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Does anyone have any idea how to tell the difference between the gun mount M3 of the 75 mm GMC M3 and the gun mount M5 on the 75 mm GMC M3A1? Since this is the only differentiation point between the vehicles, it's an important factor. The 75 mm GMC in the LST building at Ft. Knox appears to have a mount similar to the M5 mount on page 104 of Hunnicutt's Half-track. However, no clear pictures of the mount M3 are in the book, only the nonstandardized mount in the GMC T12 on page 98. Obvious differences include the M5 mount being bolted instead of welded, but the top-down picture labeled as a GMC M3 (and therefore having the mount M3) on page 103 also appears to be bolted down (this is more easily visible on the left side). I've attached a picture of the mount in the LST building's GMC. Is it definitely an M3? Thanks.

No Clue, but does this help....?




Don

Chris,

check the electronic archives at CMH for TM 9-306, 75-MM gun M1897A4 mounted in vehicles, dated 10 June 1943, which deals specifically with both mounts and can be downloaded as a .pdf-file.

There are a number of differences, including the number of handwheels used to elevate the gun (2 vs 1).

Cheers,

Jens O.

On the M3 (modified M2A2) there are traversing & elevating handwheels on the left side of the mount and elevating handwheel on the right side.

On the M5 (modified M2A3) there is a traversing handwheel on the left and an elevating handwheel on the right.

So both images above show the M3 mount.

Thanks, guys, and I will look for that TM pdf. I wonder if the picture of the M5 mount in Hunnicutt's books is mislabeled, as it has a handwheel layout exactly like the mounts above.

Chris,

it's only about 8 MB, so if you can't find it at MHI or AHCO or whatever they're calling themselves today, give me a holler and I'll email it to you.

To use the search function, click the righthand button "Military Publications", then "search", then enter the TM number (including the TM bit) in the "DDS Search Panel", and as historical time period, choose "Second World War II". If you're so inclined, search to your heart's content, all the manuals for the halftracks are there as well, as well as some FMs etc.- not everything is online yet, but a lot of interesting things, including the TM for the M6 tanks and various recognition manuals and Army publications, FMs, you name it.

Most recent tank seems to be the M47, so no dice for you M48 lovers out there.

Cheers,

Jens O.

Jens, thanks. I did raid the MHI site a while ago, but somehow missed the M1897 TM. Got it now, though!