North Korean grenades, guns and "tanks"

North Korea began its invasion of South Korea armed largely with Soviet weapons such as the Model PPSh41, and a variety of Japanese weapons captured by the Soviets and turned over to them and the Chinese Communists (ChiComs).

The Chinese did not arm primarily with Soviet weapons until after the 1st year of the KW. At that time they also began extensive manufacture of their own models of Soviet weapons. The above Type 50 went into production in 1950, and was one of the weapons the Chinese used when they first came into the war. With this model, the Chinese most commonly used the box magazine.

Like the PPSh41, the Type 50 had only 5 parts, including a black recoil-reducer pad over the end of a long spring, with a compartment in the butt for oil and cleaning brush. It was cheap, easy to maintain, very inaccurate, and threw a lot of lead in a hurry.

The predominant tactic used by the Chinese in assault was to equip one platoon with nothing but bags of grenades, and another with submachine guns. The Chinese occasionally attacked in massed, or "human wave" assaults, when it was considered absolutely essential to take a vital point. More often the attacks were in company strength, using every form of concealment and surprise. Their concept of a line of battle was essentially to flow around obstacles with the idea of assembling at their objective for a final assault.

Communist forces in Korea used three basic types of hand grenades.
1. Offensive, or Concussion, grenades. Contain an explosive charge in conical body attached to a stick, designed for demolition effect and to stun the enemy in enclosed places, so the thrower can charge while the enemy is dazed.
2. Fragmentation (left rear). Similar to the British M36 grenade in the body but with a clumsy pin and handle design.
3. Chemical (right). Designed to produce a toxic or irritating effect, a casualty effect, a screening or signal smoke, an incendiary action, or some combination.

Japanese 7.7mm Model 99 rifle

Japanese 7.7mm rifle

The 6.5mm Meiji 38 was the standard Japanese infantry weapon in WWII. Experiences in the Sino-Japanese fighting in Manchuria, in the 1930s, led to the opinion that the 6.5mm bullet was insufficiently lethal and that a heavier cartridge was therefore desirable. In 1932, a machine-gun had been introduced firing a semi-rimmed round called the Type 92, and this cartridge was redesigned to a rimless form known as the Type 99.

The 7.7mm Type 99 (1939) rifle was little more than a re-chambered version of the earlier Meiji 38, although the opportunity was taken to produce a short rifle in line with the weapons of contemporary armies abroad, and to redesign the components to make manufacture less exacting. The Type 99 was remarkable for being fitted with a flimsy wire monopod and a most optimistic sighting device (consisting of folding lead bars on the rear sight) intended for use against aircraft!

Russian Model PPSh41 7.62mm submachine gun and below is the ChiCom Type 50, a copy


DP 7.62 mm Ruchnoy Pulemyot Light Machine Gun The 7.62 mm Ruchnoy Pulemyot DP (Degtyaryova pakhotnyi) was adopted by the Soviet army in 1928. It is extremely simple, yet remarkably reliable and robust. It remained the standard light gun until the 50's, and the USSR supplied large numbers of them to the North Korean Communists in the Korean war. The secret of the DP was the simple locking device, which makes use of locking flaps on the belt, pushed out by the firing pin. The DP proved resistant to dust and dirt, and free from any serious vices. However, the DP did have some distinct faults. The return spring weakened with heat from the hot barrel, and the bipod legs bent and broke from rough handling. It was replaced by the DPM

Russian 14.5mm antitank rifle PTRD-1941 (Degtyarev)
	Communist 120mm Mortar (Barrel length about 3 ft). The artillery support of a NK and CCF division (about 11,000 strong) included 12-122mm howitzers, 24-76mm guns, and 12-SU 76mm self propelled guns, plus anti-tank weapons. Specifically addressing mortars, each regiment had 6-120mm units. Each battalion had 9-82mm mortars, and each company had their own 61mm mortars. These mortars were the simple, reliable Soviet types used by all their satellite countries, and could fire the US 81mm and 60mm rounds.