The Tanker Models of the M1 Garand

Proper off the bat, I’m type of mendacity to you. There was by no means a Tanker mannequin of the M1 Garand. The Tanker moniker for shorter, smaller Garand carbines is a misnomer and is utilized by business corporations. The tankers within the M1 Garand period had been already armed with weapons just like the M1 Carbine and M3 Submachine weapons. Additionally they had the principle gun, coax .50 cal, and the remainder of the freaking tank. Tankers didn’t want a brief M1, however loads of different troops did. 

Most notably, the thought of a shortened M1 Garand was connected to paratroopers and for jungle warfare. When you’ve by no means held an M1 Garand, it is likely to be robust to think about how giant and heavy a rifle it may be. The M1 Garand had a 24-inch barrel with an general size of 43.5 inches. It weighed practically ten kilos. In comparison with a contemporary AR-15 carbine, it’d as effectively have been a Kentucky-long rifle. 

The M1 Garand was manner forward of its time, however World Battle 2 proved it wanted to be trimmed down a bit. There have been three efforts to supply a Garand Carbine. Essentially the most well-known is the T26, nevertheless it was one in all three rifles designed to offer a extra compact Garand. 

The M1 Garand Carbines

The M1 Carbine was nice, and so had been the M3 and the BAR, however all of them had their flaws. The carbines didn’t supply the identical vary or penetration because the M1 Garand. They weren’t full-powered rifles and had been compromised. The BAR was larger and heavier than the M1 Garand. A shorter, lighter M1 Garand could be invaluable for paratroopers. Anybody who has watched Band of Brothers (or a YouTube video of Airborne coaching) realizes that jumps don’t at all times go as deliberate. Massive weapons had been difficult to tote while you’re leaping from a airplane. 

The world over, the Pacific Battle raged on. The jungles of the island marketing campaign had been tight, shut in, and brutal. The M1 Garand made jungle warfare robust, and the Pacific Warfare Board noticed the identical flaws with the M3 and M1 Carbine and thought a brief M1 Garand was the reply. This led to 3 completely different prototypes of the M1 Garand. 

The M1E5 Garand Carbine

The primary Garand Carbine was the M1E5. The M1E5 was probably the most radical of the M1 Garand Carbines. John Garand and Springfield Armory went to work to supply a shorter, lighter, extra paratrooper-friendly rifle. The ensuing weapon was the M1E5 with an 18-inch barrel and an under-folding inventory. The weapon was designated a carbine and used a specifically made 18-inch barrel and never a shortened M1 Garand barrel. 

The rifle has a shorter handguard and op-rod. The rifle was 37.5 inches lengthy general and weighed eight kilos and 6 ounces. The M1E5 was taken to Aberdeen Proving Grounds and examined. Testing discovered accuracy was on par with the usual M1 at 300 yards. Recoil, muzzle rise, and muzzle flash had been declared extreme, and a pistol grip was urged. A somewhat dinky one was added. 

Additional testing continued to indicate the rifle was disagreeable to fireside, and its benefits didn’t make up for its disadvantages. The M1E5 was shelved to work on different, higher-priority initiatives. 

The PWB Garand 

Whereas Springfield Armory might have shelved the idea, the Pacific Warfare Board nonetheless noticed the worth of a shorter M1 Garand. It’s solely probably that the PWB didn’t even know that Springfield Armory had already experimented with the same platform. 

The M1 carbine wasn’t reducing it within the jungle, and the Garand was too rattling massive. Thus, they took the M1 Garand and trimmed six inches off its barrel size to create an 18-inch barrel. The PWB additionally had a vertical foregrip match to probably cope with the dearth of an extended handguard. The Chief of the PWB ordered an Military ordnance unit to supply 150 Garand carbines. Not like the M1E5, the PWB rifle participated in area testing within the Pacific. 

The rifle was evaluated by soldiers and platoon leaders. The thought was strong, however the grunts discovered the rifle unwieldy. In reality, they described it as “completely unsuitable for a fight weapon.” The muzzle flash was described as a flash bulb going off in the dead of night. The PWB Garand Carbine was despatched to Springfield Armory. The armorers discovered the PWB rifle to be crude, as you’d think about a well-used, modified in-the-war rifle could be. 

The T26 

The T26 was the Garand, greatest referred to as the Tanker Garand. The armorers at Springfield Armory developed this M1 Garand off of the PWB Rifle and known as it the T26. The T26 used the identical M1 inventory and lacked a handguard or vertical grip solely. 

Testing confirmed that the T26 Garand Carbine resulted in a better muzzle flash, blast, and recoil. It was additionally much less dependable than the usual M1 Garand. Even with these points, an order for 15,000 was positioned for Paratroopers. Nonetheless, it was canceled after Japan’s give up. 

Brief and Candy 

The Tanker M1 Garands had been by no means made for tankers. It’s humorous how that title obtained connected to them. These rifles are simply Garand Carbines and had been designed for fight that benefited from shorter rifles. Nonetheless, it doesn’t look like a Garand carbine was meant to be, and we by no means noticed any large-scale use. You should buy your individual, nevertheless it’s a reasonably penny to take action.