. 30 Carbine The . 30 Carbine ( 7 . 62×33mm ) is the cartridge used in the M1 Carbine introduced in the 1940s . It is an intermediate round designed to be fired from the M1 carbine ' s 18 - inch ( 458 mm ) barrel . History . Shortly before World War II , the U . S . Army started a " light rifle " project to provide support personnel and rear area units more firepower and accuracy than the standard issue M1911A1 . 45 ACP caliber handgun at half the weight of the M1 Garand rifle or the . 45 Thompson submachine gun . The . 30 Carbine cartridge was developed by Winchester and is basically a rimless . 30 caliber ( 7 . 62 mm ) version of the much older . 32 Winchester Self - Loading cartridge of 1906 introduced for the Winchester Model 1905 rifle . The propellant was much newer , though , taking advantage of chemistry advances . The cartridge ' s relatively straight case and the rounded nose of its bullet led some to believe it was designed for use in pistols . At first , Winchester was tasked with developing the cartridge but did not submit a carbine design . Other firms and individual designers submitted several carbine designs , but most prototypes were either unreliable or grossly off the target weight of five pounds . Maj . Rene Studler persuaded Winchester that the Winchester M2 . 30 - 06 rifle , a design started by Ed Browning and perfected by Winchester engineer Marshall Williams , could be scaled down for the . 30 Carbine cartridge . The M1 Carbine was issued to infantry officers , machine gun , artillery and tank crews , paratroopers and other line - of - communications personnel in lieu of the larger , heavier M1 Garand . The weapon was originally issued with a 15 - round detachable magazine . The Carbine and cartridge were not intended to serve as a primary infantry weapon , nor was it comparable to more powerful intermediate cartridge s later developed for assault rifles . The M2 Carbine was introduced late in WWII with a selective - fire switch allowing optional fully automatic fire at a rather high rate ( 850 – 900 rpm ) and a 30 - round magazine . The M1 and M2 Carbines continued in service during the Korean War . A postwar U . S . Army evaluation reported on the weapon ' s cold - weather shortcomings , and noted complaints of failure to stop heavily clothed North Korean and Chinese troops at close range after multiple hits . However , the carbine was again issued to some U . S . troops in Vietnam , particularly reconnaissance units ( LRRP ) and advisors as a substitute standard weapon . Reports of the ineffective stopping power of the . 30 Carbine in close combat continued through the rest of its U . S . service . In 1994 , Israel introduced the " Magal " , a compact weapon based on the Galil MAR using the . 30 Carbine cartridge . After complaints of overheating and other malfunctions , the " Magal " was withdrawn from service in 2001 . The M1 Carbine is still issued to the Israel Police and Civil Guard . Development . U . S . Army specifications for the new cartridge mandated the caliber to be greater than . 27 , with an effective range of 300 yards or more , and a midrange trajectory ordinate of or less at 300 yards . With these requirements in hand , Winchester ' s Edwin Pugsley chose to design the cartridge with a . 30 caliber , 100 – 120 grain bullet at a velocity of . The first cartridges were made by turning down rims on . 32SL cases and loading with . 308 caliber bullets sharing a similar profile as the U . S . military . 45 ACP bullet . The first 100 , 000 cartridges manufactured were headstamped " . 30 SL " . Civilian use . The popularity of the M1 Carbine for collecting , sporting , and re - enactment use has resulted in continued civilian popularity of the . 30 Carbine cartridge . For hunting , it is considered a small / medium - game cartridge , of marginal power for deer - size game . Even in long - barreled carbines , military - style full metal jacket projectiles do not expand as easily as soft or hollow point . In addition , the high sectional density of the projectile causes the bullet to overpenetrate . Soft - point and hollowpoint cartridges are considered to be more effective for hunting and self - defense , and are offered by Winchester , Remington UMC and Federal Cartridge ammunition manufacturers . The . 30 carbine cartridge is suitable for the same game targeted with the . 32 - 20 Winchester , . 327 Federal Magnum , and . 32 Winchester Self - Loading cartridges as used in rifles and handguns . Handguns . A number of handguns have been chambered for . 30 Carbine ammunition . In 1944 , Smith & Wesson developed a hand - ejector revolver to fire . 30 Carbine . It went through 1 , 232 rounds without incident . From a four - inch ( 102 mm ) barrel , it launched the standard GI ball projectile at , producing a large average group of at ; the military decided not to adopt the revolver . The loud blast is the most oft - mentioned characteristic of the . 30 M1 Carbine cartridge fired in a handgun . In 1958 , the short - lived J . Kimball Arms Co . produced a . 30 Carbine caliber pistol that closely resembled a slightly scaled - up High Standard Field King . 22 target pistol . The Ruger Blackhawk revolver chambered for the . 30 Carbine round has been in the catalogs since the late 1960s . Standard government - issue rounds clock over , with factory loads and handloads producing similar velocities . Universal Firearms made a . 30 caliber pistol from 1964 to 1983 , it was named the Enforcer . Built similar to the M1 carbine it lacked the stock , therefore , making it a pistol or a handgun . Sold to Iver - Johnson in 1983 The Enforcer continued to be made until 1986 . Other handguns chambered for this cartridge include the Thompson Center Contender , Taurus Raging Thirty , and AMT AutoMag III . Comparison . A standard . 30 carbine ball bullet weighs , a complete loaded round weighs and has a muzzle velocity of giving it of energy ; fired from an 18 " barrel . By comparison , a . 357 Magnum revolver fires the same weight bullet from a barrel at about for about 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 . The above comparison is between a full length . 30 carbine barrel and a 4 - inch barreled . 357 handgun . 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 . Chambered weapons . Handguns . Remington & Sons Smoot 1873 Cartridge types . Common types used by the military with the carbine include :