Carbines are lighter and more portable than standard rifles.
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卡宾 is a phonetic loan from English 'carbine' (originally from French carabine). The native-component 枪 ('gun') is then tacked on as a category marker — same loan-plus-classifier pattern as 吉普车 (Jeep + 'car') and 啤酒 ('beer' + 'alcohol').
