The
M40 recoilless rifleA recoilless gun or recoilless rifle is a lightweight weapon that fires a heavier projectile than would be practical to fire from a recoiling weapon of comparable size. Technically, only devices that use a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles. Smoothbore variants are recoilless guns...
was a lightweight, portable, crew-served 105 mm weapon intended primarily as an anti-tank
weaponA weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat.Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale.-Prehistoric weapons:Very simple weapon...
made in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The weapon is commonly described as being 106 mm, but it is in fact 105 mm; the 106 mm designation was designed to prevent confusion with the incompatible 105 mm ammunition from the failed M27. It could also be employed in an antipersonnel role with the use of the antipersonnel-tracer flechette round.
The
M40 recoilless rifleA recoilless gun or recoilless rifle is a lightweight weapon that fires a heavier projectile than would be practical to fire from a recoiling weapon of comparable size. Technically, only devices that use a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles. Smoothbore variants are recoilless guns...
was a lightweight, portable, crew-served 105 mm weapon intended primarily as an anti-tank
weaponA weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat.Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale.-Prehistoric weapons:Very simple weapon...
made in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The weapon is commonly described as being 106 mm, but it is in fact 105 mm; the 106 mm designation was designed to prevent confusion with the incompatible 105 mm ammunition from the failed M27. It could also be employed in an antipersonnel role with the use of the antipersonnel-tracer flechette round. It can be fired primarily from a wheeled ground mount. The air-cooled, breech-loaded,
single-shotSingle-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded after each shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, and many centuries passed before multi-shot designs became commonplace...
rifleA rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
fired fixed
ammunitionAmmunition, often informally referred to as ammo, is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
. It was designed for direct firing only, and
sightSight may refer to:*Visual perception*Sight , used to assist aim by guiding the eye*Sight , a 2005 Concert DVD by Keller Williams*Sight, a first-person shooter video game created by FPS Creator...
ing equipment for this purpose was furnished with each weapon.
The M40 primarily saw action during the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
and was later replaced by the
BGM-71 TOWThe BGM-71 TOW is an anti-tank guided missile. "TOW" stands for "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided". The TOW was first produced in 1970 and is the most widely used anti-tank guided missile in the world.-Design and development:...
anti-tank missile system. The weapon was also used by anti-communist forces in
AngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the...
mounted on Landrovers.
Description
The M40 is shaped like a long tube with a 0.50 cal spotting rifle above. On the left hand side, there is an elevating wheel, in the centre of which is the trigger wheel used to fine adjust the elevation and at the same time firing the spotting rifle when pulled, and the gun when pushed. The mounting is a
tripodTripod is a word generally used to refer to a three-legged object, generally one used as a platform of some sort, and comes from the Greek tripous, meaning "three feet". A tripod provides stability along the side-to-side and up-and-down Coordinate axis of motion and provides a large amount of...
, but the front leg has a castoring wheel. On top of the mount is a traverse wheel. On the centre of the traverse wheel is a locking wheel, when the wheel is down, the rifle is locked in traverse, and can only be moved right and left with the traverse wheel. When the wheel is raised, the rifle can be traversed by hand.
The whole mounting can be placed on an
M151The M151 MUTT was the successor to the Korean War M38 and M38A1 jeep Light Utility Vehicles. It was produced from 1959 through 1982 and served in the Vietnam War. The M151 utilized a monocoque design making it roomier than previous jeep designs, and incorporated an independent suspension with coil...
JeepJeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler. It is the oldest off-road vehicle brand, with Land Rover coming in second. The original vehicle which first appeared as the prototype Bantam BRC became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the US Army and allies during the World War II and postwar...
for mobile use. It has also been mounted on
Land Rover DefendersThe Land Rover Defender is a British four wheel drive off-roadutility vehicle.The product of continued development of the original Land Rover Series I launched in 1948, it uses the basic yet robust underpinnings of a ladder frame chassis and aluminium body and is available in a huge variety of body...
,
M113The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that formed the backbone of the U.S. Army's mobile infantry units from the time of its introduction in the 1960s. It was partly replaced by the M2 Bradley which was one of many later vehicles designed from the outset to be a more heavily armed...
s,
Mercedes-Benz G-WagenThe Mercedes-Benz G-Class or G-Wagen, short for Geländewagen , is a four-wheel drive vehicle / sport utility vehicle produced by German automaker Mercedes-Benz. The Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Iran, a that-time major Daimler-Benz shareholder, proposed the development of a military vehicle in the...
, HMMWVs,
Toyota Land CruiserThe is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corporation. Design of the Land Cruiser began in 1951 as Toyota's version of a Jeep-like vehicle and production began in 1954. The Land Cruiser has been produced in convertible, hardtop, station wagon, and...
s,
AIL StormThe AIL Storm is an Israeli manufactured mini SUV and the workhorse of the Israeli Security Forces. The series of Jeep Wrangler based vehicles have been produced by Automotive Industries Ltd. in Upper Nazareth under licence from Chrysler since 1990...
s and
M274 Mechanical MulesThe U.S. Military M274 Truck, Platform, Utility 1/2 Ton, 4X4 or "Carrier, Light Weapons, Infantry, 1/2 ton, 4x4" aka "Mule," "Military Mule," or "Mechanical Mule" is a 4-wheel drive, gas-powered truck/tractor type vehicle that can carry up to a 1/2 ton off-road. It was introduced in 1956 and used...
. They were also used on US Navy Minesweepers (
MSOMSO is an abbreviation that may stand for:Orchestras* Madison Symphony Orchestra, of Madison, Wisconsin, USA* Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia* Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA...
) during operation Market Time in Viet Nam.
A special vehicle called
OntosThe Ontos, officially the Rifle, Multiple 106 mm, Self-propelled, M50, was a light armored tracked anti-tank vehicle developed in the US in the 1950s...
carried 6 M40's. A version specific to the T195E5 mount, the M40A1C, was used. It was used only by the US Marine Corps.
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
produced a self propelled gun called the
Type 60The Type 60 Self-propelled 106 mm Recoilless Gun is a light anti-tank vehicle developed by Japan in the late 1950s. It mounts two M-40 106 mm recoilless rifles as its main armament.- Development :...
which carried two side by side. Some
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
i M113s have a dual mounting.
The M40 continues to be used by
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
(ROK),
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
,
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
,
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
,
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
,
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
,
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
,
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
,
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
,
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
,
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
(
Republic of China Marine CorpsThe Republic of China Marine Corps is the amphibious arm of the Republic of China Navy responsible for amphibious combat, counter-landing and reinforcement of the main island of Taiwan, remote islands, defense of ROCN facilities, and also functions as a rapid reaction force and a strategic...
),
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
,
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
,
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
,
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
, and many others.
Ammunition
Ammunition for the 105 mm rifle was issued in complete fixed cartridges. The term "fixed" means that the projectile and the cartridge case are crimped together. This ensures correct alignment of the
projectileA projectile is any object propelled through space by the exertion of a force which ceases after launch. Although a thrown baseball could be considered a projectile, the word more often refers to a weapon...
and the cartridge case. It also permits faster loading because the projectile and the cartridge case are loaded as one unit. The rear end of the cartridge case is perforated, to allow the propellant gas to escape through the vented breech, thus neutralizing recoil. The projectiles used are pre-engraved, that is, the rotating bands are cut to engage the rifled bore.
Types of ammunition included:
HEATIn physics and thermodynamics, heat is the process of energy transfer from one body or system due to thermal contact, which in turn is defined as an energy transfer to a body in any other way than due to work performed on the body....
, High Explosive Plastic-
TracerTracer may refer to:*Histochemical tracer, a substance used for tracing purposes in histochemistry, the study of the composition of cells and tissues...
(HEP-T), and Anti-Personnel-Tracer.
The ammunition for the 0.50 cal spotting rifle is not
.50 BMGThe .50 Browning Machine Gun or .50 BMG is a cartridge developed for the Browning .50 Caliber machine gun in the late 1910s. Entering service officially in 1921, the round is based on a greatly scaled-up .30-06 cartridge...
. The round used is a special round designed to simulate the flight path of the 105 mm ammunition.