Tango01  | 20 Jun 2023 8:42 p.m. PST |
"Light rifle is an interesting term. It's a designation we don't use much anymore solely because it's obsolete in the face of the modern assault rifle. In 1939 the light rifle was a very real thing and was a concept being tested and evaluated for modern warfare. America eventually adopted a light rifle, the M1 Carbine. However, it wasn't the only light rifle, and in 1939 Smith and Wesson developed the S&W Light Rifle.
Officially it's the Smith and Wesson Model 1940 Light Rifle, but that's a mouthful, so we'll call it the S&W Light Rifle. Unlike the M1 Carbine, the S&W Light Rifle didn't use a cartridge that fell between a rifle and pistol cartridge. S&W just went with the classic 9mm round that had been around since 1902.
S&W designed its rifle in 1939 and submitted it the same year to military testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. We can assume the rifle performed fine because the military noted they weren’t interested because, firstly, it was a 9mm, which was not a U.S. Service cartridge at the time, and secondly, it didn't permit full-auto fire…"
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Armand |
 deadhead | 21 Jun 2023 1:04 a.m. PST |
Great short article that taught me much. I imagined a 9mm round was just that and would be used in anything that it fitted into. Then I learnt here about British "hot" ammo and "The Brits would later have to separate SMG and handgun ammo to keep handguns from blowing up." Sounds like a massive design failure in almost every way. Must have been if the UK refused them. at a time when the LDV or Home Guard would accept anything that went bang. |
| 4th Cuirassier | 21 Jun 2023 2:05 a.m. PST |
Good find Armand. This weapon appears to be an updated instance of the Winchester type of rifle, as seen in all those westerns. That is, not really a rifle at all, because although it has a nice long barrel it only fires pistol bullets. Rather than the lever-loading action, it has the open bolt thing going on. It's quite hard to get one's head around the idea of a small arms company speculatively designing and building a weapon on the off-chance some army might buy it. You struggle to say what the mission would be for a weapon that fires pistol bullets to 100 yards, one at a time. They make a lot more sense in the hands of Cormac McCarthy's teenage cowboys of the 1950s. You use your pistol to shoot rattlesnakes, your rifle to shoot dinner, and you can put the same bullets in both. |
| Blutarski | 21 Jun 2023 5:44 a.m. PST |
Is it possible that S&W was responding to the US Army invitation to compete in the light rifle trials that ultimately resulted in the adoption of the M1 carbine? I know there were a number of entrants. B |
| Black Bull | 21 Jun 2023 6:48 a.m. PST |
No S&W sent it to the US Army they sent it back saying come back when it's select fire and in 45 ACP. |
| Tango01 | 21 Jun 2023 3:31 p.m. PST |
Happy you enjoyed the article boys… Armand |
| Andy ONeill | 23 Jun 2023 7:31 a.m. PST |
I wonder how long it took before the British realised it was hot ammo. They'd need a third flavour of 9mm bullets for that thing not to destroy itself? |
| Tango01 | 23 Jun 2023 2:50 p.m. PST |
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| Black Bull | 26 Jun 2023 3:05 p.m. PST |
British didn't worry about ‘hot ammo' during WW2 the only 9mm pistols used were the Welrod and the Browning HP both towards the end of the war only became an issue post war with the wide scale issue of the HP and then it was due the excessive ware rather than actually blowing up |
| CeruLucifus | 30 Jun 2023 8:06 a.m. PST |
Forgotten Weapons covered this weapon: YouTube link The video pretty much agrees with this article. |
| Tango01 | 30 Jun 2023 12:26 p.m. PST |
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finally dips his toe into the world of Aeronef.
