U.S. M1 Carbine in Austria Training Carbines (ÜBÜNGSWAFFEN) National Agencies Additional Info Gendarmerie Bundespolizei Accessories Oddities Bundesheer Zoll Training Rifles Countries throughout the world have occasionally manufactured or contracted for the manufacture of training rifles designed like a primary weapon to limit the level of sound, recoil, and the cost of using centerfire rifle cartridges. They are also safer to train with. The Bundesheer & Bundespolizei When Austria decided in the mid 1950's they wanted a training rifle version of the U.S. M1 carbine they turned to the Austrian company Tiroler Sportwaffenfabirk und Apparatenbau GmbH (now VOERE, Austria). The dimensions of a C02 sporting air rifle they had been manufacturing throughout the 1950's, known as the COMATIK, were similar to the carbine so they modified the COMATIK to handle and operate like an M1 carbine. The trigger housing group was redesigned to operate like that of the carbine and accomodate a M1 carbine magazine. The wood stock was altered to accomodate the M1 carbine oiler and sling. The front sight was designed to appear and work like the genuine front sight. A genuine M1 carbine type 1 flip sight was used for the rear sight. The rifle was fed by spring tension in a tube under the barrel that could hold wither fifteen or thirty 4.5mm metal balls. When filled with C02 it would fire approximately 200 balls before it needed to be refilled with CO2. Two models were manufactured that differed only in name. The CM1 (C02-M1) for the Bundespolizei and the ÜbGer.KM1 for the Bundesheer. Both models looked and functioned the same. The Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) received a total of 500 CM1's/ÜbGer.KM1's by 1960. From this the Bundesheer received 342 with those remaining going to the Bundespolizei. Unofficial indoor practice by members of the Bundesheer with these CO2 carbines earned them the nickname "moth rifle". Twenty of the Bundesheer's ÜbGer.KMl's were converted to artillery training units. One rifle was mounted on an 106mm anti-tank gun and had a range of about 15 meters. This variation does not use a handguard. For anti-aircraft weapon training two of these rifles were mounted on an anti-aircraft weapon platform, in place of the two normal barrels. The sights of the anti-aircraft weapon were left in place. With the retirement from service of the M1 carbine by the Bundesheer in the 1970's, the ÜbGer.KMl was placed in storage. Approximately 200 were released for civilian sales in Austria and Germany in 1988. These specific CO2 air rifles are highly sought after rare collectibles. More detailed information and photographs can be found on our sister website here: M1CarbinesInc.com. The Gendarmerie Our information from Austria indicated the Gendarmerie did not use the Tyrolian CO2 rifle for training. Instead, they used a .22 LR caliber rifle made by Erma Werke, designated the EM1, that closely resembled the M1 carbine. These included both 15 round and 30 round magazines. Operation, size, weight, handling, and appearance was similar to that of the M1 carbine. The EM1 was also sold commercially worldwide by Erma Werke and their successors 1967-1990's. For more detailed information and photographs on Erma Werke and their EM1 refer to The EM1 web pages here: M1CarbinesInc.com. Return to Top of Page