Was this just a prototype?







http://ww3.rediscov.com/springar/VFPCGI.exe?IDCFile=/springar/details.idc,SPECIFIC=12114,DATABASE=BIBLIO,

http://ww3.rediscov.com/springar/VFPCGI.exe?IDCFile=/springar/details.idc,SPECIFIC=12113,DATABASE=BIBLIO,

http://ww3.rediscov.com/springar/VFPCGI.exe?IDCFile=/springar/details.idc,SPECIFIC=10861,DATABASE=BIBLIO,

Thank you.

Spotting rifle

U.S. SPOTTING RIFLE T46E3 .50





U.S. SPOTTING RIFLE T46E2 .50



U.S. SPOTTING RIFLE XM90 15MM





U.S. SPOTTING RIFLE XM90E1 15MM



U.S. SPOTTING RIFLE DEMONSTRATOR 20MM

Form the charging handle,It may be the XM90E1 15mm Spotting Rifle.



"U.S. SPOTTING RIFLE XM90E1 15MM
Manufactured by Springfield Armory, Springfield, Ma. in 1960 - The XM90E1 is hand-charged and magazine-fed with a front-locking, cam-actuated, rotating bolt. The breech action is semiautomatic and gas-operated. The gas system operates on the closed-gas, cutoff-and-expansion principle. Ignition of the percussion primer is initiated by the striker. The XM90E1 is intended to be used as a lead and range estimating device, for larger caliber weapons. It thereby assists in assuring a high probability of fire-round-hit, of the larger caliber weapon, by use of a ballistically matched spotter-tracer type projectile. The ammunition used in the XM90E1 is designated the XM108 cartridge and fires a projectile that exhibits a trace while in flight and produces a terminal display of flash and smoke upon impact. Cable pull required to fire: 12 to 14 lbs. Weapon complete with 10-round, double-stack, detachable box magazine. Weapon weighs approximately 34 1/4 lbs. with barrel weight of 8.6 lbs. Assembled from fabricated and procured components."

I have a barrel for a spotting gun somewhere.  I had some plans for it. Perhaps the info I need is at one of those draft tables in the pic there.

Yes, it is chambered for the short .50 bmg round. Regular rounds are too long.

It would be easier on the shoulder say

I'd like to try 'spotting' something with that! My buddy has a 20mm take-off barrel he was given for a wall-hanger. I keep telling him we need to build a receiver for it...

Outstanding.

mules with mounted weapons = awesomeness

I myself was only a section leader for a bit, a couple years later, but same era.  Great fun.  Made a hell of a racket when you touched off the main gun, diddin it?

The nice thing about the jeep mounted ones was, you didn't have to walk much.

Recoiless Rifles are still very popular with the Railroad Companies in Colorado and Alaska, etc for clearing potetial Avalanches. Gotta be the coolest job to drive around and shoot at the sides of mountains with those bad boys.

http://ww3.rediscov.com/springar/VFPCGI.exe?IDCFile=/springar/details.idc,SPECIFIC=6671,DATABASE=BIBLIO,

http://ww3.rediscov.com/springar/VFPCGI.exe?IDCFile=/springar/details.idc,SPECIFIC=6670,DATABASE=BIBLIO,

http://ww3.rediscov.com/springar/VFPCGI.exe?IDCFile=/springar/details.idc,SPECIFIC=6669,DATABASE=BIBLIO,

Could this have been used as a basis for a 50. magazine feed Machine gun,with no Belt feed mechenism the all weapon structure would be lighter then of a conventional Browning 50.,it would save calories on a soldier and save fuel in a armored vehicle.
It could be used by Paratroopers and Mountain Troops or in every situation where weight is a issue?

http://www.ima-usa.com/hotchkiss-wwii-antiaircraft-display-gun-13-2mm-with-mount.html

The magazine will fit .50 Browning rounds. IMA sold the mags years ago, eight to a fitted metal box.
http://www.ima-usa.com/hotchkiss-wwii-transit-chest-with-8-magazines.html

U.S. Forest Service team using a 106mm Recoilless Rifle for avalanche control at Mammoth Mountain in the Inyo National Forest. Note Minarets in background.

Awesome pics, Thanks for posting.

Yes, awesome pics.

Yes and they missed the whole mountain a few years ago here in Utah. The round ended up in a back yard on the other side of the mountain fortunately it did no go off.

I have a similar story involving the HEP (high explosive plastic) round.  Those have another detonator in the back that is supposed to go off if the projectile strikes a glancing blow on the target and doesn't detonate on impact.  They'll travel a long, long way if the second detonator doesn't function, and there's a red tracer in the base so you can track it all the way there.  In this case, we watched the trace all the way down to where it landed in very close proximity to some houses.  Thank God, whilst the primary fuze did function upon final impact, there was no harm done, other than to the section leader, who was not supposed to be firing anything but flechettes that day.  

And thus it was that I came to be put in charge of the section the next day.

We had five or six of these at Keflavik, Iceland 1971.  Ours were USMC marked, but you get the idea.

They were our heavy artillery with which we were to defend the Icelanders when the Russian hordes landed.  We even had Garands and M-14s.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/571816483908845118/

At the Dodge Ridge ski resort on Snoqualimie Pass WA, the USFS had a 106 for avalanche control.  The ski patrol operated it.  One morning in about 1987 they were doing avalanche control with it, the resort received a call from WA state patrol asking if they were using the 106.  When the operator asked why they were asking, the WSP dispatcher said that someone was shelling "Truck Town" a truck stop along I-90.  Apparently one round went over the top and went west, impacting along the interstate, down canyon from the summit!

Wow, luckily nobody got killed in those incidents. Has anyone seen the ones that are fixed to a railroad car or mounted on the back of a vehicle that can drive on the tracks? I saw a special on Discovery of guys pounding the the sides of mountains with the smaller sized (75-76mm) RR.