The straight skinny on shooting 76mm cannons and AT guns
Gentleman: I am the owner of the M18 Hellcat in the Lock and Load 'anti-tank' piece as well as the 57mm gun. The 37mm gun is owned by R Shaver of Phoenix (the tall red head!).
First things first - It is perfectly legal to own a tank or tank destroyer or anti-tank gun in the USA....without a live gun in it. When you have a live gun (remarks apply to guns greater than 0.5 caliber)the boys at BATF requore that it be licensed as a "destructive device". This uses the same process as used to buy and own a machine gun....application with fingerprints, $200 (one-time payment) for transfer tax. After that...keep it secure and use the same process to sell to another person.
Second thing, HE ammunition for AT guns is considered a destructive device" in and of itself. Therefore, to use or make one would require the payment of the $200 transfer tax plus the aforementioned paperwork. You could do it - no prohibition against owning or making or firing HE rounds but the $200 transfer tax would apply to each round and your $200 would evaporate each time you pulled the trigger
We were shooting solid projectiles with hardened penetrators (except for nthe 37mm M3 guns, which were shooting mild steel projectiles). the ammo is manufactured by yours truly from 3"-50 projectiles (from demilled military projectiles and some welding on of machined penetrators), recycled military cannon powder, and remanufactured primer tubes. Shell casings are surplus steel cases or from demilled ammo or once-fired. The loads are reduced from full military. No need to wear out rifled bores when shooting cars and 3/4" steel plates at 200 yards or so
The cost to drive around on the ranch (in western NM), getting the TD there, putting 85 gallons of av gas in the tanks, manufacturing the ammo, and the logistics of staying out of town for three days during the shoot was all paid for by THC! I might have done it for free but since they got paid for the production, I thought I should get paid for the expenses I was laying out
......it was hard work, tiring, 7 am - 6 pm for three days for the short segments on the 3 anti-tank guns! AND the weather was brutal in early April when the filming took place. In fact, it snowed on the afternoon of the third day and the crew abandoned further filming and headed out for Loveland, CO, for the Stuart tank segment.
Final comment, I have been shooting the main 76mm gun in the Hellcat for more than three years. Probably have put 50+ rounds through it at various shoots here in the Sunny SW.....mainly at the Wikieup shoot (which by the way is open to the public and will be happening on October 15-18, 2009, see the MG Shooters website for info and photos). I knew the muzzle blast from the M18 main gun was severe; it had torn several tarps off of canopies nearby the year before. The guy that said "SOB" following the hat blow off scene was the sound man, not me. Notice, I was wearing goggles and ear protection....I knew what to expect! The hat blow off was a suprise and demostrated correctly the level of muzzle blast from the M18. Normally at MG and cannon shoots no one is sitting in the driver and co-driver's seats - they are all in the turret or behind the breech....you don't get the full muzzle blast back there.
The high speed video was great...look carefully for the molten metal flying back from the projectile impact wiht the steel plates in the slo-mo portion. I have been told that is caused by the steel in the plate passing it's elastic limit and acting like a spalsh from a water puddle. Owning a Hellcat is not expensive, IF you don't take it anywhere....It cost $1000 to get it to the ranch for the shoot (89 miles one way)!...tractor trailer with double drop deck low boy and overwidth permits. The Wikieup shoot costs $4000 for transportation so the Hellcat only goes there every other year or so....too pricey for a yearly event and then the ammo cost on top of that.....projectiles are now running about $80 each! and getting scarce!
If ayone has an questions....I'll be happy to try and answer them....BTW Ermy is a cool dude!!!! On and off camera!
DaninNM
