Is This Right?

[peterson45]

This past weekend I went to the NYS Military Museum and out front they have a recently restored Sherman tank, which looked pretty nice. It was great to see it out in front and not in the back like it used to be. The only question I have is when I looked at it closer they seem to have put what looks like a .50 cal machine gun barrel in the assistant driver's position. I'm just curious if this was something that was actually employed by the military or if it is a case of putting whatever was available on that tank know that most people wouldn't know the difference.

[B229]

That should be an M1919 series .30 caliber Machine Gun, but I doubt that's actually a .50 cal MG. I don't think there's enough room to mount one in there. Looks more like it might just be a piece of pipe or something like that to simulate an MG barrel. Otherwise, that tank looks very nice and they did a great job.

[sundance]

In the movies all you ever see is that 3, 4, 5 inch barrel on a ball mount. That's the extent of my knowledge (or lack thereof) on the subject.

[sundance]

Hey I forgot to ask - where is that museum? I'm in western NY and would love to get there someday.

[peterson45]

Thanks guys for your input, it is all leaning to what I thought.

 

Sundance: the museum is located in Saratoga Springs, it is a nice museum with some good displays, although they need to be updated and switched out they have some amazing artifacts. They also have, from what I have heard, a good research library. But, to do research there you need to mail in a written request because they do not take via phone or email and it is not open on the weekend. Someday I hope to utilize it but it doesn't seem like it will be anytime soon with these restrictions.

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Very nice restoration of that Tank.