Carabine, or carbine, a short barrelled musket adapted to the
use of cavalry. In order to admit of its being easily loaded on
horseback, the barrel ought not to be more than 2 feet 6 inches
long, unless it be breech-loading; and to be easily managed with
one hand only, its weight must be less than that of an infantry
musket. The bore, too, is in most services rather less than that of
the infantry fire-arm. The carabine may have either a smooth or a
rifled bore; in the first case, its effect will be considerably inferior
to that of the common musket; in the second, it will exceed it in
precision for moderate distances. In the British service, the cavalry
carry smooth-bored carabines; in the Russian cavalry, the light
horse all have rifled carabines, while of the cuirassiers '/, have
rifled, and the remaining 3/, smooth barrels to their carabines.
The artillery, too, in some services (French and British especially),
carry carabines; those of the British are on the principle of the
new Enfield rifle.* Carabine-firing was at one time the principal
mode of cavalry fighting, but now it is principally used on outpost
duty, and with cavalry skirmishing. In French military works, the
expression carabine always means an infantry rifle, while for a
cavalry carabine the word mousqueton is adopted.