A tale of four carbines

[Mac66]

Still speaking of the M1 Carbine...Everybody knows they were the most produced infantry weapon of WWII. Audie Murphy used one to slay German by the boatload. In the book, With British Snipers to the Reich the author says the little carbine was an ideal weapon carried by his sniper's spotters and was well thought of and envied by regular British infantry who carried big, heavy Lee Enfield bolt guns.

In the book Shots Fired in Anger (yeah I was military book of the month club member) the author carried one in the south Pacific. He was a competitive shooter, gun enthusiast and hunter before the war. He said the carbine was an ideal weapon where encounters with the Japs were generally at close range. A short, light semi auto often made the difference in the jungle.

[xxo]

I always liked carbines.

Some people say that the .30 M1 carbine is not accurate, but they have always shot well for me. The carbine round is expensive and not the best for hunting, but they sure are fun to shoot. Prices on the new carbines are crazy. I friend of mine had one that he bought for $20 from the DCM through the NRA back in the 60's.

I have heard a lot of mixed reviews of the carbine's effectiveness in combat, but my uncle who was a decorated WWII/Korean war vet, though he would never speak of the his experience in combat directly, did say once that he liked the carbine - I took it as high praise coming from him. Another Korean war vet that I knew traded his BAR for a M2 carbine as soon as he could. The light weight of the carbine and it's cartridge allowed him to carry a lot more ammo.

I like the SKS as well – a little heavy but lighter than an AK and more accurate with good ammo, plus there is no 30 rd mag to get in the way when shooting prone.

The British .303 jungle carbine is another fun carbine. The the enfield bolt action can be shot about as fast as a semi-auto for aimed fire.

The old .45 ACP Marlin camp carbine is also a lot of fun to shoot, very accurate and lops up 185 grain JHPs and lead wad cutters without a hiccup.

And Marlin lever guns in .30-30 or .35 Rem. are about as good as it gets for a deer rifle in the bush.

[Mac66]

I always liked carbines.

Some people say that the .30 M1 carbine is not accurate, but they have always shot well for me. The carbine round is expensive and not the best for hunting, but they sure are fun to shoot. Prices on the new carbines are crazy. I friend of mine had one that he bought for $20 from the DCM through the NRA back in the 60's.

I have heard a lot of mixed reviews of the carbine's effectiveness in combat, but my uncle who was a decorated WWII/Korean war vet, though he would never speak of the his experience in combat directly, did say once that he liked the carbine - I took it as high praise coming from him. Another Korean war vet that I knew traded his BAR for a M2 carbine as soon as he could. The light weight of the carbine and it's cartridge allowed him to carry a lot more ammo.

I like the SKS as well – a little heavy but lighter than an AK and more accurate with good ammo, plus there is no 30 rd mag to get in the way when shooting prone.

The British .303 jungle carbine is another fun carbine. The the enfield bolt action can be shot about as fast as a semi-auto for aimed fire.

The old .45 ACP Marlin camp carbine is also a lot of fun to shoot, very accurate and lops up 185 grain JHPs and lead wad cutters without a hiccup.

And Marlin lever guns in .30-30 or .35 Rem. are about as good as it gets for a deer rifle in the bush.

I haven't shot my SKSs in some time, I have 5 of them. I'll get to them this summer.

I did have .303 Jungle Carbine I let get away from me. I do still have a Marlin 35 Rem, a Marlin 94 in 44 mag, another Marlin lever gun in 375 Win, An old Winchester 94 30-30, a couple Savage 99s and some others I still have to shoot.

[xxo]

I have wanted a savage 99 for a while - I like tang safeties and rotary mags, but the prices have gone up a lot on these also.

[Mac66]

I have wanted a savage 99 for a while - I like tang safeties and rotary mags, but the prices have gone up a lot on these also.

I got both of mine when my dad died. He had a 99 in 303 Savage that was made in 1903. He bought it in the early 50s and killed a lot of deer with it. He cut the barrel down and made a straight stock for it in the 1960s. It was kinda worn out by the 1980s so I bought him a 308 99c which had a detachable mag. He carried that until his last year of hunting which was in 2016 before he had his stroke.

I've since fixed the 303 and hunted with it a few times though I've not shot a deer with it yet. That's a 60's vintage 2.5x Weaver scope on it. It makes a pretty good little brush gun.



The 303 Savage was Savage's answer to the 30-30 Winchester though it typically used 180 gr bullets to the Winchester's 150-170 gr loads.

I'll probably carry one or the other this fall. I hope to get the 308 out west hunting in the next year or two.

[xxo]

Nice!

I think the Savage's proprietary .303 round probably cost them some sales back in the day. I would guess that it must not be easy to find .303 Savage ammo today.

[Mac66]

Nice!

I think the Savage's proprietary .303 round probably cost them some sales back in the day. I would guess that it must not be easy to find .303 Savage ammo today.

303 ammo is pretty scarce. I have a couple of old boxes that will probably last the rest of my life. I can also reload it but it uses .311 sized bullets which are hard to find in the proper weight.