Toy/training mortars?

[MatthewVanitas]

Greetings. I saw an article in Small Arms Review a few years back, in which the reviewer played with a military-surplus mortar trainer he had purchased. If memory serves, shells were propelled from a two-foot-long tube with black powder, and the mini-mortar shells had a percussion cap and a little powder in the nosecone so as to create a "puff" upon impact.

Does anyone know if such a product is available these days? It seems like a neat little thing to play with, especially if it would include a Tabluar Firing Table, Graphic Site Tool, and all the cool geeky little devices used for calculating firing data.

I suppose you could rig up something like that in a home workshop without too much effort, though making the Tabular Firing Tables might be a bit laborious at first.

At Quantico, we had a class on observing mortar fire which was taught using a pneumatic mortar and small shells which were essentially lawn-darts. Used all the proper adjustment procedures, wiz-wheel, etc., to launch the shells onto a stretch of lawn covered in little wooden bridges, toy tanks, etc. Great fun all around. Just wondering if such things (pneumatic or powder-based) are available on the free market.

I'm sure there's more than one artilleryman out there who has the same question, so I throw it to the board. Thanks for any help, -MV

 

[The_Antibubba]

The liability issues would be ENORMOUS

The free market isn't THAT free. Nobody is going to risk selling something like that to the general public.

I do like the idea of "The Airsoft Mortar".

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Here's one built by THR member Billll, you may want to PM him for details.

 

[HKrazy]

A friend has a 60MM mortar he built himself after getting ATF approval to make a Destructive Device. ($200 tax stamp)

Of course, he just uses inert training rounds but it is a lot of fun.

Here is a video of it in action.

Video

Here is another video with the last third showing the mortar.

Video 2

It looks better now that it is all green.

If you don't want to deal with NFA paperwork or live where it is prohibited, then black powder is the way to go.

 

[goon]

HKrazy - Where did he get plans to build a mortar? Where did he get the practice rounds? Even if you have to put the $200 NFA fee out and deal with all the BS to own it, I am thinking that would be a very cool thing to take to the range.
Can you imagine firing a mortar at the 500 yard steel ram?

 

[possenti]

Here's my lame attempt at a homemade mortar. The curved part on top is my incomplete angle-finder.

I use a cap of FFF black powder for propellant. The projectiles are 35mm film cannisters. (Free at Wal-Mart!) The white (clear) ones hold a smoke mixture (saltpeter and sugar 50/50). The black ones are left open in the back with the fuse exposed inside. They act as fins to stablize the round in flight.

They're launched with a cap of powder poured down the muzzle, and a fuse at the breach. I plan on modifying it to a percussion cap sometime.

 

[Preacherman]

Just don't do what a buddy of mine did...

This happened in South Africa in the late 1980's. Dave and I (and a few other buddies) had just come out of Angola after some fairly hairy experiences with Cubans, MPLA and assorted other communist nasties. We had begun to unwind, but Dave had a little therapy of his own in mind.

He got hold of a large road pipe, of an inside diameter just the right size to take a gallon paint tin. He welded the bottom shut, and rigged up a pipe to an air compressor tank, which he could pump up to over 1,000 psi pressure. He then got hold of some empty paint tins, and filled them with black powder. He ran a fuse into the top, timed to explode in 10 seconds.

Came the day... and Dave invited us to come out to his family's farm to witness the inauguration of his (highly illegal, mind you) mortar. He carefully set everything up on the front lawn, with a few pre-loaded rounds ready to one side. He then carefully placed a paint tin in the barrel, having to bash it a bit to get it all the way down (which should have been a warning to him, but he was, like the rest of us, a few sheets to the wind by that time). He then reached down the barrel and lit the fuse, before stepping away and triggering the air compressor cylinder.

There was a tremendous noise of rushing air, but nothing emerged from the mortar - it was all coming out of the connection to the mortar, because his tight-fitting paint-can projectile was stuck in the pipe! He yelled something, and we all scattered to the four winds... just before the tin exploded. Something like four or five pounds of black powder shattered the pipe into so much shrapnel, missing all of us, but breaking out his mother's prized picture windows (all of them) in the house about 50 yards behind the firing point. His farm truck also collected a few dents and interestingly shaped holes, and its rear window shattered into unrecognizable fragments.

We recovered ourselves, treating our shattered nerves with copious application of beer and other remedies - but Dave was in hock for the next six months, paying for new picture windows for his mother!

 

[4v50 Gary]

That 60 mm mortar makes my brass beer can mortar look like a child's toy.

 

[Gifted]

They make paint mortars for scenario games. Throws a water balloon filled with paint.

 

[NMshooter]

I'm there! But someone else is carrying the baseplate.

 

[carebear]

Listen up! If ya ain't got crossed rifles on your shoulders, go see NMshooter.

 

[Gifted]

What's that, Carebear?

 

[carebear]

Marine Pvt's (E-1) and PFC's (E-2) don't have crossed rifles on their rank insignia. (well, Pvt's don't have any rank insignia, but it still works)

It just means something distasteful has to be done and the junior man is gonna do it.

I sure ain't carrying a baseplate.

 

[The_Antibubba]

I swear, Preacherman

Maybe we should label your stories "The Lawless Dog Files"!

 

[RevDisk]

It just means something distasteful has to be done and the junior man is gonna do it.

Usually junior, but not always. I did movements where I was the radio geek as well as the most junior, with all the codes and frequencies for fire support, close air support, and medevac. The Captain made the 2nd luie carry the base plate.

Get me drunk sometime and ask me about calling in a 4-digit grid coordinates fire mission to the MLRS guys. (To you non-military folks, that's an entire grid square. In other words, a very very large area.)

 

[SunBear]

Preacherman: Re: Angola. Did you ever meet Dr. Savimbi? I was trying to get to Rhodesia in the late 70s, but by the time I was skilled enough to go the Brits and US had given it to Mugabe and Nkomo.

 

[ScorpioVI]

Any of you guys former 11Cs?

 

[carebear]

Not me. Heck, I didn't even like hauling around a helmet. Besides, who's gonna waste arty on just 6 guys.

 

[Harry Tuttle]

http://www.tippmannordnance.com/mortars.html

 

[carebear]

That is sweet, and by sweet I mean totally awesome.

 

[NMshooter]

No 11C here. (Ex-Air Force)

I have to admit, if I had money...

I could have some serious fun with that.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Has anyone ever seen the bowling ball cannon?

http://www.docsmachine.com/nonPB/mortar.html

Could be interesting if you did a little work to the projectile.

 

[HKrazy]

For the person who asked earlier and anyone else interested in the NFA 60MM mortar: As I understand it the tube is the registered part and the rest of the mortar and dummy rounds are just surplus.

The mortar is owned by AR15.com member "Different" ([email protected]). He is a nice guy and I'm sure he will be glad to answer questions about it.