Was the mortars used during IA DRANG VALLEY by the 7TH cavlary the m-252? if not ?

Why did they need cooling down so quick after the 1st night? unless it was a hollywood goof.

Was there a problem with the M-252 during the VW?


Thanks in advance.

From what I could gather was they was firing so many rounds ,from being over ran the tubes heated up to much and was dangerous. Im not or never was a Motor man. I have a buddy that was a 4 duce man. I havent talked to him in a while but see if I can still find his number. WD

We (my fellow workers and I) brought the M252 (originally a British built mortar) on board in the '80's. The ones in the movie would have been the predecessor to the M252. The M29 if memory serves me correctly.

Both the M1 and M29 81mm mortar were used in VN.  I don't know if the M29 had replaced the M1 completely that early in the war.  I don't know what version 81mm mortar the 1CD had during the period of the film.  Both types were used in the war though.  

The big visual difference between the two is that the M29 has a round baseplate (the M1 is rectangular), and fins on the longer barrel.  The M29 weighed a bit less and shot the same rounds about 400m farther.  

The current M252 is a Brit mortar that weighs even less than the the M29 and has a much greater range.  

Mortars are like anything that shoots.  You shoot it too fast and it gets too hot.  While a mortar doesn't have a "mechanism" per se, it could cook-off rounds, which would kil the gun crew, or at the least send the round off to land in the wrong place, neither of which is a good thing.

Ross

The M29 had a fixed firing pin, and had trouble with gas erosion around the firing pin. The M29 appeared to have a threaded barrel. This was actually cooling fins.
The M252 had a removable firing pin, and does not have the gas erosion problem that I am aware of.