Carbine

A carbine (/ˈkɑːrbiːn/ or /ˈkɑːrbaɪn/), from French carabine, is a long gun firearm but with a shorter barrel than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full-length rifles, shooting the same ammunition, while others fire lower-powered ammunition, including types designed for pistols. A carbine (/ˈkɑːrbiːn/ or /ˈkɑːrbaɪn/), from French carabine, is a long gun firearm but with a shorter barrel than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full-length rifles, shooting the same ammunition, while others fire lower-powered ammunition, including types designed for pistols. The smaller size and lighter weight of carbines make them easier to handle. They are typically issued to high-mobility troops such as special-operations soldiers and paratroopers, as well as to mounted, artillery, logistics, or other non-infantry personnel whose roles do not require full-sized rifles, although there is a growing tendency for carbines to be issued to front-line soldiers to offset the increasing weight of other issued equipment. An example of this is the US Army's M4 carbine, which is standard issue. The name comes from its first users — cavalry troopers called 'carabiniers', from the French carabine, from Old French carabin (soldier armed with a musket), whose origin is unclear. One theory connects it to an 'ancient engine of war' called a calabre; another connects it to Medieval Latin Calabrinus 'Calabrian'; yet another, 'less likely', to escarrabin, gravedigger, from the scarab beetle. The carbine was originally a lighter, shortened weapon developed for the cavalry. Carbines were short enough to be loaded and fired from horseback, but this was rarely done – a moving horse is a very unsteady platform, and once halted, a soldier can load and fire more easily if dismounted, which also makes him a smaller target (Napoleonic-era and earlier cavalry did fight from horseback, but they fought with sabers and large muzzle-loading 'horse pistols', so called because their large size meant they were most easily carried in a saddle holster, much like the later Colt-Walker revolver). The principal advantage of the carbine was that its length made it very portable. Troops could carry full-length muskets comfortably enough on horseback if just riding from A to B (the practice of the original dragoons and other mounted infantry). Cavalry proper (a 'Regiment of Horse') had to ride with some agility and engage in sword-wielding melées with opposing cavalry or pursue running infantry, so carrying anything long would be a dangerous encumbrance. A carbine was typically no longer than a sheathed sabre, and like a sheathed sabre was carried arranged to hang clear of the rider's elbows and horse's legs. Carbines were usually less accurate and less powerful than the longer muskets (and later rifles) of the infantry, due to a shorter sight plane and lower velocity of bullets fired from the shortened barrel. With the advent of fast-burning smokeless powder, the velocity disadvantages of a shorter barrel became less of an issue (see internal ballistics). Eventually, the use of horse-mounted cavalry would decline. But carbines continued to be issued and used by many who preferred a lighter, more compact weapon even at the cost of reduced long-range accuracy and power, such as artillery troops, who might need to defend themselves from attack but would be hindered by keeping full-sized rifles around; thus, a common title for many short rifles in the late 19th century was artillery carbine. During the early 19th century, carbines were often developed separately from the infantry rifles and, in many cases, did not even use the same ammunition, which made for supply difficulties. A notable weapon developed towards the end of the American Civil War by the Union was the Spencer carbine, one of the very first breechloading, repeating weapons. It had a spring-powered, removable tube magazine in the buttstock which held seven rounds and could be reloaded by inserting spare tubes. It was intended to give the cavalry a replacement weapon which could be fired from horseback without the need for awkward reloading after each shot (although it saw service mostly with dismounted troopers and infantrymen, as was typical of cavalry weapons during that war). In the late 19th century, it became common for a number of nations to make bolt-action rifles in both full-length and carbine versions. One of the most popular and recognizable carbines were the lever-action Winchester carbines, with several versions available firing revolver cartridges. This made it an ideal choice for cowboys and explorers, as well as other inhabitants of the American West, who could carry a revolver and a carbine, both using the same ammunition. The Lee Enfield Cavalry Carbine (LEC) a shortened version of the standard British Army infantry rifle was introduced in 1896, although it did not become the standard British cavalry weapon until 1903. In the decades following World War I, the standard battle rifle used by armies around the world had been growing shorter, either by redesign or by the general issue of carbine versions instead of full-length rifles. This move was initiated by the US Model 1903 Springfield, which was originally produced in 1907 with a short 24-inch barrel, providing a short rifle that was longer than a carbine but shorter than a typical rifle, so it could be issued to all troops without need for separate versions. Other nations followed suit after World War I, when they learned that their traditional long-barreled rifles provided little benefit in the trenches and merely proved a hindrance to the soldiers. Examples include the Russian Model 1891 rifle, originally with an 800 mm (31 in) barrel, later shortened to 730 mm (29 in) in 1930, and to 510 mm (20 in) in 1938, the German Mauser Gewehr 98 rifles went from 740 mm (29 in) in 1898 to 600 mm (24 in) in 1935 as the Karabiner 98k (K98k or Kar98k), or 'short carbine'. The barrel lengths in rifles used by the United States did not change between the bolt-action M1903 rifle of World War I and the World War II M1 Garand rifle, because the 610 mm (24 in) barrel on the M1903 was still shorter than even the shortened versions of the Model 1891 and Gewehr 98. The US M1 carbine was more of a traditional carbine in that it was significantly shorter and lighter, with a 457.2 mm (18.00 in) barrel, than the M1 Garand rifle, and that it was intended for rear-area troops who couldn't be hindered with full-sized rifles but needed something more powerful and accurate than a Model 1911 pistol (although this didn't stop soldiers from using them on the front line). Contrary to popular belief, and even what some books claim, in spite of both being designated 'M1', the M1 Carbine was not a shorter version of the .30-06 M1 Garand, as is typical for most rifles and carbines, but a wholly different design firing a smaller, less-powerful cartridge. The 'M1' designates each as the first model in the new US designation system, which no longer used the year of introduction, but a sequential series of numbers starting at '1': the M1 Carbine and M1 Rifle. The United Kingdom also developed a 'Jungle Carbine' version of their Lee–Enfield service rifle, featuring a shorter barrel, flash suppressor, and manufacturing modifications designed to decrease the rifle's weight. Officially titled Rifle, No. 5 Mk I, it was introduced in the closing months of World War II, but it did not see widespread service until the Korean War, the Mau Mau Uprising, and the Malayan Emergency as well the Vietnam War.