Just got around to reading the article.... not bad.
I love the M1 Carbine, so much so I bought two! I'd love to have an M2... oh, the fun times I can imagine with that puppy!
It's a subject that's been beat to death. While there are in fact Department of the Army After Action reports showing the ineffectivness of the Carbine during combat, it was not as widespread as many believe... nor were the described situations an end-all of the the Carbine's effectivness. The most notable scenarios are those during the Battle of the Bulge and the winters in Korea, where temps could get near zero easily. The cold effected the recoil spring, it weakened it and reduced its ability to return the bolt home. There was also reported 'weak recoil impulse' that was contributed to the extreme cold reducing the pressures of the powder in some cartridges, thus causing the bolt to fail to eject, strip and load another.
If you take the Carbine out of its intended role, it will fail to meet 'your' requirements. The Carbine is a 200yd weapon, no more... at that range using Mil-spec Ball ammo you'd expect to see the .30 Carbine hit with the force of the .32acp from the muzzle of a small auto. If you are shooting at an enemy, at 200yds, that's wearing heavy clothing, gear and perhaps body armor(steel plates)... the bullet will fail to penetrate. The Carbine is however extremely effective within 100yrds, even using the Mil-spec Ball loads. In fact, the round will usually overpenetrate the intended flesh target! This was actually another complaint the .30 Carbine had... failing to dump its energy in the target at close range. The .30 Carbine produces approx. the same energy/effectivness of a .357 from a 16" barrel. The .357 comes out of a rifle barrel at around 2000fps, just like the .30 Carbine. Though, the .357 now has more effective defensive loads that ccreate impressive expansion.
If being used for defensive purposes in/around the home, the .30 M1 Carbine is as good a choice as any other PCC when loaded with SP/HP rounds. The Carbine is great as a 'ranch' rifle... it's light, handy, accurate and has a level of potential firepower that's tough to match with simular PCC. Animals as large as whitetail have, and can be taken with the .30 Carbine round... I have family in Ga. that hunts almost exclusively with an M1 Carbine. In fact, about a month ago my brother-in-law took a 14 point buck at 40yrds... obviously, shot placement played the crucial part. On another note, I have done personal penetration testing with my Carbines. I fired at 2" thick concrete stepping stones at 100yrds... every round penetrated and shattered the stones, I could not dig the bullets out of the hillside behind the blocks... they were too deep to get without digging holes. This was of course with FMJ.
While the M1 Carbine was not the end-all of combat arms, and there are far better weapons for that role... if you want a light, handy and accurate small-medium game carbine or a PCC for home defense, the Carbine is a great choice. You can have great firepower with the 30rd magizines... and you can't leave out how darn fun they are to shoot.
