Relic/Display Relic 60mm Mortar T18E6 w/ T1 Base Plate & M15 Sight

[Jayhawker353]

This is an original T1 base plate, with a partial number scratch. The re-enactor this was made by welded a section of anodized muffler pipe on as a tube replacement for the original de-milled version. I don't know that the M15 grenade launcher sight really belongs with this rig, but it does look pretty good there.

 

Basically I have three questions... Is this replica, with no firing pin, and a piece of muffler pipe (welded, instead of threaded) for a tube really up to BATF standards as de-milled?

 

Is this an acceptable item to ship, or advertise on the USMF for sale? Or do I need to go ahead and get a hole cut in the muffler pipe first?

 

[Jayhawker353]

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[Jayhawker353]

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[hbtcoveralls]

Check the inside diameter of the tube.

 

Most reproduced mortars are undersized so that they cannot accept actual ammunition

 

Muffler pipe is also unlikely to withstand the pressure in firing a real mortar round more than once

 

Other than that I don't know about the specific "demil" standard for something that was never a real weapon

 

Tom Bowers

[mikie]

That's a great display piece. I'm guessing BATF shouldn't have a problem with this, but will it pass a Smog check?

[ordnance]

I'm betting this is one of the mortars made up by Sarco a while back. They have quite a few of the base plates and made dummy mortars and sight bases to help them move. I happened to see one of the sight brackets at Knob Creek this Spring and talked to MG Dave to find out if it was original. He said they had them made to fit the tubing of the replica mortar and would not fit around a real 60mm barrel. Too bad as they did a pretty nice job on them.

 

See here:

 

http://www.e-sarcoinc.com/m19-60mm-paratroop-mortar-u-s-wwii.aspx

 

 

Yes, the M15 mortar sight is correct for this setup. The base plate is actually correct for the M19 mortar when used in the knee mortar role. The round stud off to one side was used with the muzzle cover and sling for carrying. The original T1 base plate had a footman loop welded on and the sling looped through it on one end with a snap link on the other that hooked on the D-ring of the sight base.

 

Sarco uses a bit of embellishment with the history of these mortars about rushing them to the front in 1942. We recognized the value of the Japanese knee mortar fairly early and requests from the field were made for something more handy for jungle troops. But actual production didn't get rolling until much later. The first 75 T18E6 mortars were delivered in August of 1944. Any stories of U.S. troops using such mortars before that would have been using M2s with the standard base plate, no bipod, and no sights.

 

Regarding BATF, you should have nothing to worry about.

[M1Garandy]

The M15 sight you have appears to be a rifle grenade sight. I've most commonly seen them fitted to the M1 rifle though I believe the base mounting jig was also used to mount the sights on M1 Carbines and '03/'03A3 Springfields.