DESIGNATION By: Mike “Duke” Venturino Photos By: Yvonne Venturino THE GREATEST WHETHER CARBINE, RIFLE OR SUBMACHINE GUN, AMERICA’S TRIO OF WWII CLASSICS WERE M1’S ALL. American infantrymen rest in the protection of a tank somewhere in Germany. The one in foreground is holding an M1 Thompson SMG. B etween the world wars the US Army determined a new designation system was needed for equipment. For instance, before the change a rifle or handgun was named after the year it was accepted for service. Therefore names such as Model 1903 or Model 1911. After the change in nomenclature the first rifle adopted became the M1, meaning model one but those previously named by year kept their original names. Hence a soldier could be armed with an M1 rifle but also carry a Model 1911 pistol. The new naming system also led to the interesting situation wherein America’s military forces during World War II had a trio of M1s. They were an M1 rifle, an M1 carbine and an M1 submachine gun. To confuse matters a bit more there was the matter of A1’s. That stands for “Alteration One,” and such were M1A1 carbines and M1A1 SMG’s. There was no M1A1 rifle. Despite numerous changes it always remained simply “M1.” Duke owns two M1 rifles. At left is a Winchester and at right is one from Springfield Armory. The official stamping (inset) indicates “M1.” THE 3 M’S Collectively, the three M1’s illustrate the amazing manufacturing capacity of our country during WWII. In round figures the total breaks down to about 6-1/4 million M1/M1A1 carbines, over 4 million M1 rifles and 1-1/2 million M1/M1A1 submachine guns. This is not the same as saying all three designs were WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM • DECEMBER 2015 56
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