20 May 2020

Where Have All The Carbines Gone

Willard pointed out that more than a million more M1 Carbines were made than M1 Garands.

There are Garands aplenty.

Carbines are so scarce that no less than two companies are making new ones.

Where'd they go?

We speculate that it's two-fold.

We handed out military assistance by giving loaning both carbines and Garands to virtually anyone who asked (and probably forced them on a couple of places who didn't.)

I think the first fold of where did the carbines go is they tended to go to places where there was fighting and that is damn hard on guns.  An 82mm mortar round blows up the gun as well as the person carrying it when it hits... for example.

Garands tended to land in places where there was a nervous peace, like proto-NATO nations.  These guns were rapidly replaced by new service rifles and warehoused rather than used.

The second fold is the M2 carbine problem.  With ATF's retarded standard of, "once a machine gun, always a machine gun," any M1 carbine converted to the M2 standard, and so marked, is forever an M2 and cannot be surplussed to civilian use.

It also probably didn't help that the M2 stayed in service long after the Garand left the party.
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6 comments:

  1. Bigus Macus20 May, 2020 14:34

    FMS= Foreign Military Sales / Lend Lease

    ReplyDelete
  2. SofwareJanitor20 May, 2020 15:32

    Probably all of the above and possibly some countries that got carbines may still be keeping them in storage somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beans20 May, 2020 16:34

    Oh, there's lots of carbines ready to come back to the States. And that's the issue. They're in Israel and South Korea and other places like that and Clinton, Bush and Obama blocked any coming home.

    And Trump has had his hands busy with other things.

    The M2 thingy is minor compared to all the M1 Carbines and Garands that are waiting to be sent back to us. So many it will be back to $500 Garands and carbines, maybe.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Old Man20 May, 2020 18:56

    I wanted one bad enough to buy a new Auto Ordnance paratrooper model last year. Cost about $850 including FFL. Now appears to be over $1150. There is a reason the production was that high.
    I was issued an M-14 instead of an M-16 in 1969. Carried a 1942 GM Hydramatic M-3A1 in my truck instead, but that was because I couldn't find an M-2 with the sprinkle switch.
    Arms trade amongst troops at the sharp end? "Shocked , I tell you, shocked!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Angus McThag20 May, 2020 21:16

      I too am shocked!

      Delete
    2. Sanders21 May, 2020 14:51

      A friend of mine who was a door gunner over there traded into a Tommy gun for his carry gun...

      Delete

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