Bronco 155mm Howitzer M1A1 assembly question

They have the pics correct, sort of.  In the transport position, the trails are together, the base plate off and stowed on top of the trailes, and the is barrel locked in place by the bipod under it.  In the firing (combat) position pic, the barrel is back as if it is recoiling.  Once the round is fired, the barrel comes back to absorb some of the recoil, then slides back forward into the "in battery" position ready to load and fire the next round.  The barrel should be all the way forward unless you have just (instantaneously) fired a round.  When not firing a round, the barrel is at the "in battery" position, which is 99% of the time.

Also of note, the entire barrel should be bare metal as it is all part of the recoil mechanism, sort of like a hydralic cylinder.

Later version (minor differences) M114, note the unpainted barrel.

Thank you so much brother!!! I thought that did not look correct.... Good call on the steel barrel, it lists it as "black" in the painting detail, it shows every single other part as green other than the barrel and tires.... i understand stuff getting sprayed in garrison, but every single part green?!? I primed all the sprues tonight, because I can see that there will be a lot that is inaccessible when painting, so I'll paint the sprues now, then assemble, then go over everything again after I'm done. I Normalily build and assemble everything, sand, clean it up good, THEN prime and paint. While assembling that cannon on my dragon 251 half track I'm working on , then painting it, I see where you cannot get good paint coverage on all parts when it was assembled. this looks like it could be a similar case....

Thanks again!!! Rudy