How much ammo did a soldier get in world war 2?

Answer 1

The average rifleman carried two hundred rounds in the American army. This was twenty-five eight round clips for his M1, in five bandoliers. If heavy action was expected he might carry extra, along with a couple of fragmentation grenades.

At night replenishment ammunition would be brought up to the line. Usually the ammo bearers brought a "unit of fire" which was an amount based on two hundred rounds per day, per man.

BARs fired the same rounds but they used a twenty round, detachable box magazine. Carrying ten of these plus a BAR, which weighed nearly twenty pounds, was a load and most BAR men were picked for their large size.

The M1 rifle and the BAR were the most common weapons in an infantry squad. The M1 carbine was also a .30 caliber weapon but fired a different, less powerful round than the .30-06 of the M1 rifle and the BAR. The carbine fired "thirty shorts" which also came in twenty or thirty round box magazines. Men in the lines did not favor the carbine because it lacked stopping power as compared to the M1, and also, because it marked them as potentially being an officer, and thus made them more of a target. The carbine had been intended to replace the officers sidearm. Most officers quickly got rid of it and got a rifle, and also quit wearing any insignia of rank. Saluting was heavily discouraged on the line. The officers did not want to stand out.

The Thompson submachine gun saw some use, but it was a complex weapon, difficult and expensive to manufacture, and hard to maintain in the field. The army developed the M2 "grease gun" which was a .45 caliber weapon like the Thompson and took the same twenty round box magazines. The M2 cost the army less than $15 each. Both these submachine guns fired the same rounds as the standard sidearm, the Model 1911A automatic pistol. Pistols were coveted more for the mental security they gave, and they were of little practical use.