been explored. Wartime experience had shown that the weight and power of a full-bore military rifle was not always necessary in some combat applications. Development in the inter-war years, however, proceeded at a snail’s pace.

The success of the German Blitzkrieg in 1939-40 and its use of rapidly moving mechanized columns and vertical envelopment by airborne troops had made it apparent that the old ideas of fixed fortifications and static battle lines were outmoded. Under the doctrines of war, rear echelon troops that were essentially non-combatants could, in theory, become engaged by hostile forces at any moment. Clearly, weapons (other than the traditional pistol) were needed to arm these personnel. At the same time, it was recognized that arming these solders with service rifles, submachine guns or automatic rifles, heavy and bulky weapons, would hinder the performance of their assigned duties.

The light rifle design was re-evaluated. In addition to arming the rear echelon troops, a satisfactory light rifle could also be issued to such personnel as officers, Signal Corps troops, and crew-served weapons teams, giving them a more useful weapon than a pistol. It was also felt that a satisfactory design would not only take the place of the pistol, but would also serve as a replacement for the submachine gun.

In June of 1940, the War Department issued broad specifications to civilian and Ordnance Department designers. The new carbine was to weigh no more than five pounds, be capable of semi or full automatic fire and have an effective range of 300 yards. The War Department also required that the weapon be chambered for a new .30-caliber rimless round based on the Winchester .32-caliber Self Loading Cartridge. After several rounds of testing, on September 29, 1940, the Winchester design was declared the winner. The Ordnance Department chose to call the new weapon the Carbine, Caliber .30, M-1, the new carbine was a semiautomatic design that used a 15-round detachable box magazine.

As Winchester began to gear up for production, the War Department realized that demand for the new weapon would soon outpace Winchester’s production capacity. In order to pave the way for other companies to manufacturing carbines, the manufacturing rights were purchased for the sum of $868,000.

General Motor’s Inland Manufacturing Division was granted a contract for production on November 24, 1941. The first M-1s were delivered in August 1941 with Winchester’s first delivers occurring in October of 1941. With the entry of the U.S. into World War Two, the already high demand for the carbine increased dramatically and it was soon apparent that very large numbers of the carbine would be needed.

The War Department organized the Carbine Industry Integration Committee to coordinate production. So successful was the committee’s work that by mid-1945, 6,221,220 M-1 carbines were manufactured.

All told 10 firms were granted carbine production, only one of which was unable to successfully complete its contract. The firms involved in production represented a cross section of American industry:

(1) Winchester Repeating Firearms Company, New Haven, Connecticut. A total of 828,059 carbines were built, some 13.5% of the total production.

(2) Inland Manufacturing Division of General Motors, Dayton, Ohio. A total of 2,632,097 were built, representing some 43% of total production.

(3) Underwood-Elliot-Fisher, Hartford, Connecticut. They built a total of 545, 616 carbines, some 8.9%.

(4) Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago, Illinois. They produced some 3.7% or 228,500 carbines.

(5) Quality Hardware Machinery Corporation, Chicago, Illinois. They produced some 359,666 carbines, 5.9% of the total.

(6) National Postal Meter, Rochester, New York. A total of 413,017 were built, some 6.8% of the total.

(7) Irwin-Pederson Arms Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan. The only contractor unable to complete their deliveries, delivering only some 1,000 M-1s, less than 0.01% of the total.

(8) Standard Products, Port Clinton, Ohio. Representing roughly 4% of the total, this company built 247,100 carbines.

(9) International Business Machines, Poughkeepsie, New York. IBM turned out 5.7%, 346,500 carbines.

(10) Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors, Saginaw and Grand Rapids, Michigan. They took over the Irwin-Pederson contract and built some 517,212 carbines, about 8.5% of the total.

So how good was the M-1 Carbine? No less a personage than the legendary Lieutenant Colonel Lewis “Chesty” Puller stated…”I considered it to be an excellent combat weapon and can see no need for retaining submachine guns and pistols in combat units if they were armed with M-1 rifles and M-1 Carbines.”

The carbine was considered to a light, handy, powerful, and reasonably accurate weapon. In certain situations it was considered to be a superior weapon than the M-1 rifle.

It seems that among World War Two veterans, even those who used the weapon in actual combat situations, there was little middle ground regarding their opinion; they either loved it or hated it.

While the carbine’s critics certainly had legitimate complaints regarding its relative lack of power, range and accuracy; it should be pointed out that Carbine was never intended to replace the rifle. It was always intended to replace the pistol, and in that role, it was a superlative weapon.

The only variants of the M-1 Carbine was the M-1A1, a folding stock variant intended for use by airborne troops. Some 140,591 were built during World War II by the Inland Manufacturing Division of General Motors. It was used in virtually every U.S. airborne operation of the war.

During the war, several issues were identified. The initial rear sight was a simple L-type flip sight that were set for 150 and 300 yards, it had no windage adjustment. This was replaced in 1943 with an adjustable rear sight. The push button magazine release was often mistaken for the safety, this was replaced by a rotary safety. There was no provision for mounting a bayonet. A wider front band assembly was designed and the M-4 Bayonet-Knife was adopted, but this was not issued until 1944-45.

In 1945, a selective fire version of the M-1 was designed. The Carbine, Caliber .30, M-2 featured the bayonet lug and a new 30-round magazine, but was not available in time to see combat. The M-2 saw service in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

The final version of the M-1 Carbine was the T3 Carbine which limited service in the Pacific in 1945. This featured a modified receiver fitted with an infrared night vision scope.