Maintenance and Exercising my 37mm M3 Antitank Gun

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waterdawg2004
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Maintenance and Exercising my 37mm M3 Antitank Gun

Post by waterdawg2004 » Tue Apr 11, 2017 12:57 pm

With lots of help from board members on the forum I have finally started working on my gun and hope to shoot it in June. I would like to share with the board my progress both to pass on some knowlege and for the members to critique and advise me on using a 37mm antitank gun. This is not a guide, it is for my future referance only and to gain more info from this forum.
I tried to fill the recoil mechanism according to the FM 23-70 Basic Field Manual 37-MM Gun, Antitank, M3 page 26. I used a $10 oil gun, and ISO 32 Light Hydraulic oil and a plastic fitting(3/8 ID by 1/4MIP) to screw into the fill port of the gun. I do not know the threads size of the plug I took out but it is not 1/4 NPT, it was close so I used a plastic fitting so I would not ruin the threads on the gun. It seemed to work, although it was a messy job, I did manage to get oil into the gun with pressure and the barrel elevated as per the manual.
tools small.jpg
tools small.jpg (173.72 KiB) Viewed 792 times
filling small 4.jpg
filling small 4.jpg (220.01 KiB) Viewed 792 times
1944 MB Jeep
37mm Gun, Antitank, M3A1 USA
French 25mm SA.L Model 1937
Replica Kubelwagen from VW Thing


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waterdawg2004
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Re: Maintenance and Exercising my 37mm M3 Antitank Gun

Post by waterdawg2004 » Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:24 pm

Pulled back on the barrel 10 inches and tested the recoil, seems OK, maybe a little fast at the end but that may be normal? See Video. If the link does not work let me know, this is the first time I have posted a video. Is there a way to post directly to the forum? I could not find anything using search.

https://youtu.be/6oLfxZXThX0
1944 MB Jeep
37mm Gun, Antitank, M3A1 USA
French 25mm SA.L Model 1937
Replica Kubelwagen from VW Thing

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waterdawg2004
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Re: Maintenance and Exercising my 37mm M3 Antitank Gun

Post by waterdawg2004 » Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:30 pm

1944 MB Jeep
37mm Gun, Antitank, M3A1 USA
French 25mm SA.L Model 1937
Replica Kubelwagen from VW Thing

Kevin Lockwood
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Re: Maintenance and Exercising my 37mm M3 Antitank Gun

Post by Kevin Lockwood » Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:14 am

Thanks for starting this thread. I am new to large bore guns myself and will be following in your footsteps. M1897a4 75mm
42 Ford GPW
42 Oshkosh AAF Snowblower
41 White M2 halftrack
42 Autocar M2A1 was M2 halftrack
42 Autocar M3-75 halftrack
42 White M4A1 was M4 halftrack
43 Diamond T M3A1 halftrack
43 White M16 was M13 halftrack
44 LVT-3 Landing Vehicle Tracked

ida34
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Re: Maintenance and Exercising my 37mm M3 Antitank Gun

Post by ida34 » Sun Apr 16, 2017 4:42 pm

Kevin Lockwood wrote:Thanks for starting this thread. I am new to large bore guns myself and will be following in your footsteps. M1897a4 75mm
"Large Bore" :lol: I was Artillery in the Army and spent my time on the 155mm M198 and M109 howitzers. The 105mm seems small to me. Having said that, I really like the smaller size of the M3 37mm.


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