Not neccessarily - the WW2-era M1 carbine used a bullet smaller than regular rifle rounds, and similar in shape (albeit longer) to automatic pistol ammo.
Well I meant: do pistol caliber long guns need to be carbine length, or can the be longer?
Also tellingly, rifle rounds usually come 20/box, pistol and .30 carbine come 50/box. They were intended to replace pistols for some crews in WWII. Light as hell, at least unloaded.
The M1 is a nice-looking gun - an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. I see them around every now and then.
All modern pistols are rifled.
You can easily chamber a rifle for pistol rounds, and plenty have been. See here, just for example. You can’t easily chamber a pistol for rifle rounds, because the rounds are too large for a magazine in the handle, limiting you to a single shot or a revolver, and because the recoil would likely break your wrist. Even small rifle rounds like 5.56mm NATO are significantly higher energy than giant pistol rounds like a .44 magnum (based on my few minutes of googling - anyone with better info feel free to correct me).
Indeed, I think of the M1 carbine as a sort of proto-PDW: intended to be more powerful than a pistol, but not as heavy or powerful as a rifle. It’s problem, if you can call it that, is that if you expect it to be an assault rifle, you’ll find it underpowered.
I would define a Carbine as any rifle-type weapon that is designed to be smaller, such as for vehicular use. Whether it is by making the weapon shorter or giving it a collapsing stock (M4 vs. M-16), or by actually making it a smaller weapon (the M1 Carbine vs the M1 Garand). I could see an SMG being defined as a carbine, except that they’re already defined as SMGs, and it’s hard to beat linguistic inertia.
The term “carbine” has undergone some evolution and so today is used in a couple of different ways, some overlapping and some not.
Originally in muzzleloader days, a carbine was a cavalryman’s firearm, shorter than a musket and able to be fired from horseback but more powerful than a typical pistol.
Then when large-caliber revolver cartridges were developed, short easy-to-wield guns firing the same cartridges were developed, allowing the same ammunition to be fired with greater accuracy and range. This is the basis for one definition of carbine: a short-barreled rifle that shoots a handgun cartridge. This includes the “carbine conversion kit”, when a standard handgun is given a stock, a barrel extension, an expanded magazine and improved or telescopic sights; fans of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. tv show may remember that the agents used guns of this type.
Another definition is a standard rifle made shorter and lighter for use in situations where tight quarters and ease of handling is paramount. For example, paratroopers might carry a gun that is similar in design to an infantryman’s rifle except for having a shorter barrel and a folding stock to reduce overall length.
Yet another definition is a gun that fires a cartridge that is intermediate in size and power between a handgun round and a rifle round. The M1 Carbine used just such a special cartridge.
Finally, compared with WW2 era “battle rifles” that shot large powerful rounds like the 30-06 and the .303, today’s “assault rifles” verge on being carbines by definitions 3 & 4.
I want one almost enough to have a gun in the house (I’m best off without one). Specifically, I want one made at the Rock-Ola jukebox factory that used to be just a few Km from my house.
dropdad had a .44 Mag leveraction rifle that about tore my shoulder off first time. Couldn’t imagine shooting his .44 Mag revolver.