Originally Posted by
MountainRaven
Except in Korea, the lessons learned weren't that you needed a 30-06 to shoot from hillside to hillside: It was that you needed an M2 carbine (or maybe an M1 rifle, fired as fast as possible, when conditions were such that the M1s or M2s weren't working - although those conditions often meant the rifles weren't working, either) to hose human wave attacks by Norks and Chinese who've made it past the arty, mortars, tanks, machineguns, &c. in the defense, or to clear Norks and Chinese out of their positions on the assault. If it was on an opposite hillside, it was going to be taken care of by artillery, mortars, tanks, machine guns, &c. Maybe by the odd sniper with an '03 or an M1C/M1D. AFAIK, there were zero attacks by the communists that were driven off by disciplined marksmanship from UN infantry armed with Garands or SMLEs - they were all defeated by massed artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire.
And the Army knew it. And Ordnance knew it. Which made the M14's adoption all the more stupid (even if they did earnestly believe that the M14 in full-auto could be used as successfully as M2 carbines or PPShs and M3 grease guns at close range). This is undoubtedly a large part of why Hal Moore - who cut his teeth in Korea using M2 carbines - was such a fan of the XM16E1 at Ia Drang.