Reply To: A question probably only John can answer (pintle mounted MGs).

[phaidknott 7250xp 0]

Cheers for all the answers chaps, I’ve “almost” got it……

 

So we’ll stick with the .50 Cal mount for now (to try to keep things simple, I like simple). So we’ve got two locking pins (one for horizontal and one for vertical). Now if I’ve see photos of one mounted on a Sherman, if it’s parallel to the ground does that indicate it’s “locked” (or could it be locked at any angle)? Also all the images I’ve seen of the MG mounted on the turret of a Sherman show the gun pointing forwards, but the mount is actually to the rear of the TC’s hatch. So wouldn’t it have made more sense for the gun to be locked pointing backwards (to allow the TC easier access to the gun and to unlock these locking pins), or why did they lock the MGs pointing forwards?

 

The info on the dust covers was news to me, I don’t think I’ve seen a model in any scale with a cover on a pintle mounted MG (Sherman or any other AFV). Why is this never an option I wonder…

 

I’m only asking as I’ve got a M48 kit to construct (so it’s for the Vietnam era, so it’s not only a pintle mounted MG, but it’s a pintle mounted MG on a cupula). So I’m trying to work out how this would have been locked/position when not actively manned (plus I’ve got to work out if it would have had the “heavy” barrel, or the normal one as the guns were removed from the cupula and stuck on a pintle mount as a field modification). I’ve always wondered how this all worked as I imagine the belt ammo would be bouncing around as the vehicle was moving (or was the belt not fed, and the ammo was just locked in the ammo box). It’s such a small thing, but it’s also rather “complicated” once you start looking into it (or it’s complicated to me). Plus it’s my first AFV kit in 30 odd years (previously it was Airfix kits with those ‘orrid plastic/rubber tracks that NEVER fit right).