{"id":432863,"date":"2024-09-23T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/?p=432863"},"modified":"2025-10-09T12:23:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T17:23:00","slug":"the-other-30-carbine-firearms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/the-other-30-carbine-firearms\/","title":{"rendered":"The Other .30 Carbine Firearms"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was a little kid, the first real centerfire rifle I remember shooting was my grandfather\u2019s M1 Carbine. I had shot plenty of .22LRs, but this was, in my mind, a real rifle. I loved it and have loved the .30 Carbine cartridge and the M1 Carbine ever since. The cartridge is fascinating. It\u2019s not a pistol round, but it\u2019s also less powerful than something like the 5.56.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army wanted a light rifle, smaller and lighter than the M1 Garand, aimed at arming rear-echelon troops. It was more than a pistol but less than a rifle, and it wasn\u2019t taking an SMG from a soldier who needed it. The .30 Carbine cartridge and the M1 Carbine were popular at the front and quickly filled a role in combat.<\/p>\n

\"M1
The M1 Carbine’s bullets weren’t stopped by winter jackets. (Photo: Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eventually, the .30 Carbine got lost in firearms development. It\u2019s a real shame because the cartridge has a lot of potential as it’s a light recoiling, lightweight option within a couple of hundred yards. Plus, it’s fun to shoot and outperforms pistol rounds. It doesn\u2019t make sense that it only saw such limited success.<\/p>\n

However, this wasn\u2019t due to a lack of trying. The M1, M2, and M3 Rifles weren\u2019t the only weapons chambering the .30 Carbine, and plenty of attempts were made to keep the cartridge relevant.<\/p>\n

The Other .30 Carbine Guns<\/h2>\n

When I say the other .30 Carbine guns, I don\u2019t mean the other guns that competed against the Winchester Carbine. There were over half a dozen entries into the light rifle contest. I\u2019m talking about guns that came post World War II. The United States exported the .30 Carbine cartridge en mass as they ditched the M1 Carbine. It popped up all around the world, from Vietnam to Israel and everywhere in between.<\/p>\n

Even the United States attempted to keep the .30 Carbine kicking. It seems like most of these attempts have faded from relevance, but they\u2019re notable, and we\u2019re notating them! Let\u2019s dig into the other 30 Carbine Guns.<\/p>\n

T-29<\/h2>\n

America saw the STG-44 and decided that it was a neat idea. It wanted to create its own lightweight, select-fire rifle-like weapon. Engineers took the cheap and surprisingly robust M3 SMG and converted it to a .30-caliber rifle. The Army weapon development produced three prototypes. Two had 14-inch barrels, and one had an 8-inch barrel.<\/p>\n

\"T29
The Army tried to combine the .30 Carbine with the M3 Grease Gun (Photo: US ARMY)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The T-29 used an M1 Carbine magazine and also developed a larger magazine. Lots of dimensional changes were made to the bolt, and the gun used two springs to drive the bolt and a shorter, stronger spring for the bugger. The T-29 didn\u2019t make it far, and the Army decided that making the M2 Carbine select fire was easier.<\/p>\n

CEAM 1950B<\/h2>\n

The STG-44 was also subject to competition, and one of the prototypes was the STG 45, which used a roller-delayed design. In 1950, the French dedicated themselves to expanding that idea, and German weapons designer Ludwig Vorgrimler worked with them to produce the CEAM Modele 1950B. At first glance, the 1950B looks like an HK roller-delayed design.<\/p>\n

\"ceam
The CEAM 1950 represented an important step to the roller-delayed rifles of HK (Photo: Jean Huon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ludwig would later develop the CETME series of Spanish rifles, which became the HK roller-delayed guns<\/a>. The CEAM 1950 chambered a few cartridges throughout its prototyping, but they eventually settled on the .30 Carbine. I\u2019d imagine a roller-delayed .30 carbine would be quite enjoyable to shoot and very controllable. These rifles would feature folding stocks and built-in handguard bipods.<\/p>\n

The French abandoned the project, and Ludwig headed to Spain, where we got the famed CETME and HK roller-delayed rifles.<\/p>\n

Cristobal Carbine<\/h2>\n

Hungarian expat P\u00e1l Kir\u00e1ly decided he didn\u2019t like the cold and settled in the Dominican Republic. He had previously designed a submachine gun and brought that design with him. In the Dominican Republic, he modified the design to a .30 Carbine. The Cristobal Carbine used a fairly rare lever-delayed blowback system and was reportedly very reliable and easy to operate.<\/p>\n

\"cristobal
The Cristobal Armed Che (Photo: Gun Wiki)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rifle used a 30-round magazine and a plain wood stock that gave it a disarming appearance. The Dominican Republic produced nearly 200,000 Cristobal Carbines, and the gun remained in service as a training firearm into the 90s. Famed revolutionary Che Guevara even carried one.<\/p>\n

Marlin 62 Levermatic<\/h2>\n

The Levermatic series are neat guns that famously used a cam and roller system for one of the smoothest lever actions ever. They were made in a variety of calibers. The Marlin 62 Levermatic came in .30 Carbine and used a four-round box magazine. This handy little rifle would be quite the brush gun and offered a light recoiling deer gun.<\/p>\n

\"levermatic
The Levermatic is my favorite .30 Carbine (Collector’s Firearms)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Marlin 62 Levermatic was never super successful and was produced in smaller numbers, which makes it rare and highly desirable today. As far as I can tell, it was the only lever-action .30 Carbine ever produced.<\/p>\n

Taurus\/FAMAE CT-30<\/h2>\n

South America is one of those many countries where the .30 Carbine was prevalent. Brazilian firm Taurus teamed up with Chilean firm FAMAE to produce the CT-30. The CT-30 used the same long-stroke gas piston system with a rotating bolt as the Sig Sauer<\/a> 540. This created a very interesting, almost submachine gun-sized light rifle.<\/p>\n

\"Taurus
The CT-30 was entirely too short-lived. (Photo: Ronaldo Olive)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gun used a folding stock, a 30-round magazine, and diopter-style sights. The Sig Sauer 540 series was known for being quite robust and reliable. This gave police forces a platform roughly the size of an SMG with a more potent cartridge. Sadly, due to disagreements between FAMAE and Taurus, the weapon failed after being issued to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

IMI Magal<\/h2>\n

Israel is another country that has an excess of .30 Carbine ammo and even M1 Carbine rifles. Police and security forces have used them for decades. With that in mind, IMI took a look at their Galil and decided we could make it smaller. They did just that and produced the IMI Magal. The Magal scaled down the Galil and created a short, semi-auto carbine.<\/p>\n

\"magal
The IMI Magal combined the Galil with the .30 Carbine cartridge (Photo: IMI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Israelis put them to use in a dispute with Palestine in 2000, but field reports were not good. There were reliability and overheating issues. After that, the military and police suspended additional manufacturing. The gun has faded away with only a brief 555 carbine order to Brazil.<\/p>\n

Olympic Arms PCR .30<\/h2>\n

You might have seen all these guns and wondered why there was no AR. AR-15s chamber everything. Don\u2019t worry; Olympic Arms made an AR chambered in .30 Carbine. This obscure gun was a carbine in the CAR-15 style configuration with a 16-inch barrel, carry handle sights, and six-position stock. The gun used a proprietary magazine for reliability reasons.<\/p>\n

\"pcr
The Olympic Arms PCR. 30 is so rare that I could only find photos on Guns International. (Guns International\/CAR15Dude)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Admittedly, the tiny mag looks odd in the gun. There is some internet legend that I can\u2019t confirm, but these guns were built for foreign export, and only roughly 400 were sold in the United States. They are very rare and command a premium price point. They would be a drastic improvement on the M1 Carbine and probably be one of the more successful .30 carbine rifles.<\/p>\n

The .30 Carbine<\/h2>\n

The .30 Carbine doesn\u2019t get much love these days. It\u2019s faded away for calibers like .223 and .350 Legend. The price of ammo has steadily risen, and it\u2019s certainly not a cheap caliber. I was pleasantly surprised by all the .30 Carbine rifles out there. In fact, I found so many that I didn\u2019t even include the variety of handguns that chambered the round. Those handguns and the light rifle program as a whole are a different discussion for a different day.
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