Artifact Friday: M1 Carbine

It is commonly considered among World War II historians that the weapon that won the

war was not something so grand as the nuclear bomb or even the bombers they flew in on,

but the M1 Garand, the standard service rifle of the United States Military. Today, however, we

discuss the lesser-known but equally important M1 Carbine.

Although the M1 Garand was a fantastic weapon and the first ever standard-issue semi-automatic rifle in the world, it was almost 10 pounds. To put that into perspective, the Kar-98K,

the service rifle of Nazi Germany, weighed roughly a pound less. This doesn’t seem like a great

difference until you account for the increased ammo needed for a sustained fight. Being semi-

automatic, American servicemen would expend ammunition much faster than their German or

Japanese counterparts, meaning they had to carry more ammo, further weighing down their

kits. Heavy kits like this were great for providing overwhelming firepower to soldiers on an

individual level, but were not suited for tasks that required more mobility. As such, the United

States government had issued the M1 Carbine to certain individuals.

Officers frequently used the M1 Carbine over the Garand because it allowed them to be

more mobile and move around the line with greater ease to issue orders as needed. Forward

scouts and other high-risk jobs also preferred the Carbine over the Garand. One such individual

was Guy Gabaldon, recipient of the Navy Cross and nicknamed the Pied Piper of Saipan. This

does not mean that the M1 Carbine was superior to the M1 Garand, simply more versatile. The

smaller .30 round fired by the Carbine carried less punch than the heavy 30.06 round used by

the Garand, but allowed for the individual to carry more ammo and fire the carbine with a

magazine.

The M1 Carbine, newly added to our collection, belonged to a sailor named Melvin L.

Gage, a Fireman First Class aboard the Colorado-class battleship USS Maryland, during the

Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. Melvin Gage was an Arkansas native born in Hindsville in 1923

and passed away in 2007. Finally, we would like to give a special thanks to Melvin Gage’s

grandson, Dominque Lockman, for donating this iconic piece of American military history.