Editing M1 carbine (section)

==Development history==
===Limitations of weapons in the U.S. arsenal===

[[File:Garandcar.jpg|thumb|The [[M1 Garand|M1 rifle]] and M1 carbine share only a buttplate screw and use different-sized .30 caliber ammunition.]]
[[File:Jedburghs get instructions from Briefing Officer in London flat. England, circa 1944. - NARA - 540064.tif|thumb|Briefing for staff personnel. Folding stock M1A1 carbine on the table]]
[[File:81 m-m Mortar crew in action at Camp Carson, Colorado - NARA - 197171.jpg|thumb|81&nbsp;mm [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] crew in action at [[Camp Carson]], [[Colorado]], April 24, 1943. The soldier on the left has a slung M1 carbine.]]
[[File:Infantry anti-tank crew fires on Nazis.jpg|thumb|right|A U.S. [[anti-tank]] crew in combat in the Netherlands, November 4, 1944. The soldier on the far right is holding an M1 carbine]]

Prior to World War II, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department received reports that the full-size [[M1 Garand|M1 rifle]] was too heavy and cumbersome for most support troops (staff, artillerymen, radiomen, etc.) to carry. During pre-war and early war field exercises, it was found that the M1 Garand impeded these soldiers' mobility, as a slung rifle would frequently catch on brush or hit the back of the helmet and tilt it over the eyes. Many soldiers found the rifle slid off the shoulder unless slung diagonally across the back, where it prevented the wearing of standard field packs and haversacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swatmag.com/article/the-carbine-conundrum-two-steps-forward-one-step-back/|title=THE CARBINE CONUNDRUM: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back|last=Dabbs|first=Will|date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208224640/https://www.swatmag.com/article/the-carbine-conundrum-two-steps-forward-one-step-back/|archive-date= 8 February 2023}}</ref>

Additionally, Germany's use of [[Glider infantry|glider-borne]] and [[paratrooper]] forces to launch surprise ''[[blitzkrieg]]'' attacks behind the front lines generated a request for a new compact infantry weapon to equip support troops.<ref name="George, John 1981 p. 394"/><ref name="Weeks">{{cite book|author1=Weeks, John S.|title=World War II Small Arms|url=https://archive.org/details/worldwariismalla0000week|url-access=registration|publisher=Chartwell House|isbn=978-0-88365-403-3|date=1 May 1989|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldwariismalla0000week/page/130 130]}}</ref> This request called for a compact, lightweight defensive weapon with greater range, accuracy and firepower than a handgun, while weighing half as much as the [[Thompson submachine gun]] or the [[M1 rifle]].<ref name="George, John 1981 p. 394">{{cite book |author1=George, John|title=Shots Fired In Anger |edition=2nd Revised & Enlarged |location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=National Rifle Association of America|isbn=978-0-935998-42-9 |date=1981|page=394}}</ref> The U.S. Army decided that a carbine-type weapon would adequately fulfill all of these requirements, and specified that the new arm should weigh no more than {{convert|5|lb|kg}} and have an effective range of {{convert|300|yd|m}}.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/2ozvYaxr6iQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170503094206/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ozvYaxr6iQ Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ozvYaxr6iQ|title=M1 Carbine at 300 Yards|date=2 October 2012|website=YouTube|format=Video}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Ruth">{{cite book |author1=Ruth, Larry L.|title=M1 Carbine: Design, Development & Production|publisher=The Gun Room Press|url=https://www.abebooks.com/M1-CARBINE-DESIGN-DEVELOPMENT-PRODUCTION-Ruth/22379562692/bd |date=1988 |isbn=0-88227-020-6|quote=contains many Ordnance documents related to the "Light Rifle" specification that led to the M1 carbine}}</ref> Paratroopers were also added to the list of intended users and a folding-stock version would also be developed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.guns.com/news/review/gun-review-inland-m1a1-paratrooper-carbine-in-30-carbine|title=Gun Review: Inland M1A1 Paratrooper Carbine in .30 Carbine|last= Herbert|first= Terril|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201025631/https://www.guns.com/news/review/gun-review-inland-m1a1-paratrooper-carbine-in-30-carbine|archive-date= 1 December 2022}}</ref>

===Design===

In 1938, the chief of infantry requested that the ordnance department develop a "light rifle" or carbine, though the formal requirement for the weapon type was not approved until 1940.

[[Winchester Repeating Arms Company|Winchester]] developed the [[.30 Carbine]] cartridge for the ordnance department. Winchester at first did not submit a carbine design, as it was occupied in developing the [[Winchester model 30|Winchester G30 rifle]]. The G30 rifle originated as a design by [[Jonathan "Ed" Browning]], half-brother of the famous firearm designer [[John Moses Browning]]. A couple of months after Ed Browning's death in May 1939, Winchester hired [[David Marshall Williams|David Marshall "Carbine" Williams]] who had begun work on a [[Gas-operated reloading#Short-stroke fixed|short-stroke gas piston]] design while serving a prison sentence at a North Carolina minimum-security work farm. Winchester, after Williams' release, had hired Williams on the strength of recommendations of firearms industry leaders and hoped Williams would be able to complete various designs left unfinished by Ed Browning, including the Winchester G30 rifle. Williams incorporated his short-stroke piston in the existing design as the G30M. After the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]]' semi-automatic rifle trials in 1940, Browning's rear-locking tilting bolt design proved unreliable in sandy conditions. As a result, Williams redesigned the G30M to incorporate a Garand-style [[rotating bolt]] and operating slide, retaining the short-stroke piston as the .30 M2 Winchester Military Rifle. By May 1941, Williams had shaved the M2 rifle prototype from about {{convert|9.5|lb|abbr=on}} to a {{convert|7.5|lb|abbr=on}}.

Ordnance found unsatisfactory the first series of prototype carbines submitted by several firearms companies and some independent designers.<ref name="Ruth"/> Winchester had contacted the ordnance department to examine their rifle M2 design. Major René Studler of ordnance believed the rifle design could be scaled down to a carbine which would weigh {{convert|4.5|to|4.75|lb|abbr=on}} and demanded a prototype as soon as possible. The first model was developed at Winchester in 13 days by William C. Roemer, Fred Humeston and three other Winchester engineers under the supervision of Edwin Pugsley and was essentially Williams' last version of the .30-06 M2 scaled down to the .30 SL cartridge.<ref name="Canfield, Bruce N. 2009">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2016/4/7/carbine-williams-myth-reality/|author1=Canfield, Bruce N.|title='Carbine' Williams: Myth & Reality|magazine=The American Rifleman|publisher=NRA Publications|date=7 April 2016 |format=February 2009 Reprint|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305062952/https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2016/4/7/carbine-williams-myth-reality/|archive-date= 5 March 2018}}</ref> This patchwork prototype was cobbled together using the trigger housing and lockwork of a [[Winchester M1905]] rifle and a modified Garand operating rod. The prototype was an immediate hit with army observers.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Bishop| first = Chris| title = The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II| place = New York| publisher = Orbis Publishing Ltd| year = 1998| isbn = 0-7607-1022-8}}.</ref>

After the initial Army testing in August 1941, the Winchester design team set out to develop a more refined version. Williams participated in the finishing of this prototype. The second prototype competed successfully against all remaining carbine candidates in September 1941, and Winchester was notified of their success the next month. Standardization as the M1 carbine was approved on 22 October 1941. This story was the loose basis for the 1952 movie ''[[Carbine Williams]]'' starring [[James Stewart]]. Contrary to the movie, Williams had little to do with the carbine's development, with the exception of his short-stroke gas piston design. Williams worked on his own design apart from the other Winchester staff, but it was not ready for testing until December 1941, two months after the Winchester M1 carbine had been adopted and type-classified. Winchester supervisor Edwin Pugsley conceded that Williams' final design was "an advance on the one that was accepted" but noted that Williams' decision to go it alone was a distinct impediment to the project,<ref name="Canfield, Bruce N. 2009"/> and Williams' additional design features were not incorporated into M1 production. In a 1951 memo written in fear of a patent infringement lawsuit by Williams, Winchester noted his patent for the short-stroke piston may have been improperly granted as a previous patent covering the same principle of operation was overlooked by the patent office.<ref name="Canfield, Bruce N. 2009"/>

In 1973, the senior technical editor at the NRA contacted Edwin Pugsley for "a technical last testament" on M1 carbine history shortly before his death on 19 November 1975. According to Pugsley, "The carbine was invented by no single man," but was the result of a team effort including: William C. Roemer, David Marshall Williams, Fred Humeston, Cliff Warner, at least three other Winchester engineers, and Pugsley himself. Ideas were taken and modified from the Winchester M2 Browning rifle (Williams' gas system), the [[Winchester Model 1905]] rifle (fire control group and magazine), M1 Garand (buttstock dimensions, and bolt and operating slide principles), and a percussion shotgun in Pugsley's collection (hook breech and barrel band assembly/disassembly).<ref>E.H. Harrison, "Who Designed the M1 Carbine?", in ''U.S. Caliber .30 Carbine'', NRA American Rifleman Reprint.</ref>