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The .30 Carbine is a cartridge used in the M1 Carbine, a semi-automatic World War II infantry carbine, and its other variants.
Design and Performance[]
It is significantly smaller than the .30-06 Springfield, used by the M1 Garand. Unlike the .30-06 cartridge, it does not have a spitzer (pointed) bullet; the bullet is rounded, and the cartridge itself is much less powerful than the .30-06. The cartridge is still available for purchase and use today. A standard .30 carbine ball bullet weighs 110 grains (7.1 g), a complete loaded round weighs 195 grains (12.6 g)and has a muzzle velocity of 1,990 ft/s (610 m/s) giving it 967 ft·lbf (1,311 joules) of energy; fired from an 18" barrel. By comparison, a .357 Magnum revolver fires the same weight bullet from a 4-inch (100 millimeters) barrel at about 1,500 feet per second (460 meters per second) for about 550 ft·lbf (750 J) of energy, though it is important to note that the .357 bullet is larger in diameter (caliber) and is normally an expanding or hollow-point design. Also of note is that the above comparison is between a full length 18-inch .30 Carbine barrel and a 4-inch barreled .357 handgun. The .30 Carbine also performs similarly to the .300 AAC Blackout, which fires a 125 grain (8.1 grams) .30 caliber bullet at 2,215 ft/s (675 m/s), slightly eclipsing the .30 carbine.
The .30 Carbine was developed from the .32 Winchester Self-Loading used in an early semi-auto sporting rifle; both rounds are comparable to the .32-20 Winchester round used in carbines and revolvers. .30 Carbine sporting ammunition is factory recommended for hunting and control of large varmints like fox, javelina or coyote. The .30 Carbine generates half the muzzle energy of the typical .30-30 Winchester deer rifle round and one-third the energy of the typical .30-06 Springfield big game round. The game laws of several states do not allow hunting big game with the .30 Carbine either by name or minimum muzzle energy allowed. Overall, .30 Carbine is a fairly weak round.