several questions for heavy arty

Sergeant

I thought you were a Beach-Master, it sounds to me like you did some sea time as Gunners Mate or Gunnery Officer?

Started out as a GunnO, wound up OppO.  My first set of "wings" is SWO--Surface Warfare Officer, so I was expected to be competent in every aspect of that designation.  Which means boning up on all the pubs that come out--a habit that is hard to break.  Whic his how I'm well-read o nthe new 62 caliber Mk 45 Mod 5.

Beach Logistics includes getting USMC arty ashore (and back again).  The towed tube set up, initially on the beach to over-watch the advance.  the SPs do so, too, but in shoot-n-scoot mode to follow the advance to objective.  All of which needs to be planned to not intersect with any of Vertical Envelopment assets and tracks.  (Marine helo drivers are nuts, but not crazy enough to fly through 280/8" arty fire.)

Everybody in the Wardroom gets more than one hat to wear, and you are expected to do other stuff while underway.  Even the DispO (Disbursing Officer) was expected to work more than once a month getting everyone paid.  Sometimes this can be glamorous work, like Laundry Officer, or Postal Officer; or tough jobs like Officer in Lieu of Chaplain.
Everyone qualified as an Officer of the Deck was expected to pull watch duty.  Six watched a day, every day, adds up quick.

CapnMac82

 

 

GMorrison

Generally at what angle can these guns be loaded?

 

 

The 5"/54s use an autoloader, which tracks the breech.

If memory serves, there is a "loading elevation" which is related to the angle(s) the rammer will operate within.  I want to remember the towed tubes that are hand-rammed will "tolerate" more elevation angles than the SPs.  But, that may be fickle memory.

USN naval riflles 8" or larger had to return to a loading elevation (circa 5-7º) to accommodate the rammer, and to access the loading trunks, which have to bring the loading tray to where shell and powder are delivered.

It's one of the features to the MLRS, that it does not have to "dip" between rounds.  So it can be faster getting rounds downrange.

 

Harold

CapnMac82

If memory serves, there is a "loading elevation" which is related to the angle(s) the rammer will operate within.  I want to remember the towed tubes that are hand-rammed will "tolerate" more elevation angles than the SPs.  But, that may be fickle memory.

You are right on track.  If I remember correctly, 300 mils (about 13 degrees) is load elevation for an M109 SP howitzer.

GMorrison

Generally at what angle can these guns be loaded?

The 5"/54s use an autoloader, which tracks the breech.

If memory serves, there is a "loading elevation" which is related to the angle(s) the rammer will operate within.  I want to remember the towed tubes that are hand-rammed will "tolerate" more elevation angles than the SPs.  But, that may be fickle memory.

USN naval riflles 8" or larger had to return to a loading elevation (circa 5-7º) to accommodate the rammer, and to access the loading trunks, which have to bring the loading tray to where shell and powder are delivered.

It's one of the features to the MLRS, that it does not have to "dip" between rounds.  So it can be faster getting rounds downrange.

Tanker-Builder

Well, I have a problem. I cannot find a holster for the Gun Pictured for my TEXAS open carry permit, Which is my Favorite. Do you know where I can get one? LOL! LOL!

eBay has UM-84 holsters, new, for $20-25 with free shipping. 

Learning something here.

Generally at what angle can these guns be loaded?

Yeah!

   When we fired the 5"38 dual rifles aboard ship, the Gunners were always counting Powder cans afterwards. Sometmes they would lose a few due to ships roll. They were ejected right under and to the rear of the breech to land on the deck with a clang!

Hi;

        Well, I have a problem. I cannot find a holster for the Gun Pictured for my TEXAS open carry permit, Which is my Favorite. Do you know where I can get one? LOL! LOL!

hello guys.
 Thank you for participating in my request , since I didn’t really know what all this was for but a small idea anyway .
 thank you , Gino , with a photo , it’s great . the diameters of the powder bags does not have to do with the internal diameters of the guns? since there are 3 lengths and 2 diameters of tubes? and you say that once empty, they are sent back to be filled again but in vietnam, we see that they are used for different things, like making a wall in front of a 155mm howitzer or a pole for electrical wires, mark the sides of a road in a base, as they used the same way as the wooden shell crates or shell boxes of the duster or the fuel drums of 200 liters.
Pawel , yes , the problem is to have a good amount of it to have a mass effect for a dio , I started to make silicone molds to make this kind of bunker , if you can call it that . I have copied drums of 200 l cut in the middle like this , it just serves me for the visible part and I believe that with the cases I am talking about here , I will do the same thing since I have 3 boxes .

have a good day and take care of yourself .
I’m taking the covid test tomorrow, I’m no one at risk, yes, my lungs are fragile but it’s okay, morale is there, I still have plenty of models in stock.
hou ha ,Marines .

 phil .

Hello!

From what I've seen in the pictures they used empty powder cans for everything in Vietnam.. It seems many walls were made using dirt-filled powder cans.  I think I even read in a book about Special Forces they welded them together and used them for water/waste pipes...

For a dio looks like you can never get enough 1/35 powder cans to saturate the area realistically...

And it might be interesting to write about the powder that wasn't fired - I mean the small bags that you take off when firing smaller charge. The TM tell you to burn it in a fire - that would also make interesting dio point...

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

CapnMac82

I have wondered how they handle the powder cans with the armored ammo carrier for the Palladin..  Whether they rack empty cans up neatly or not.  Always wanted to be a fly on the wall when the ammo carrier rolls back to the Supply point.

Just as you have said.  The empties are reracked and taken to the resupply point.  Dunnage (empty ammo cans, fuse cans, etc.) are offloaded at the supply trains then collected and take back further to be eventually taken back to the manufacturer and refilled w/new powder.  The US military has a pretty good recycle program.

Sergeant

Gino, in practice what happens after the powder bags are removed? Are the canisters refilled in the Howitzer, or changed (recycled) for new full canisters?

Running from admittedly fuzzy memory, the empty cans are tossed in a pile when empty.  The pile might be neat--on a firing range, or messy on a FTX.

The cans come loaded, on pallets, right off the 5 ton trucks supplying them, and the empties went back with the empty truck.

I have wondered how they handle the powder cans with the armored ammo carrier for the Palladin..  Whether they rack empty cans up neatly or not.  Always wanted to be a fly on the wall when the ammo carrier rolls back to the Supply point.

HeavyArty

 

Yes, these look to be green or white bag powders.  They have increments that are removed to acheive the range you want to send the round to.  They look like this in actuality.

 

 

 

Harold

iroquois1963

 In this photo, what is in cases 1, 2, 3?

 What are they made of? why for 155mm shells , I have 2 lengths of cases?

They are the powder canisters.  There are three types of powder for 155mm; green bag, white bag, and red bag.  The white and green go in the longer tubes; two to a tube.  The red goes in the shorter tube, 1 each.

175 mm shells are for which howitzer?

The Vietnam era M107 SP Gun fired 175mm shells.

The packages in 4 , are in fabrics , I guess it’s powder , there are several small bags that can be dissociated , are they valid for the 155mm? Do you have pictures of real things?

Yes, these look to be green or white bag powders.  They have increments that are removed to acheive the range you want to send the round to.  They look like this in actuality.

Since teh A.F. didn't carry that size firepower, and the biggest I have seen short of 16 inch shells, woiuld be a 105, I'll hazard a guess that it could be the size of the projectile is right but some weapons might use a smaller casing, like a high velocity round compared to a slower round.  

The .38 caliber pistol round is the same diameter as a .357 magnum but the casing length is different.

Like I said, just a guess.