First showcased earlier this year during the SHOT Show, the Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm semi-automatic carbine is one of the many new products for the year 2014 announced by the Italian-based Chiappa Firearms company.
Exactly one year after the official launch of the Chiappa M1-22 carbine in .22 Long Rifle rimfire caliber, clone of the classic Winchester M1 Carbine (developed by ex-con David Marshall Williams for the Winchester Repeating Arms company, and now famous for being the most widely produced American military-issue gun ever!) the Chiappa Firearms company raised the stakes by manufacturing a higher caliber, more versatile variant of the same platform.
Seven million M1 Carbines were manufactured during the years, and some Companies still manufacture it; as such, the market is literally awash with M1s. And yet, the Italian gun industry had to pay a due homage to this little jewel.
The United States military first deployed the M1 Carbine during World War II, and kept it in service all throughout the Korean War and the Vietnam War; millions were purchased by local Police departments in the United States, as well as by countless military forces and law enforcement agencies abroad.
The post-war reconstruction effort in Europe saw the United States provide tens of thousands of M1 Carbines to the Italian Government, which issued them to the Polizia di Stato and the Carabinieri. These law enforcement agencies used them extensively for about forty years, and kept them in reserve until very recent times.
Chiappa's second take on the M1 carbine design is now chambered on the 9x19mm round (a.k.a. 9mm "Luger" or 9mm "Parabellum") − quite an upgrade over the earlier .22 Long Rifle rimfire chambering.
The Chiappa M1-9 carbine offers the quality of a factory new rifle with plenty of spare parts and accessories available; an undisputable advantage over the plentiful vintage .30-caliber M1 carbines on the market is that in several Countries (mostly European), 9mm ammunition is cheaper and easier to find than .30-M1 Carbine, and is also available in a plethora of variants, while .30-M1 is basically only available in standard 110-grain FMJ round nose loads.
The Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm semi-automatic carbine is 89cm/35" long overall and sports a cold hammer-forged 457mm/18" barrel; its controls configuration − trigger system, manual safety, magazine release button − fully remains the same as in the original M1 Carbine.
The main difference between the vintage M1 Carbine and the Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm is in the working system: while the .30-caliber M1 used a gas-operated piston, the Chiappa M1-9mm carbine is a standard blowback-operated design.
The Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm semi-automatic carbine is available with a baseline wooden stock or a synthetic stock, and sports a fixed front post sight and a fully adjustable rear sight for windage and elevation − both being exact copies of the original M1 Carbine sights, as well as the same found on the previous Chiappa M1-22 carbine. The M1-9mm carbine also features two scope mount attachment points, right on top of the receiver.
All metal components sport a matte black finish; the bolt of the Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm carbine is manufactured out of steel, while the receiver and the magazine well are made out of lightweight alloy to keep the overall weight under the 2,67kg./5.9lbs. threshold. The lower portion of the trigger assembly is made out of polymer.
The Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm carbine feeds through Beretta 92 type magazines. Two 10-rounds magazines are issued with each gun, but all Beretta 92 or Taurus PT-92 magazines, no matter the make or capacity, will fit. This of course means that compatible magazines, of variable capacity − ranging from 10 up to 25 or 30 rounds! − are available cheaply and by the numbers as aftermarket accessories to Chiappa M1-9mm carbine owners worldwide, offering substantial firepower for "when it counts".
Now, ten long months after its first introduction, the Chiappa Firearms company told all4shooters.com that the M1-9mm carbine is finally rolling out of its manufacturing lines en masse, and will be available to hunters, sports shooters and average citizens looking for an effective, reliable and affordable home and property defense weapon by the end of the month.
The Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm carbine will sell in Europe at around 484,70€ for the polymer stock version and around 553,15€ for the wooden stock model; U.S. buyers can instead plan to spend up to $539.00 for the black synthetic stock version and up to $699.00 for the wooden stock version, although the street price may be even lower. Other variants are available in the United States only, where the Chiappa Firearms M1-9mm is known as the "Citadel M1-9mm Carbine" and is a Legacy Sports International exclusive.
