The forerunners: .30 Carbine (7.62x33mm) calibre weapons

( note: the specifications are in the data table ! )

Beginning in the 1920’s, the U.S.Army saw its need for a weapon lighter than contemporary carbines yet with more practical range than a submachinegun. All soldiers whose primary task is not the use of small arms have in theory a need for a good self-defence weapon, but very few of them would be well-equipped with a heavy and big rifle or carbine. The standard rifle cartridges of the 1920’s and 1930’s were usually only slightly improved (Spitzer bullets) versions of cartridges that were around 1900 developed for stopping a cavalry charge by killing the horses. Those cartridges were too powerful and therefore delayed the introduction of automatic rifles of acceptable weight. The semi-automatic M1 Garand rifle was introduced by the U.S. Army in the 1930’s with the .30-06 standard rifle cartridge despite their power and despite a more optimized .276 cartridge was proposed and the rifle adapted for it. This decision was supported by the economic argument of ammunition standardization and huge available reserves of .30-06 cartridges. Who wonders that the project of a carbine with a special cartridge was temporarily abandoned in 1938?

Winchester M1 Carbine

But the Second World War began in 1939 and the U.S. Army anticipated that it would be affected again. They sent 25 weapon manufacturers a call for tenders for a weapon of no more than 5.5 lbs weight and no less than 300 yds practical range.

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company modified the .32 SL cartridge to the .30 Carbine (7.62 x 33 mm) cartridge within remarkably short time - this cartridge was later adopted. It was much less powerful than .30-06 and had a rounded nose, suitable only for shorter ranges due to inferior aerodynamics.

In may, 1941, nine corporations offered weapons according to the specifications, but after intense tests only the carbines of Springfield Armory and Winchester were left. The Winchester carbine was chosen and afterwards modified according to some wishes of the army and then type-classified as M1 Carbine. Production commenced in 1942.

As early as may, 1942 a variant for the new paratroopers was introduced; it featured a pistol grip and a folding skeleton buttstock.

These carbines are in much modified fomr still in use today, especially in Israel and Mao Tse-Tung called them the ideal Guerilla weapon.

www.isayeret.com/weapons/assault/m1/m1.htm

world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl08-e.htm

www.fulton-armory.com/M1Carbine.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_carbine

www.waffenhq.de/infanterie/m1_carbine.html (in German)

Winchester M2 Carbine

A select-fire version of the M1 Cabine, the M2 Carbine, was introduced in autumn 1944 but it still used the M1’s 15 rounds magazine and its full-auto capability was therefore not fully exploitable for close quarters battle (sweeping rooms) until mid-1945 when 30 rds magazines were introduced.

A M3 Carbine was also produced but as a specialized night combat weapon and is therefore not of interest here. The overall production of M1 / M1A1 / M2 / M3 carbines was more than six million weapons in 1942 to 1945.

The example of the M1 to M2 carbines of the Second World war shows just how much infantrymen appreciate light weapons; these carbines were used by the infantry although this complicated ammunition supply and although the excellent M1 Garand rifle was available. The inevitable conclusion is that modern PDWs are also likely to be used by the infantry. Even if the institution was able to resist this in peacetime, it would happen in wartime. Indeed, modern PDWs display the tendence of being a Special Forces weapon as much as a non-infantry soldier’s self-defence weapon. These three groups - non-infantry, infantry and special forces obviously include all troops of an army and it is important for the understanding of any PDW that - no matter what the fancy Powerpoint slides and brochures tell you - many PDWs can be considered as the lighter brother of the (assault) rifle. Since infantry is a rather rare species in modern armies, modern PDWs have probably a much greater quantitative potential than assault rifles and are no niche weapons at all (if they were designed in pursuance of a good PDW concept).

The .30 carbines were again in use during the Korean War, but afterwards, many of them were given as military aid to Israel - that opened the second chapter in the history of this weapon. It was of course also exported to other nations like Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands and West Germany, but that was less relevant because they did not use this calibre as long as Israel did.

Israel received its M1 carbines in the 1970’s and uses them in Civil Guard and Police units. They refurbished the M1’s to an Israeli M1A1 with plastic instead of wood as an intermediate solution until the replacement by just another weapon of the same calibre; the Galil assault rifle derivative IMI Magal.

The Magal seems to be a failure, but the calibre seems to be fine for Israeli non- and para-military units (also due to huge stocks...). So it’s not really surprising that another weapon emerged as a replacement for the M1 and Israeli M1A1 Carbines; the HEZI SM-1. It’s not really a replacement, rather a rebuild kit. Although it seems to be too long for a bullpup of that calibre (longer than the conventional M1 Carbine...), anything else seems to be superior. This applies especially to the ergonomics - among the little information that HEZI provides, it stresses rapid target acquisition as a major advantage. Now that’s likely a product of the new sight. Otherwise, this sight is likely too exposed and not rugged enough for everyday use. It could also be mounted on a M1 Carbine in a much smaller upgrade as well, so let’s not take those claims very seriously. But at least the barrel length stayed the same - both a reliability and ballistic advantage in comparison to the Magal.

www.advancedcombat.com/security/sm1.html

securityarms.com/20010315/galleryfiles/2800/2803.htm

www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=401

IMI Magal

This IMI Magal was seemingly delivered in a first batch of 1,000 carbines in 1999/2000, and was used during the Israeli-Palestinian riots. Derived from the Micro Galil, it has the same problem of an overheating, during intense firefights almost unusable handguard. But the combination of short barrel, breech mechanism and cartridge seems to be even worse; it’s said to be unreliable due to lack of gas pressure. It should be possible to eliminate both problems with a proper redesign, but so far it seems as if the use of the IMI Magal in Israeli Civil Guard and Police units stopped in 2001. The Magal contract was about 4,000 carbines and so it’s likely that IMI is redesigning the Magal to make it satisfactory. An interesting sidenote is that the Magal was initially planned to replace not only M1 Carbines, but also M16 assault rifles. Instead, AR-15 Commando compact assault rifles are now in use and the M1 Carbine generation is still in service.

www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/small_arms/magal/MAGAL.html

www.isayeret.com/weapons/assault/magal/magal.htm

kalashnikov.guns.ru/models/ka298.html

www.military-page.de/waffen/imi/galil/galil_05.htm#magal (in German)

www.personaldefenceweapons.com

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