Korean War Vet 101 Airborne Sniper

[gazpacho]

I had a very interesting conversation with a Korean War Veteran who served as a sniper in the 101st Airborne. Apparently, he was issued a heavy(er) barrel BAR and shot '30-06 loaded to 50% over SAAMI pressure. This is the first I have every heard this weapon being used in this manner. Has anyone else come across similar information?

 

[nbkky71]

Hmmm...never heard of a BAR used as a sniper weapon before. Perhaps something that a unit armorer cobbled together?

The M1918A2 BAR has two modes of fire: FAST automatic (550rpm) and SLOW automatic (350rpm). It had no provision for semi auto fire.

The US military did have a high-pressue test .30-06 round (Cartridge, Caliber .30, Ball, High Pressure Test, M1) but I doubt that it was used in the field.

Other types of .30-06 ammo included:
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Tracer, M11
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Armor Piercing, M2
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Ball, M2
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Grenade, M3
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Armor Piercing Incendiary, M14
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Ball, Frangible, M22
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Tracer; M25
Cartridge, Dummy, Caliber .30, M40
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Ball, Match, M72
Cartridge, Caliber .30, Blank, M1909

 

[Dr.Rob]

I'd say your leg was being pulled as the BAR doesn't have a barrel that is easily changed, nor would 50% over spec ammo be issued, as it could end up in another weapon.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

The BAR seems like it wouldn't really be optimal for any kind of precision shooting. I've never shot one (which I want to...badly) but it doesn't seem like a good replacement for an M1C or M1D.

 

[Mike Hull]

During the Korean war, the Airborne unit there was the 187th RCT.

For some reason, in the dim recesses of my mind, I seem to remember that the 101st weren't deployed to Korea during that war, but I could be wrong.

Be very sceptical!!

 

[Jeff White]

I don't think the 101st Airborne was an active division during the Korean Conflict. The 187th RCT (Airborne) was the airborne unit actually in Korea. IIRC during the drawdown after WWII, the 101st folded it's colors and was deactivated. IIRC, it was the late 1950s before it was reactivated.

Did this interesting converstation occur at a gunshow? Perhaps next to the beef jerky table?

Jeff

 

[Gordon]

He either used an M-1D or possibly (the USMC did, at least) an 03A4.
The BAR fire from an open bolt as I remember, that certainly is not a good sniper weapon. As to overloaded cartridges, come on!

 

[Chipperman]

What about the Semi-Auto Browning BAR hunting rifles, like the ones available today?
Did they exist during the Korean War, or are they a newer development?

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=002B&cat_id=031&type_id=001

 

[Pilgrim]

The U.S. Army list of engaged units in Korea shows:
1st Cavalry Division
2nd Infantry Division
3rd Infantry Division
7th Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division
25th Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
45th Infantry Division

Of the individual regiments, only the 187 RCT (Airborne) shows up as an airborne unit.

Regarding the organization of the 101st. during the Korean War, the following comes from: 101st Airborne Division

The 101st Airborne Division was reactivated as a training unit at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, in 1948 and again in 1950. It was reactivated again in 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and in March 1956, the 101st was transferred, less personnel and equipment, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to be reorganized as a combat division.

*******
I suspect you were talking to a 'wannabe' veteran. You might want to pin him down to more specific times and places he was in Korea. You will probably find him to be very evasive on the subject and perhaps even claim memory loss due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If he mentions secret discharge papers that hide his true service behind enemy lines, you've got him.

Wannabes are disgusting pieces of vermin that deserve to be exposed for the lying sacks of feces that they are. They undoubtedly suck up free drinks at the VFW, American Legion, Elks, Rotary Club, etc., from people who are awed by their stories and don't know enough military history to scream "Bravo-Sierra!"

Pilgrim

 

[Burt Blade]

Kirk: Readings, Mr. Spock?

(Whirring, chirping, beeping noises)

Spock: Fascinating Captain. Sensors detect a large mass of excrement. Origin is a domestic male bovine.

McCoy: You needed your gadgets to analyze that, Spock?

 

[gazpacho]

I posted here to find or verify what he was saying.

He doesn't seem reticint about talking about his service. He's of (about) the right age, does have a Purple Heart veteran plate. Says he was shot in the leg by a sniper while he was in the chow line. Now that I think about it, he didn't say he was in the 101, while he was in Korea. Might have been me not listening right. He just said that he did serve in Korea, and that he was in the 101. I suppose it is possible that he was in the 101, then was transfered to another unit when he was in Korea. (Not defending his statement, just trying to clarify mine, and come up with a few supposes.)

I know what you mean about wannabes, but he doesn't really strike me as that kind. The conversation happened in an Officemax store, not in any place gun related.

If I see him again, I'll ask about the BAR and service history.

 

[Burt Blade]

In fairness to the vet, he may be old enough where the events of 50 years ago are getting a bit blurry.

 

[Pilgrim]

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened.
- Mark Twain's Autobiography

When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not; but I am getting old, and soon I shall remember only the latter.
- Mark Twain, a Biography

It isn't so astonishing, the number of things that I can remember, as the number of things I can remember that aren't so.
- Mark Twain, a Biography

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

My father, a combat infantryman in the Korean War, trained with the 101st before heading over there. (Dad eventually commanded a quad-fifty halftrack over there.)

He passed away a few years ago, so I can't ask him for details now, but I know he never claimed to be with the 101st in Korea, only that he'd trained with them for a while. He had a "Screaming Eagles" shoulder patch among his war souvenirs (and he didn't keep many).

 

[Gewehr98]

The commercial Browning BAR sporting rifle...

Was first introduced in 1967.

a 50% overpressure .30-06 round would wreak havoc with the military 1918 BAR gas system.

 

[VG]

At John Browning's firs demonstration of the BAR, the gunner shot clay pigeons in the air as confirmnation of accuracy. That's not to say it's a sniper weapon.

Soldiers are sometimes designated as "snipers" by the unit, without any special training or even equipment. As the later part of the Korean conflict was defending a lot of fixed positions, it wouldn't be surprising.

It would be surprising that a soldier knew what SAAMI was, or that the Army had "special" amnmunition loaded as he says.

 

[Sistema1927]

In fairness to the vet, he may be old enough where the events of 50 years ago are getting a bit blurry.

Maybe, but I find it strange that any combat veteran who is not suffering from dementia would ever forget either the unit he served with or the weapons he fought with.