1944 3 inch APC Complete Round "No Not the Santa"!

[Persian Gulf Command]

I just added a very nice and complete 1944 dated 3 inch APC round to the collection.  These are very difficult to locate.  I'm not referring to Santa but he did leave it at the Christmas tree early this year!

[Brian Keith]

Very nice round. The 3 inch anti-tank gun is a common one to see in front of Legions, VFW's and in parks in Indiana & Ohio. My Legion has one.

BKW

[Scottz63]

Awesome!

[917601]

Nice example. As you said, very hard to find. Brass case looks the best, and are earlier war. Just for info, the collectors say the later lacquered steel ones are the hardest examples to find as they rusted out years ago. Awhile back eBay had a few wooden crates for the Army 3”, I snoozed. Been looking for years for a matching crate. Thanks for posting.

[917601]

Posting for interest. An Army 3” M48 HE with brass casing, dated 1941.Note the original yellow color, the bourellet portion was unpainted during that time, per TM. The other is an M62 AP, but with HE filling, dated 1944, pristine lacquered steel case. A repaint,OD with yellow inking signifying loaded with  a small HE charge. When not loaded with HE, the color was black as yours. My understanding is the M62 AP loaded with HE had not much further effect on penetrating armor. The Army 3” artillery gun was issued primarily to our relatively short lived Tank Destroyer Battalions and disbanded the end of the war. Further information/ corrections on the TD units is appreciated.

[Persian Gulf Command]

R,

Thanks for posting those close ups of your 3 inch shells.  As you know I am a big fan of any earlier yellow HE ordnance.

 

BTW, I'm currently in need of a M48 HE projectile for a 75mm case I have that's in need of completion.

[917601]

Posting my 1944 (Repaint) 75H M48 HE with dated MT fuze direct from an opened fuze can....beautiful piece...not sure why so few WW2 75mm howitzer completed rounds are out there, I suspect most people stick them in the M18 Sherman tank casing. 

[917601]

For interest, inking on the head case. The primer tube and bag clips are also present.

[Persian Gulf Command]

2 hours ago, 917601 said:

Posting my 1944 (Repaint) 75H M48 HE with dated MT fuze direct from an opened fuze can....beautiful piece...not sure why so few WW2 75mm howitzer completed rounds are out there, I suspect most people stick them in the M18 Sherman tank casing. 

Is the paint and nomenclature original for the M61 APC projectile?  

[917601]

Hard to tell. It has been in my family for as long as I can remember, got it when I was back from the Army in the late 70’s. It was my first piece of ordnance. Knowing what I know now, I believe it has been restored but that was a long time ago. It has been given coats of Renaissance wax over the years. The family story is it was given to my father ( a WW2 vet) by a close friend whose son was a Sherman tank crewman. He died shortly after returning from the war.

[ccyooper]

I would expect the M61 to be black with white lettering 

[Persian Gulf Command]

1 hour ago, ccyooper said:

I would expect the M61 to be black with white lettering 

If it had a m66 fuse it would have had a small explosive charge and would be painted green /w yellow lettering.

[ccyooper]

Roger that but wouldn’t the designation indicate that, ie, w/bd fuze? Or is that implied because it’s OD?  I don’t think so I believe the TM would call for the explosive filler to be indicated. I didn’t notice that on the round. 

[Persian Gulf Command]

I don't think so.  The green APC rounds were designed to have a small explosive charge to facilitate the penetration of the armor plate.  This was deemed ineffective when put into practice.  These green APC rounds were not meant to be High Explosive rounds creating an explosive effect as the main intent.  the M61 (for 75mm) and M62 (for 76mm & 3 inch) were designed to puncture through the armor plate with the addition of the explosive charge if designated with the green paint and yellow nomenclature.  

 

917601, please correct me if I am incorrect or missing a detail.

[ccyooper]

Actually the rounds are the same, each has the cavity.  The one that is painted green has the cavity filled with Ammonium Picrate (Exp D) and uses the the M66A1 fuze as a base detonator which has a delay of .016 sec, This allows the round to penetrate the structure before detonation, at least that's the idea. The black round is the same except the cavity is not filled with explosive D and a tracer base plug is used instead.  The tracer burns for about 3 seconds or approx 1800 yards.  Both rounds were supercharged and since they were only loaded that way they did not require the base or casing to be marked.  I have only owned the standard rounds, the fuzed rounds are not common, I have only seen the original black stenciling.  Most of the OD rounds pictured above have been restored, I was not able to find an original on line for reference.  TM 9-1904 indicates it should have painted lusterless olive drab, and stenciled yellow with the designation of weapon, explosive filler, and complete round.  It appears on the round above the explosive filler is not indicated or maybe it is not visible in its orientation for the photo, that is what led to my question.  Maybe 917601 cam shed some light on it.  Interesting either way.  Here is picture of a M62 casing that is like new in the tube.  Unfortunately it is in storage until next spring. The OD round is a 90MM M71.