The latest series of articles on military firearms (Page 1, Dec. 28-29) is full of half truths and innuendoes. Military rifles of all types are rarely used in crimes.
The Chicago Police Detective Division’s annual Murder Analyses show that a small fraction of 1 percent of the murders in Chicago are committed with military rifles. You correctly described the M-1 rifle as “an unwieldy, 10-pound weapon.”
This is ancient technology, the M-1 being replaced by the M-14 and the M-14 by the current M-16. The newer rifles are lighter, smaller and capable of automatic fire, like a machine gun. The old M-1 is liked by target shooters because of its capable accuracy.
The great power attributed to the M-1 is no longer true. The cartridge was developed in 1906 and, in the following 90 years, many more powerful and efficient cartridges have been developed. The old .30-06 cartridge remains popular and competent for target shooting and hunting a variety of game species. The M-1 carbine uses a much less powerful cartridge, the equivalent of a pistol round. Indeed, the carbine was developed as an alternative to the pistol often for poorly trained soldiers.
After World War II and the expiration of military contracts, manufacturers modified their tooling to produce civilian hunting rifles using the same basic mechanism found in the M-1 rifle. With modern steels, the M-1 mechanism can handle the more powerful modern ammunition.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program sells surplus M-1 rifles only to qualified individuals who can prove participation in regulated shooting competitions. This rifle allows them to compete in local, regional, state and the national matches in which civilians compete against the military and military-style rifles are required. This provides fairness in the competition.
