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The US turned out in excess of 10k a day of these things in 3 different factories. There is no way they would put that much effort into producing something that wasn't intended to be used directly in the war.
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In the early part of the war, M1 Carbines were churned out and handed to just about anyone who rated one. Remember, as a replacement for the 1911, the M1 Carbine went primarily to the same types who would have rated a 1911 pistol (cooks, truck drivers, officers, NCOs, rear area types, etc) while the M1 rifle went to the infantrymen. We started WW2 with Springfields and Enfields and a few M1 rifles, and the M1 wasn't fully deployed until 1943-44. We handed any rifles we could to the troops who needed a rifle. Later in the war the lines blurred a bit as street fighting took the place of large fields. A lot of people get their ideas of what was issued from movies, and movies are notorious in their overlooking details. In Korea, there were a lot of M1 Carbines, but a lot of troops liked the extra energy of the M1 rifle. My uncle (1st Marine Division) was issued an M1 Carbine, and he dropped it and retrieved a M1 rifle at the first opportunity due to the ranges involved where they were fighting.