Korean War: Frozen clothing myth debunked

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

I have these, maybe not the fix for heavy gloves, but an attempt to solve the issue.

Carbine




Garand

[browningautorifle]

Did the fit those to carbines also? I've seen them on rifles...I guess they would have. Still you can't feel through heavy arctic mitts or gloves.

[USGI]

I think he was using "Korean War" vintage ammo, which I've heard is down a bit on power compared to that from the WWII or Vietnam era. Does anyone know how much the performance of the .30 Carbine cartridge itself is affected by extreme cold? - Bob

[browningautorifle]

Ammo IS affected by cold and heat.

[TMB]

It would be more accurate if the total environment was frozen, there is so much more to this than how it was presented.

It would be more accurate if ammo was frozen too and increase the distance.

[twh]

There are as previously stated lots of problems with his testing methodology. If the enemy soldiers clothing was already frozen I would think he had other problems other than being shot most likely frost bite and hypothermia at least. My understanding of the issue is that it related to the thick padded or quilted uniform worn by the Chinese and not frozen clothing and the fact that the m-1 carbine was never intended as a main battle rifle.

[INLAND44]

I like the idea that has been presented before that the GIs in Korea, who had many M2s, were experiencing muzzle rise and firing over the enemy at over 100 yards.

[DaveHH]

I would think that a large amount of layers of thick clothing that was NOT frozen would do better. In any event, the carbine is a killer. It just isn't as good a killer as the big rifle. My Coastie buddy tells about how they shot a polar bear dead with carbines at some base in Alaska. That says something.

[imntxs554]

My Uncle has told me when he wasin Korea and how darn cold it was , he would say they would drop Koreans down at 50 to 75 yards and even a few at 100 or abit over and some would run off , while soldiers were saying " i know hit that blank and blank, he should of dropped" he said alot would use Semi Fire rather than Full due to fact what Inland44 said about the muzzle rise while shooting at the K& C soldiers on the move or still. That there were times to use Full Auto and Not To use it. But for sure i dont care if the Korean Soldiers had Frozen clothig i dont think the Korean would think im okay those bullets bounce right off us. He said and this was his opinion that it was the Cold Weather that was the problem shooting the 30 carbine ammo that the weather was the problem..

Frank

[Bruce McAskill]

My old insurance agent was a Marine and was in the march from the Chosen to UN lines. He said it didn't matter what rifle one had they all froze up from the cold. They had to pee on them to keep them firing and then just fired them as much as possible to heat them up and to evaporate any moisture still on the weapon. The Garand had more range then the carbines but the carbines worked just as well as the Garand's. He never had or saw a problem with the carbines not stopping the enemy.