A few days ago I unlocked the M2 Carbine (which should really be the M1/M2 Carbine) and expected it to be a completely overpowered weapon. And after several dozen matches, I’m really wondering why everyone says its supposed to be OP. Yes it shouldn’t be given to troopers and should be given to just assaulters. But honestly I’d consider the M2 to be inferior to many weapons in game. Below is a comparison between the M2 Carbine, the BAR, and the PPD 34/38 box, which is considered the “worst” PPD and also has the highest recoil of all PPDs.
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Lets start off with the most important stat that ruins the M2 Carbine for me, the recoil. The M2 Carbine has over 3 times the recoil of the PPD 34/38 and has much higher recoil than the BAR. This makes the gun very hard to control. The recoil is so bad that even with perfect recoil control firing in full auto while aiming down the sights the guns rear circle will block the front sight, effectively making you fire blind. As a result you’re pretty much forced to spray.
The M2 Carbine does have a higher damage per second and is more effective at range than the PPD but is nowhere near as good as the BAR. At close range its going to be 2 hits to kill (no vitality perk) either way with the M2 and PPD, and with the PPD having a faster rate of fire it will down quicker albeit barely. And the BAR will one hit down meaning its quicker than both. The only advantage the M2 Carbine really has in a close quarters fight is the extra magazine capacity.
I know that the US does not fight Russia so that may turn some people away, but the point of this post is to compare these weapons and ask if the M2 Carbine is really overpowered. As I said earlier it should not be available to troopers and be class specific. I know that I personally will not be equipping this on my troopers due to its ridiculous recoil and from my experience with it in battles. I feel there are definitely better options out there.
Not really, M2 is correct designation. M1/M2 was never a designation for any US Carbine. Seems to be a thing that people just repeat from H&G or other places. Converted M2 Carbines were just M2 Carbines, they stamped a ‘2’ over the receiver where the ‘1’ used to be, but these overstamped conversions were never called M1/M2.
But I think it is a good weapon, it’s just not the most amazing thing. It is possible that it could use a little less recoil, but it isn’t currently too hard to control. The worst part is the obstruction of the sight picture when you are firing, as you have said. One area where the M2 is clearly underperforming is in rate of fire. Currently it is at 680-750rpm, but historically it fired at 750-775rpm.
Here is a video of Ian from Forgotten Weapons firing the M2 Carbine. It certainly looks like there is less muzzle rise experienced irl, but Ian also mentions that it does have a tendency for muzzle rise due to it’s light weight and dropped stock, so it is difficult to determine what the recoil should be like in game to realistically represent this firearm.
(215) M2 Carbine: Assault Rifle or Submachine Gun? - YouTube
I got one too, it’s pretty strong in hipshooting, you might want to use it like a shotgun.
I pretty much agree with you about the visibility, I should be mad at Winchester, but there might be room for some improvement.
However, my personal feeling is that an M2 carbine held by an AI will kill more than a BAR.
So, I remembered there is actually a battle report of the M2 Carbine being used in Manila, and there is one part I find particularly interesting in the case of Enlisted’s representation of the M2.
In section 5 point e, it says “The greater accuracy of the carbine resulting from its comparatively slight reaction to recoil is a decided advantage over the Thompson sub-machine gun”
So it could really be that in game the M2 Carbine has too much recoil, if the Army compared it favorably to the Thompson in this regard.
Here’s the report, for anyone interested:
BATTLE TEST OF THE CAL. 30 Carbine M 2 ( T 4) 25 Mar 45 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
