Hi there,
I have the AFV Club M38a1c w/106mm recoilless rifle in the ‘to build’ pile.
I’m looking photos from a TM or similar that show the vehicle and crew loadout displayed on a tarp in front of the vehicle.
Can anyone point me in the direction of any references please?
Many thanks for any assistance
This may help - pp 49-52:
Thanks, that manual will be useful.
But I’m looking more for something like this…
I’m sure there’s a photo somewhere that shows the M38a1c with all the combat load laid out on a tarp for inspection - I just can’t find one
Oh! That’s been done for every vehicle in the US inventory. Cool idea. Maybe include a short little officer with a clipboard, and a “Black Sheep Squadron” style NCO. But even if you manage to find a specific layout, every commander had his own idiosyncracies. I’d do it similar to what’s in your photo, including the chains. Note there is no live ammo in the layout for the gun. I wouldn’t add the recoilless rounds that come in the kit, You could add the mutli-tool for the recoilless rifle, and a sight box for the M92D elbow telescopic sight.
Another poster “knows” how to boresight the gun that was retired from service when he was about two years of age. Maybe he can chime in and give you more pointers than I can.
Hey, good feedback.
So if these ‘parade’ layouts were unit specific, I could pretty much just do something that looks about right.
Which, frankly, would fit the bill perfectly.
I could include the cardboard tubes the rounds came in though?
Of course, now I need to know what that multi-tool and sight box look like…
Thanks again
Yes, inspection layouts were unit specific. And they could change over time as well. The main thing, aside from having all items, was uniformity within the platoon, company, etc. That was a constant during my time in the regular army. The unit may or may not have had a diagram SOP to follow.
This is probably going to be off topic but I wondered if the M38A1C w/ the recoilless rifle was ever used in Vietnam; the instructions point out that it was used by the USMC; 3rd Division in 1963 but I can’t seem to find any photos that support this. If anyone could help, that would be nice!
Well, that’s always been my modus operandi! Go for it!
Make it look organized, like anything elase in the military and you’ll be fine,
These are various examples of a TA-50 layout - the completeness and arrangement completely at the whim of the CO or 1SG. So anything for a vehicle would follow a similar principle.
I can’t recall one like this, but I suppose anything is possible.
In Iraq, every month all we had to do was lay out our sensitive items on our rack. The Charlie would come by and we’d read the serial numbers off to him, I have a photo somewhere, along with one of the cats I adopted.
@Stikpusher Excellent references, thank you.
@18Bravo Great references, thank you
Marines used the crap out of the recoilless rifle in Vietnam. 3rd MarDiv was in Oki from 1957 to 1965 than was deployed to Vietnam in 1965.
Ah okay, great to know; do you know if a photo of an M38A1C exists that was used in Vietnam? I’ve only been able to find the stock M38A1 that was used by the USMC so far in Da Nang:
I don’t know, would have to more deep research.
