Hi
Smootik:
It's interesting that there was also an American company called ERMA who manufactured .30 cal M1 Carbines! Here's a link to the info about that:
http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_ermas.htmlErma Werke, based near Munich made the .22 cal clones to assist with training various units of the West German & Austrian Police and army personnel who had been issed with US M1 .30 cal Carbines after WW2.
Extract form the website:
http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_em1.html"Between May 1945 and June 1949 West German police in the American Occupation Zone were provided with American handguns and and 18,966 U.S. M1 carbines. [OMGUS Civil Administration Division, Bad Nauheim, 08 Sep 1949, Semi-Annual German Police Personal & Equipment Report
as of 30 Jun 1949]. More M1 and M2 carbines were provided to the newly formed West German Border police (Bundesgrenzpolizei) in 1952 and to the new West German Bundeswehr in 1956. Records of the U.S. Department of Defense Military Assistance Program maintained by the National
Archives indicate 1950-1963 West Germany was provided with 34,192 U.S. M1 carbines. With the M1 carbines came a very large need for training the Germans how to use the American weapon.
The development and use of .22 caliber rifles constructed to operate and feel like a particular military weapon was fairly common in Europe during the 1900's. One example is a .22 caliber training rifle used by the Germans to train their troops for use of the Mauser K98 main battle rifle. Compared to the full size weapons, the training rifles and their ammunition were less expensive to produce, and helped newcomers to familiarize themselves with the weapons.
When Erma Werke was acquired by Fiberglide in 1961 plans were already underway for production of the EM1 Carbine look-a-like in .22 long rifle caliber for use as a training rifle. The EM1 was adopted for use in training by the Austrian Gendarmerie [U.S. Karabiner .30 M1 by Wolfdieter Hufnagl], who had obtained over 10,000 U.S. M1 carbines 1955-1957. How many EM1's were manufactured and used by the Austrian Gendarmerie is not known."
Yes, .22 cal is useful for many things: I also have an Armi-Jager M74 (M16 clone) and a Ruger model 10/.22 each with laser sights. Good for New Zealand hunting possums (that destroy native plants for food) in the bush - and rabbits (which are out of control in some areas of the country).
Even so, I ONLY shoot what I intend to eat: Rabbit pie is very tasty if you soak the meat in milk for a week to remove the gaminess flavour before cooking in a casserole; possums must be cooked in a pressure cooker with a vegetable stew to tenderise the meat.
But hey, target shooting or "plinking" is fun too!
Not to mention Military re-enactment using blanks of course!
Amd I'm lucky enough to be able to do all of these things!
Kiwigunner
Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:31 am
