Gunplummer
New member
I was looking at some photos of the French in Vietnam and one showed a French soldier with an M1 carbine. It really looks like it had a grenade launcher attachment on it. I never heard of that. Possible?
M1 Carbine
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Gunplummer
New member
That certainly looks like it. I have a launcher I picked up with a box lot, and I don't know what it goes to. It clamps like the carbine model in the picture, but looks like it goes to an FN-49. It has a flip up sight and is marked by the same company(MA in a circle) that made them for the FN-49, but the graduations are in yards, not meters.
IIRC, the carbine grenade launcher had no special sight; I think it was sort of a last ditch thing, or "let's see what else we can hang on the little rifle for the fun of it." I think some had a officer's latrine built into the stock somewhere.
The carbine grenade launcher blank cartridge was also the noise making blank cartridge; no carbine noise blank was ever issued in U.S. service.
Jim
The carbine grenade launcher blank cartridge was also the noise making blank cartridge; no carbine noise blank was ever issued in U.S. service.
Jim
Gunplummer
New member
Bend the barrel? Remember the grenade launcher attachment for the M-16?
Not for use with the M1A1 as it would collapse the folder, also often just a few grenades would break the Carbine stock, we had mostly M2's in Korea and the heavier stock was not as apt to split from the recoil. Also definitely something you did not shoot from the shoulder.
For launching grenades the task was best left to big brother..the M1 Garand.
For launching grenades the task was best left to big brother..the M1 Garand.
If you ever get a hankering to read about Viet Nam, read Bernard Fall's Hell In A Very Small Place.
A quintessential book on the battle of Dien Bien Phu. He was killed reporting after the book was done. He talks about the French paratrooper's love of the M1 Carbine. (It's also a complete myth that it was solely the Legion at Dien Bien Phu, they were a small contingent of battle; a minority of the French forces)
A quintessential book on the battle of Dien Bien Phu. He was killed reporting after the book was done. He talks about the French paratrooper's love of the M1 Carbine. (It's also a complete myth that it was solely the Legion at Dien Bien Phu, they were a small contingent of battle; a minority of the French forces)
Bill DeShivs
New member
And they made them look like Hi Point carbines!
The Army began around 1930 to "rationalize" ordnance model numbers, beginning with M1 for everything, so there wan an M1 rifle, M1 carbine, M1 SMG, M1 canteen, M1 helmet, etc. Naturally,, the full nomenclature was rarely used.
Just FWIW, in service the M1 carbine was never called the "M1", that term being reserved for the M1 rifle. The M1 Carbine was just called the "carbine", as "That's my carbine over there." If for some reason there was a need to distinguish an M1 Carbine from an M2 Carbine (the M3 Carbine was unknown) the term would be "M2 Carbine" or "M1 Carbine".
The term "M1" alone in reference to an individual weapon always meant the M1 Rifle, and it was rarely called by any other term. In the very early (pre-WWII) days, the rifle might be referred to as "the Garand" but by the start of WWII, the Johnson and other rivals were gone and the rifle was called either the "M1" or simply "rifle" (as in "that's my rifle").
The other "M1" in common use was the M1 Thompson SMG, almost always called the "Tommy gun" whether the M1928A1, M1 or M1A1. The later M3 and M3A1 SMGs were universally called "grease guns" from the resemblance to the automobile maintenance tool.
Jim
Just FWIW, in service the M1 carbine was never called the "M1", that term being reserved for the M1 rifle. The M1 Carbine was just called the "carbine", as "That's my carbine over there." If for some reason there was a need to distinguish an M1 Carbine from an M2 Carbine (the M3 Carbine was unknown) the term would be "M2 Carbine" or "M1 Carbine".
The term "M1" alone in reference to an individual weapon always meant the M1 Rifle, and it was rarely called by any other term. In the very early (pre-WWII) days, the rifle might be referred to as "the Garand" but by the start of WWII, the Johnson and other rivals were gone and the rifle was called either the "M1" or simply "rifle" (as in "that's my rifle").
The other "M1" in common use was the M1 Thompson SMG, almost always called the "Tommy gun" whether the M1928A1, M1 or M1A1. The later M3 and M3A1 SMGs were universally called "grease guns" from the resemblance to the automobile maintenance tool.
Jim
J walker, Rarely would you find a Carbine for sale with the grenade launcher attached. The unit is actually fit over the front sight and the bottom portion swivels under the barrel and held tight with a wing nut and used a special cartridge for launching. Some witt say the blank cartridge was used but that is not the case.
Not the most ingenious idea but they were cheap and worked but were quite hard on the Carbine.ok,
Not the most ingenious idea but they were cheap and worked but were quite hard on the Carbine.ok,