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From: military@cbnews
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: What is a Carbine
Message-ID: <1991Jun25.022316.23336@cbnews.cb.att.com>
Date: 25 Jun 91 02:23:16 GMT
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From: att!bcr!mruxb!patter 
The carbine was originally any long gun specifically designed to
be light enough and short enough to be fired reasonably accurately
from the back of a moving horse.

The distinction has gotten somewhat muddy since calvalry has been
discontinued in the military, and smokeless powder has made it possible
to manufacture weapons light enough to fit the above definition which
are not carbines.