Weapons
However, arms experts and veterans have found that the 30 caliber carbine round was far more capable than what armchair ordnance experts gave it credit for, viewing it historically as simply a glorified side-arm for officers and rear echelon troops. Yet the light-weight carbine performed well enough in so many roles that some view it as the grandfather of the Stoner/AR 15/M-16/M-4 family of infantry small arms.
The M1 Carbine had been fitted with a selector switch, giving it fully automatic fire capability, and was re-nomenclatured as the M2 Carbine. Higher capacity 30 round magazines were issued and newly developed infra-red night vision scopes were fitted more commonly to the M2 than to the Garand. The M2 wasn't exactly a stellar performer. The new magazines were unreliable and it didn't, of course, have the range and knock-down power of the Garand.