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Title:	CARBINE -  U.S. CARBINE M3 .30 SN# 6606525
Maker/Manufacturer:	WINCHESTER
Date of Manufacture:
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 3239
Measurements:	OL: BL:

Object Description:

U.S. CARBINE M3 .30 SN# 6606525
Manufactured by Winchester, New Haven, Ct. -



Weapon transferred to the Springfield Armory NHS by Rock Island Arsenal on 23 July 1971.

Notes: "The U.S. Carbine M3 was basically the select-fire (M2) version of the M1 Carbine, fitted with mountings that would accomodate various models of infrared night sighting devices.... The canvas bag holds battery pack and accessory items....
Virtually everyone with any interest in firearms is familiar with the World War II and Korean War-vintage M1 carbine. More than six million of these compact shoulder weapons were turned out by such diverse companies as Winchester Repeating Arms, IBM, General Motors, and Rock-Ola. The carbine assumed a number of forms in addition to its standard M1 semi-automatic configuration. Fitted with a wooden pistol grip and a folding metal stock, it was designated the M1A1 and was used by airborne troops. With a full-auto sear mechanism and selector switch added, it was the select-fire M2. And the M2, with the standard sights removed and night vision equipment installed, became the M3.
Known during its development stage as the T3, the M3 Carbine was made by Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and the Inland Manufacturing Division of General Motors. The earliest M3s were equipped with an infrared light source below the stock and the infrared detecting sniperscope above the receiver. It was an extremely cumbersome affair, the sight and light source weighing about as much as the carbine itself. The device did, however, work. Sighting through the sniperscope on a pitch-black night, a shooter could discern recognizable figures moving about in what appeared to be an eerie green fog.
Your not likely to see many M3 Carbines outside of a museum. Because it was adopted in August 1945, immediately following the end of hostilities, only 1,920 were produced." - Atlas Editions, Inc.

'The Carbine M3 was simply an M2 with suitable mounting prepared on the receiver to take various models of infra-red night-sighting devices. No open or conventional sights were provided. It was produced in limited numbers as a semi-prototype; only about 2,100 were manufactured compared to 5,510,000 M1, 150,000 M1A1 and 570,000 M2 carbines" - Hogg & Weeks

References:
Hogg, Ian V. & John S. Weeks. MILITARY SMALL ARMS OF THE 20TH CENTURY. 7th Ed. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 2000.