Our US WW2 and Cold War Tank/Artillery Collection

[TX5036]

Hey everyone!

I finally got around to taking some good pictures of the inert ordnance collection my father and I have put together. We've picked up a couple things here and there at military vehicle shows, but in the past year and a half we have been aggressively collecting inert ordnance. The collection mainly focuses around US tank and artillery ammunition from World War II up to present day. We usually take some of the howitzer ammunition and accessories to display alongside our M2A1 Halftrack, which is marked up for a field artillery unit. Anyway here's some pictures of the collection!

First photo is all the smaller stuff, 20mm to 57mm.

Picture #2, 75mm:
M337A2 Blank
M48 HE in M5A1 Type I Casing
M48 HE in M18 Casing
Fired M72 AP-T in M18 Casing
M61A1 APC-T in M18B1 casing
T6E3B1 casing with inaccurate 3D printed projectile

Picture #3, 3 inch and 76mm:
M79 AP-T in Mk. II M2 Casing
Fired M62A1 APC-T in Mk. II M2B1 casing
Mk. II M2 casing
M26B1 Casing
M352 HE with T19E1B1 casing

Picture #4, 90mm:
M12B1 Drill Cartridge
2x T33 AP-T in M19 Casings (both from the same lot and dated 1945)
M82 APC-T in M19 Casing
T33E7 AP-T in M19B1 Casing
T91 HE-T in T24 Casing

Picture #5, 105mm Howitzer:
M14 Drill Cartridge
M1 HE
M60 WP Smoke
M67 HEAT

Picture #6, 105mm Tank:
M115 Casing
M150B1 Casing
2x TPDS-T Cores
2x M489 TP-T (one has been fired) in M148A1B1 Casing

Picture #7, Recoilless Rifle:
105mm RR T139E45 HEP-T in T80 Casing
106mm RR M344A1 HEAT in M94B1 Casing
106mm RR M346A1 HEP-T

Picture #8, 120mm:
120mm T16E3 WP-T
120mm M358E1 AP-T
M109 Casing
M831 HEAT Drill Cartridge
Sabot Petals, were taped to the spike on the drill cartridge...

Picture #9, 155mm and 8":
155mm Dummy Projectile
155mm M864 body
8" M404

Picture #10, Rockets:
2x 2.36" M7A1 Practice Rocket
2.36" M6A3 HEAT Rocket
2.36" M7A3 Practice Rocket
2.36" M7A6 Fiber Tube
3.5" M29A2 Practice Rocket

Picture #11, Everything else:
M11A2 Practice Rifle Grenade
Mk. II Grenade with replica fuze
M31 Practice Rifle Grenade
M1A2 Grenade Adapter
81mm M43A1 HE
60mm M49A2 HE
60mm M49A3 HE
4.2" M335 Illumination
M2A3 15 lb. Practice Demolition Charge

Picture #12 and #13, new additions after taking these pictures:
2x 105mm M14 Casings
M15 and M15B2 105mm Blanks
105mm M84E1 Projectile
75mm M61A1 APC-T with M18B1 Casing. I already had the casing but it was stripped of the original finish, so I tried to replicate the coating.
8" M106 HE


So that's our collection so far! I can, of course, take detailed pictures of individual items if anyone has an interest in anything!

 

[jeff w]

Great stuff TX, thanks for showing it.
I was curious about picture #12 where you stated - "75mm M61A1 APC-T with M18B1 Casing. I already had the casing but it was stripped of the original finish, so I tried to replicate the coating."
The casing looks great - can you tell me how you got it to look like that?

 

[TX5036]

Hey Jeff,

So I came across an article in the August 1943 issue of Popular Science about making steel cartridge casings. In that article it stated that the casings were coated with phenolic varnish that is then baked on to the casing.

So I did some looking around for phenolic varnish and ended up using Epifane's for my casing. Then you strip it to bare metal, in the case of my M18B1 this involved removing a hideous bright orange paint. After that you simply brush the varnish over the casing, luckily it self smooths to make a nice even coat. Give it a day to cure, then add another layer. Then you have to wait a week for everything to cure up and then you can bake it. If you bake it to soon, you'll have issues with the varnish bubbling and coming off the casing. I baked my casing at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. Let it cool and then you're all set!

I included a picture comparison between my M18B1 casing with the original finish (on the left) and my refinished casing (on the right). I'm going to play around with some things like metal surface, temperature, baking time, etc. to get it a bit closer. But it still looks better than straight painting it.

 

[TX5036]

Hey everyone,

Been awhile since I've posted, thought I'd share some of the new additions to the collection.

So starting at the back:

8" Howitzer Canister for M1 Propelling Charge
120mm M24 AA Case (I may have a source for a projo to go along with this, just have to convince a surplus store to sell it/trade it)
105mm M1 HE - Made into Drill Cartridge
90mm M71 HE - Made into Drill Cartridge
76mm M26 Case

75mm M18 Case - Marked "75 MM Aircraft Guns," didn't really need another M18, but loved this one too much
81mm M43A1B1 Mortar Shell
75mm Recoilless Rifle Drill Cartridge, interesting wood shell with aluminum base crimped in the case
3" M62 APC Shell (minus windscreen)
76mm T140E2 WP Shell
3x 57mm M70 AP

M51A3 Fuze Fiber Container
Lifting Ring (came with container above)
M48 Fuze
Mk II Grenade
M21 Grenade
M83 Smoke Grenade
3.5" M29A2 Practice Rocket, came with an M20A1B1 Super Bazooka I bought
2.36" M7A3 Practice Rocket
35mm M73 Subcaliber Rocket (got cut off in the photo)


And I hope you guys like US 37mm AT gun rounds, we've started to hoard them. We might be looking at getting a cannon to bring along to shows....

Left to right:

M63 HE
M13 Drill Cartridge
M51B2 APC
2x M51B1 APC
M80 AP with M17 Case (not for the AT gun, but I've been looking for one of these)
6x M51B1 APC projos

And of course, we have a few more items still on their way. Namely a 75mm M48 HE to go in the new aircraft case and another 37mm M63 HE and M13 Drill Cartridge. So that's what we've been up to the last couple months!