Korean War Era Gun Lube

[Ky Larry]

I have been reading about various cold weather gun lubes and it got me to wondering about Korean War era military gun lubes. I have read that the U.S.Marines around the Chosin Reservoir faced some of the coldest weather ever endured by American fighting men. What kind of gun lube was in general use? How effective was it? Did guns gum up and become unusable? Anyone here with personal experience? In particular, I'm interested in the effect of cold weather on the 1911 pistol.

P.S. The more I read about the courage and heroism of these Americans, the more impressed I am. They were truly heros in every sense of the word.

 

[Tommygunn]

I don't know about Korea per se, but WW2 saw some frigid weather too, and I recall reading about graphite being used --ie., pencil lead. It doesn't freeze, was common, and also used in dusty or desert environs where dust & sand was an enemy to weapons.
Another story I heard was soldiers urinating on frozen Garands to thaw them out ..... But hey, atleast it allowed them to shoot back.

 

[AK103K]

The usual lube for the M1 is/was Lubriplate.

I believe as weather got colder, the amount used got lighter to the point of nothing.

Peeing on your M1 in extreme cold weather isnt a good idea. I believe there were reports of it being so cold in places in the Korean conflict, that it was literally freezing on its way to the ground. I think you'd find your already cold M1 froze up even more when you were done.

I have seen reports of urine being used as a improvised cleaning method with corrosive ammo when standard bore cleaner was not available.

 

[Drail]

Army Field Manuals contained warnings about small arms operation in extreme cold conditions (or sandy dusty conditions). Users were instructed to run the weapons dry with no lube. If a weapon is outside in freezing conditions all lubes will reach a point where they thicken. A pistol carried next to your warm body should not have as much of a problem.

 

[Runningman]

have been reading about various cold weather gun lubes and it got me to wondering about Korean War era military gun lubes. I have read that the U.S.Marines around the Chosin Reservoir faced some of the coldest weather ever endured by American fighting men. What kind of gun lube was in general use? How effective was it? Did guns gum up and become unusable?

When I was a kid back in the 60s I had a neighbor that was in Korea. He never talked about the war much. But I do remember him telling a story.

Short version is they were on patrol in Korea at night in extremely cold weather. More or less ran into the enemy at very close distance. Visibility was poor. Everyone saw each other about the same time. Both sides raised there rifles, than tried to fire. From what he said. Not one rifle on either side would fire because it was so cold. After that people were going all different directions for cover.

 

[GRIZ22]

If a weapon is outside in freezing conditions all lubes will reach a point where they thicken.

Synthetics generally don't thicken like petroleum based lubes but they didn't have those in general usage in the early 50s.

 

[481]

I'd be willing to bet that more than few soldiers visited the motor pool or acquired a bit of motor oil from a passing armor column for the purpose of lubricating their weapons over the course of last half of the twentieth century and the wars of that period.

During WWII, the Russians had the intelligence to "thin" their issued lubricant oil with a little fuel which served to both reduce its viscosity and depress its pour point making it useful at lower temperatures.

The American soldier is an inventive sort, I think, and I believe that they have resorted to similar "expedients" with very little notice from most.

 

[gglass]

It is a good thing that we live in modern times, and have advanced technology like Mobil 1 Synthetic grease! All of my firearms are lubed with Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease because no gun lube has the millions in research & development that you get with Mobil 1.

Benefits:
Excellent resistance to rust and corrosion. (ASTM D 1743 Test = Pass)
Excellent resistance to water washout. (ASTM D 1264, 175ºF = Excellent)
Outstanding lubrication over a wide temperature range. (- 40 F to 302 F)

I choose Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease because it will prevent corrosion, resist washout by water or even sweat, and it keeps my firearms slick at temperatures that would kill me.

You can keep the gun brand marketing... I'll take the research & development.

 

[Quoheleth]

In ABOUT FACE, Col. David Hackworth recalled that in Korea (he was US Army, but in-country during almost all of the war, thus he endured that first, horrible winter), they basically used anything they could to make the guns function including the grease that congealed on the top of C-rations. He also said that actions sometimes froze so tightly that the only way they could be made to operate was to kick them open/loose. This included our venerable M1 Garand and Carbine. Men would frequently sleep with them to keep them usable. Of course, with crew-served weapons that was impossible.

I know I read - but don't think it was in Hack's book - that there were several catastrophic failures of machine guns, mortars, and various artillary pieces where the first round(s) fired after a long freeze literally blew the gun apart. The frozen steel simply couldn't take it.

Q