The M1 Carbine is the standard by which all PDWs are measured.

[JASmith]

The point is that we are criticizing decisions made nearly a century ago. The technology framework folks had to work with then is dramatically different than it is today.

As one whose profession was weapon design and assessment for things other than firearms, I have a deep appreciation for how seen, unseen but nevertheless real constraints affect a design that gets adopted.

So, yes, I think the designers did the best they could do even though I have a huge disdain for the cartridge’s effectiveness as a military small arms cartridge.

Regarding LE and civil use today, new bullet technologies make this an excellent self-defense, small game, and light deer harvester. Those same technologies make the needle bore .223 Rem even better on all those categories.

But wait, the .223 was designed and developed a quarter century and a World War later. That war ushered in the atomic bomb. jet engines as serious propulsion devices, radar, and so on. The ensuing cold war, space race and other superpower competition brought forth even more revolutionary changes in our understanding of how things work.