Back in 1938, the US Army first thought about the need to re-equip servicemen of the so-called "second line" (crews of combat vehicles not participating in infantry combat, gun crews and other soldiers who are not entitled to a "full-fledged" rifle according to the state) from self-loading pistols to light carbines. In 1941, by order of the army, Winchester developed a new cartridge.30 Carbine (7, 62 × 33 mm).
The same firm Winchester also developed a light self-loading carbine for this new cartridge, which was put into service under the designation "Carbine, Caliber.30, M1".
More than a million units of these weapons were produced, which took their niche on the battlefields of World War II and received the affectionate nickname "baby garand", in honor of the "full-size" rifle M1 Garand, which was at the same time the main weapon of the American infantry, a smaller version of which it resembled a bit due to a number of similarities in construction and design. By the end of the war, the M1 rifle was already in service with many countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.
With the revival of the state of Israel, the M1 became one of the first rifles that came into service with the IDF through Czechoslovakia and contributed to the outcome of the war of independence. The M1 rifle was in particular demand among the commando squads created according to the British model due to its low weight and compactness. And it remained in service until the mid-50s.
After 1955, a massive rearmament of the IDF began with the FN-FAL rifle and the Uzi PP, and it was decided to transfer the M1 carbine to the police and Mishmar Ezrahi (civil self-defense squads subordinate to the police). The idea was, by and large, successful, if not for one "but". Convenient and short for combat, the M1 turned out to be long and inconvenient for a patrolman in a police car, therefore, without thinking twice, the Israeli gunsmiths set up a conversion of the M1 into the M1A1 according to the American model. In this form, the rifle served faithfully for more than 30 years.
But the world does not stand still, time passes, things age, and M1 is no exception. Having established the production of parts and barrels for the repair of M1 carbines, the Israelis decided not to stop there. By the beginning of the 90s, a gradual modernization of the barrels in service began. The program did not receive any names, however, as well as coverage in the press. The updates were quite modest, the M1 received a polymer stock instead of a wooden one, a folding polymer stock and small replacements of internal mechanisms for more accurate and wear-resistant ones. Some copies received new mounts for optics. And in this form, the M1 served for almost 20 more years.
Finally, the 21st century has come, the age of high technologies. The army received the TAVOR complex, the special forces received the X-95 complex. But what about the police? If the plastic M1 is still suitable for civil defense, then for the police of the 21st century it is clearly an outdated weapon. It was impossible to re-equip the police with weapons for army ammunition 5, 56x45 mm, this ammunition is dangerous to use in police operations due to its excessive power and trauma, and it is unreasonably expensive to develop a completely new weapon platform exclusively for the police. Moreover, the cartridge 7, 62x33 mm absolutely suited the police.
Without thinking twice, the gunsmiths decided to delve into the long-suffering M1 again, and at the end of the first decade of the new century, the light saw the result of their work - a deep modernization of the M1 HEZI SM1. A hybrid of a carbine and a PP, the SM1 received all possible modern "nishtyaks" - a bulpup layout, an ergonomic polymer body, an automatic firing mode, an improved magazine for 30 rounds and Picatinny rails. So another 30 years of life for the M1 carbine is guaranteed.
