Carbine

carbine

[′kär‚bēn]

(ordnance)

A rifle of short length and light weight.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Carbine

 

a short, lightweight rifle. The precursor of the carbine was invented at the end of the 15th century. From the 18th century through the first half of the 20th century it was included in the armament of the cavalry and artillery. After World War I1 (193945) the improved automatic carbine became part of the armament of most armies. Certain hunting rifles are also called carbines. [I 1–1 102–31

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.