M1 Carbine penetration power?

[Marshal Dan Troop 70448]

Interesting. MT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPg30GURudY

[BLACKFOOT SASS #11947]

If I get into a gunfight with a frozen towell I will feel safe using a .30 carbine. Good to know. If I get into a fight with an enemy wearing heavy quilted outer clothing I am going to use a 30/06.

 

Blackfoot

[Michigan Slim]

I do know one will penetrate a porcupine from forehead to foreskin!

[Ace_of_Hearts]

The penetration of a fully jacketed bullet depends not only on bullet weight but also on speed.

The amount of additional damage, hyperextravasation, depends almost totally on speed and can be many time that of the bullet wound channel.

A sharp stick, such as an arrow, can penetrate deeply but not do much damage. A high speed bullet can penetrate only a short distance but do extensive damage to the surrounding tissue.

The 30 carbine is a sharp stick without much force behind it, but in a close encounter it can be an effective means of projecting lethal force.

[Trailrider #896]

As a teen, I talked with members of the "Chosen Few", members of the 1st Marine Division. Almost to a man, their biggest complaint against the M1 Carbine was its tendency to jam in cold weather. Now, they didn't get specific, but I suspect there were two reasons for this. The first might have been the temperature sensitivity of the powder. It may very well have been that sub-zero temperatures caused sufficient decrease in pressure against the short-stroke gas piston so that insufficient impulse was given to the operating rod to overcome both inertia and friction, resulting in the action not opening all the way. The second thing that decreased propellant performance would have caused would have been reduced velocity, which, of course, would have affected terminal ballistics. Whatever the exact cause, the Marines got rid of the M1 Carbine after Korea.

 

I don't know what unit this was, but I also talked with an Army veteran of Korea who unit was relieved on the front line by a Marine unit. According to the soldier, his outfit was mostly armed with M1 Carbines. He said the Marines were all armed with M1 Rifles, except for the officers and NCO's, who were carrying Thompsons! He said they were the toughest-looking bunch he'd ever seen, and he was almost more scared of them than of the North Koreans or Chinese (don't remember which they were facing)!

 

I do know this: When I was on a dispatch to a missile site in the mid-1960's, up Montana-way, I was less than confident of the protection afforded us by our site security guard, who was armed with an M2 Carbine and one (1) magazine with 10 rounds of FMJ ball ammo, when there might have been enemy agents lurking with at least a scoped high-powered bolt action rifle. I always told the guard to keep that piece on semi-auto and try and shoot out the spot lights (at night). We never saw an AR-15 the whole time I was there. They were all pipelined to 'Nam. After I complained, they started issuing a second magazine. Fortunately, at that point in history, we never had an incident. That was not true at another base in the early '70's. But I don't have any details of that!