American Rifleman By E. H. Harrison 3/24/2024
Disclosure of details of the M1 carbine development came as a technical "last testament" from Edwin Pugsley, an all-time figure in firearms development. He died Nov. 19, 1975, at 90, after a long career with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. At his retirement in 1950, he headed the research department of Olin Industries. Winchester at that time bought his personal arms collection, assembled during half a century, to round out the outstanding company collection begun in 1866 by Oliver F. Winchester.
It has taken more than 30 years for the complete story of the creation of the M1 carbine to come to light, but at last it has.
For the first time, a true account of the able firearms experts who carried out this successful development in haste under wartime pressure can be given.
The historical fact-finding resulted from publication of the article by Technical Editor M. D. Waite, "All The Way With The M1 Carbine," ( The American Rifleman, Sept.—Nov. 1974), giving the remarkable history of the development and huge production of the U.S. cal. .30 carbine.
That article merely mentioned (p. 42, Sept., 1974) the action of Winchester in developing the carbine which won an official competition and was then produced in vast quantities. The late Edwin Pugsley, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company vice president who submitted this design to the government, and David M. Williams, who invented the well-known gas tappet operating mechanism on the barrel, both were mentioned. Subsequently, The American Rifleman received a letter stating that another Winchester employee, of the same surname as the letter writer, "invented the carbine and should be credited with its design."
The American Rifleman thereupon contacted Edwin Pugsley, then retired, who supervised the M1 carbine program throughout. He stated as follows:
"The carbine was invented by no single man, but was a combination of parts of guns already produced by Winchester, and the work of several of our best mechanics of which Mr . . . . . 's father was one." He then recounted the carbine's history from the beginning, describing its inception and then detailing the work of those who took part by name and by the contribution of each.
The account contains allusions which he knew would be familiar to The American Rifleman staff to whom it was addressed. Where these may not be readily understandable to the reader, brief explanations are inserted in brackets.
Following is Pugsley's account in his own words, assembled from three letters in which he gave this history to The American Rifleman.
"I had charge of the Washington contacts for the Company prior to and during World War II, and began spending considerable time in Washington. Prior to World War II it was quite evident that war clouds were forming rapidly, and at a meeting of some of the Winchester executives with Mr. John Olin present, I told the group that I thought we should be actively working on a military rifle and not get caught without one as we had been in World War I. At that time we had two new model guns ready for production. One was a bolt-action sporting rifle easily converted to a military arm. It was in fact later brought out first as the M/54, and later refined into the M/70. Winchester had had no experience with heavy caliber bolt actions other than the .303 Enfield, as all of our guns were lever action—most of them unable to handle as heavy a round as the .30-'06 although we did furnish a few of our Model 95's for this caliber. The other choice was a new type of autoloading shotgun.
More:
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/who-designed-the-m1-carbine/
Recent Posts
