69 Tell me a bit more about the operation of the 105mm? (United States Air Force Gunships in the Vietnam) The 105MM was uniquely configured. It was a U.S. Army M105A1 howitzer,light, towed. We (as always, in the broadest possible sense) pulledthe wheels, bolted it on a 1" thick steel plate, then duplicated therecoil system so that the gun would be battling hydraulics in bothdirections whenever it fired.
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This article is from the Vietnam FAQ, by Brian Ross, John R. Tegtmeier, Edwin E. Moise, Frank Vaughan, John Tegtmeier with numerous contributions by others.
69 Tell me a bit more about the operation of the 105mm? (United States Air Force Gunships in the Vietnam) The 105MM was uniquely configured. It was a U.S. Army M105A1 howitzer,light, towed. We (as always, in the broadest possible sense) pulledthe wheels, bolted it on a 1" thick steel plate, then duplicated therecoil system so that the gun would be battling hydraulics in bothdirections whenever it fired.
We used a full charge seven (7 bags of powder) and crimped rounds
(There were no crimpers in the area until we demanded them in late
1971 -- we hand-crimped until then.) An average crew could get two
rounds in the air at the same time. A good crew could (for a while)
sustain 3 rounds in the air at a time. That level of performance was a
bit moot since you rarely fired more than 3 or 4 rounds at a time.
BTW, we built a huge steel cage in back of the gun, and put one gunner
on each side. (Mind you, the weapon was fired from up on the flight
deck, we gunners were reloaders rather than gunners in the classic
sense.) The round were stored in a multi-drawer horizontal filing
cabinet. Each drawer held, if I recall, either 4 or 6 rounds. When
time came to fire, #1 gunner would reach over the cage and open the
breech block. #2 would open a drawer, and remove a round, turn and
slam it into the breech. #1 would close the breech, while #2 turned to
get another round. When the weapon fired, it moved almost as if it
were in slow motion. As soon at it had completed recoil, and had begun
counter-recoil, #1 would open the breech and pull out the hot brass,
dropping it into a 55-gallon drum we had strapped to the back of the
cage. While the breech was open and the gun was still in
counter-recoil, #2 would slam the next round home, and #1 would slam
the breech. If you were a good crew, you had the breech closed before
the gun got back into battery position. Repeat as necessary.
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