The PLA Goes Gun Shopping

Chinese troops went into Korea carrying the strangest collections of small arms ever: Japanese rifles, Chinese Mausers, American Springfields and carbines, Thompsons and grease guns, Czech light machine guns, British Brens and Enfields, and more. So suppose you’re a Chinese infantryman who has just overrun an enemy position. There are American weapons lying around, and they’re free. What do you take? In this episode, we go gun shopping with the PLA, in the enemies' stores. The M1 and M2 carbines were light, handy, and well suited to close fighting. Thompsons offered terrific short-range firepower until the .45 ammunition ran out. BARs, Brens, Enfields, and other captured weapons all had to pass the same test. Because the "best" gun for the PLA wasn't the best gun, it was the gun most suited for fighting on foot in Korean mountains, with dodgy logistics, and trying to create quick fights at close range. Support *Type 56: The Story of China’s Army( on Patreon as a PLAtron:   / type56   Type 56 explores the history of the People’s Liberation Army through its weapons, people, institutions, and ideas.