.30 Carbine S&W

FWIW, in WWI, many troops were issued pistols/revolvers, much of the reason M1911 pistols were scarce and Colt and S&W were asked to produce revolvers for the .45 ACP cartridge. At that time, squad leaders, assistant squad leaders, all company grade officers, machinegunners, assistant machinegunners, MPs, etc., etc. all carried pistols. Many of them couldn't hit anything with a handgun. The carbine was intended to replace almost all those pistols with a short, light rifle that would be easier to hit with and yet easy to carry for men whose duties involved other than direct engagement with the enemy or whose primary weapon was something other than the infantry rifle.

Jim
Click to expand...
The pistol had been a primary fighting weapon for quite some time. Before repeating firearms or efficient breech loaders came along the only way to have a fair number of shots to fire in a fight was to carry several handguns.
It was not uncommon for some members of naval boarding parties to carry four or more single shot pistols slung around the neck by cords, or clipped to belts or bandoleers.
Black Bread the pirate carried at least nine pocket pistols on a bandoleer besides several full size boarding pistols.

I've seen photos of a unusual accessory for the 1911 pistol. It was a canvas wrist strap for the gun hand with about a half dozen or so magazines attached by cords through lanyard staples on the mag floor plate. This allowed rapid reloading when driving off pirates or defending a gunpit from charging infantry.
Another USN accessory was a pistol rack holding four 1911 pistols in simple leather holsters nailed to the board and a hand grip cut into the board. You could carry two of these in each hand if necessary to distribute pistols to the crew in case they had to repel boarders.

Pistol Carbines were around for a century or more before WW2, starting in the single shot muzzle loader days. They gave the compact carry of a handgun but allowed for a longer effective range.
The Colt revolvers improved on the pistol carbine, but repeating rifles made them obsolete till autoloaders like the C96 and artillery Luger came along.

During WW1 the Winchester self loading rifles were used to some extent, mostly by the French, in much the same manner as the M1 Carbine would be used in later years. There was even a heavily modified Winchester self loader entered in the trials that settled on the M1.
 
One big reason why Naval boarding parties carried handguns is because they could used them in the highly confined spaces under decks without running into maneuverability issues. A pistol also allowed them to carry another primary weapon, such as a cutlass or a boarding axe.

Blunderbuss-type weapons were also used because they were short, but they also required two hands, which was considered a liability.
 
I bought up the question about what Officers carried when my father was in France and he said that every officer in his group carried ether a M1 carbine or a few carried Grands along with 1911's.
When out in the hedgerows of France not caring a rifle meant you were an officer like it did in the German army. This makes you a prime target for snipers.
 
and then they found out what ineffective was when they realize they couldn't hit with the pistol so they went back to the carbine.
Click to expand...

As armorer, i had my choice of weapons, so carried an M2 carbine and a .45. Some did trade in their carbines for M1 rifles, though. But the preferred weapon, other than the M1 rifle was the M3 submachine gun.

Bob Wright
 
My great uncle was a member of the 82nd Airborne during WW II. He made every combat drop the unit ever made (I THINK he was also in action in North Africa, but I'm not sure about that), was in some seriously heavy combat, and was never even so much as scratched.

He never spoke about it much, but not long before he died he did say that he originally had been issued a carbine, and after his first combat use, he couldn't find an infantryman quickly enough to trade it for an M1 Garand.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top