Quote:
Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic
The M2 Carbine was "almost" an assault rifle and I think the only thing holding it back from being classified as one is that the ammo was no more powerful than the .357Mag - so to be harsh, it uses a high powered pistol round rather than a rifle round but it pretty much hits all the right marks in other regards. To be fair to the M1/M2 carbine though, it was not intended as an infantryman's rifle so it was never designed as a replacement for the battle rifles then in use.
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Yep. I love the M1 carbine but I do acknowledge its ballistic limitations. The cartridge doesn't have the legs to be effective within an appropriate infantry combat envelope and it's too slow for FMJ rounds to reliably produce a decent temporary wound cavity.
Really, to swipe a point from the recent Glock 18 thread, I'd classify the M1 Carbine as an early PDW.
Quote:
Originally Posted by copeab
Heck, go back 20 more years to MacArthur killing the .276 Pedersen version of the Garand.
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Sometimes I'm amazed we didn't send troops to Vietnam with something chambered for .45-70...
- C.