armoury
KING ARMS M1 CARBINE
THE “GREATEST
GENERATION”
CARBINE
IT SEEMS THAT LEZ LEE HAD BEEN WAITING AGES BUT FINALLY HE MANAGED TO GET HIS HANDS ON ONE OF THESE
BAD BOYS... BUT WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT?
It is almost like the term “carbine” was created for this
little lead launcher but before I rattle on about the pros
and cons, there is a wealth of history that, out of sheer
respect, needs to come first.
HISTORY
The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use, .30 cal. semiautomatic
carbine that was a popular and well-respected
firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean
War and well into the Vietnam War, fielding a service life of
a little over 30 years.
Borne of the Winchester family, this compact firearm
was the outright winner from a party of 11 guns put
through their paces at the request of the United States
Army in 1938 while looking for a more compact, practical
and user-friendly firearm to fill a void where a typical “long
rifle” would prove to be cumbersome and less practical
for certain elements of the military. A weapon that sat
somewhere between a pistol and a rifle and, working
alongside the M1 Garand, this carbine had a tough act to
shadow. You might think that at a total length of just 35
inches, 4 twists in the barrel and a muzzle energy of just
under 2,000 feet per second with the .30 pistol calibre
round, offering an effective range of around 200 metres
(or yards in those days) would not appeal to many, but that
was not the case as it was actually favoured by most due to
its size-weight ratio, manoeuvrability and the pure ease of
use.
Some 6,500,000 carbines were eventually produced at
$45 a pop, which was half the cost of its big brother, the
M1 Garand, which includes the M1A1 Para folding stock
version (obviously favoured by paratroopers due to its
compact stature), the M2 select fire model which ultimately
necessitated a larger 30 round “banana” magazine and
even an M3 infra-red sighting system for night-time ops.
KING ARMS
King Arms was founded in 2004 with a vision and
determination to ensure absolute customer satisfaction by
providing precision products and outstanding service. In
2015 King Arms moved from Hong Kong to Taiwan, the
airsoft capital of the world, where they have continued
to provide excellent products of the highest quality,
coupled with competitive price points. Their work with
leading firearms manufactures allowed (and encouraged)
them to provide their customers a level of innovation and
authenticity that is now a world class leader in the airsoft
industry. King Arms’ sole mission is to create premium
airsoft replicas in response to the ever-evolving industry,
ultimately to the flawless satisfaction that customers have
come to expect in the 21st century.
FROM TAIWAN TO A SKIRMISH FIELD NEAR YOU
I have been waiting and waiting …and waiting some more
to get my hands on one of these for a very, very long time
“I WAS DEFINITELY HAVING “A MOMENT” WHEN I LIFTED IT FROM THE CARDBOARD
BOX AND IT FELT SOOOO GOOD! FINALLY TO HAVE AND TO HOLD, FOR RICHER, FOR
POORER UNTIL DEATH DO US PART!”
14
JULY 2020