M3 Carbine with Infrared night sight
Dates from 1947 | Object number: PR.5478 and PR.1027
M3 Carbine
| Collection no: | PR.5478 |
| Country: | USA |
| Date: | 1947 |
| Calibre: | .30 in carbine |
| Barrel length: | 905 mm |
| Overall length: | 970 mm (with flash hider) |
Infrared night sight
| Collection no: | PR.1027 |
| Country: | USA |
| Date: | 1950 |
The reason why the United States currently has an ‘M4’ Carbine, though the two weapons have nothing in common.
The M3 was virtually identical to the M2 – itself a select-fire version of the famous M1 Carbine of the Second World War. The only difference was a set of mounts to fit the so-called ‘Sniperscope’, actually an early form of Infra-Red night-sight issued on a limited basis to both US and UK troops in the Korean War.
The large object on top is an IR lamp to illuminate the enemy for the light-gathering optics below. The sight picture would have been extremely fuzzy, greatly limiting the effective range of a full-sized rifle. A shorter-ranged carbine therefore made sense, and helped limit the weight of this bulky combination.