short supplies to start, everyone knew the war was just about over. A fighting retreat with no time to service weapons, the Chinese right on top of you all the time, lubrication probably the consistency of karo syrup, if you had any, and cold, cold, cold.
Does anyone know how the M1 Carbine faired in the Battle of the Bulge in the Winter of 1944-45? Were there similar malfunctions?
If there weren't similar failures in the Ardennes I suspect an ammo problem
No there weren't, but the battle of the bulge wasn't anywhere near as cold. Temps were about 14F, vs. Chosin at -35F.
But in extensive arctic testing, the issues with the M1 Carbine that they had at Chosin didn't happen; Chosin is a bit of an anomaly. There is ZERO reason the M1 Carbine wouldn't work, and the Garand would. The Carbine has always been more reliable than the Garand in every test I've ever seen. That's why the whole thing doesn't make sense to me.
Only a bad lot or two of ammo really explains ALL of the problems they had.
Thats wild on the testing, I did not know that. I've shot garands and carbines since the late 80s. I"ve never had a garand jam, I have had jams and failures to feed with the carbine. Granted I shot good reloads mostly in the Garands, and LC ball, the ball had a round now and then with a dud primer though.
Shot the carbine with only LC ball or WW Factory HP for pigs and such. Had probably 5-6 issues over the years with the carbine, probably half with the HP ammo. But some with factory LC. Was to the point in my mind there were lots of thigns I trusted to function all the time, but the carbine was not one of them.
Granted all I have is a CMP Winchester carbine though.
