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From: marko@hutch (Mark O'Shea)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: .30 cal carbine
Message-ID: <35650@mimsy.umd.edu>
Date: 14 Jun 91 20:05:27 GMT
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In article <35611@mimsy.umd.edu> JCEHC%CUNYVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu writes:
#   OK, a question:  Was the carbine dropped by the Military due to it's
#lack of stopping power, the usual complaint, or because it was unreliable?
#S.L.A. Marshall in writing about the weapons used by the Americans in
#the Korean War, wrote about the carbine's lack of reliablity , especially
#in extreme cold.  I believe Edward Ezell's book " The great Rifle Contro-
#versey" contains some footnotes regarding this.  (Although in reading Ezell's
#book one get the impression that Army Ordanance never liked the little carbine:
#the not invented here reaction)
#

My original point, which I admit was lost in some rhetoric and hyperbole
due to my extreme prejudice against the M1 carbine, was that it is not
a good self defense weapon.  The former security policemen amongst us
have all qualified expert.  Well they should.  The average joe with
little experience or skill should not be told to get a .30 cal carbine.
for self defense.  That was my point.

#   My own experiences with the M1 carbine are limited although I did have
#one repeatedly malfunction in fairly cold weather (between 0 F and 10 F)
#During that same time a Mini-14 we were shooting was also malfunctioning.
#The only semi-auto that we had with us that worked flawlessly in the cold
#was my M1 Garand.

One of the times I qualified with the M16 was in Alaska in the dead of winter.
I do not recall a single malfunction.  One of the range masters dumped a hand
full of snow into the breech of a gun and fired 5 rounds without a problem.  

#   I've always thought that the .30 carbine cartridge should be compared
#with the 9mm parabellum and not real rifle cartridges like the .308 or
#even the .223

Amen.

Gun Control Means Being Able to Hit Your Target
Mark O'Shea
marko@ijf1.intel.com