I'm not too wikipedia savvy but if someone wants to find additional sources, there seem to be some experimental aircraft uses for the M9. [Source] • [Talk] --Nukes4Tots (talk) 00:43, 24 February 2009 (UTC), I was wondering if the M4 was ever used by P-39 and P-63 pilots to try and destroy tanks, especially the Russians on the Eastern Front? Initial extraction occurred during recoil. Wikipedia. It entered military service in 1942, used in the Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-63 Kingcobra aircraft. Equipped with one M1 automatic 37 millimeter gun and two water-cooled .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns. You are correct that at the time there seemed to be much debate about the requirements for a fighter/persuit/intercepter aircraft, and Bell was trying to cover all bases. The first number is the caliber, in millimeter. The Russian pilots appreciated the Cobra's 'devastating' firepower which enabled them to destroy the target bandit in a single pass. Browning and the Colt Firearms Co reworked it into the T9/M4. So of course there is eventually a specification that requires the cannon to be n the plane, but it's because Bell sold the army on the 37mm cannon in an interceptor , not because the army originally wrote a specification for an interceptor with a 37mm cannon in it. The lock frame was retracted by recoil action during automatic firing, and is forced forward by the driving springs. While 37mm is not that powerful when compared to the 76mm, 88mm, and other big guns carried by WWII tanks; a 37mm could knock out a tank if it hit them in a vunerable area, i.e. For every gun in the tables, the following parameters aregiven: The Nameof the gun. The M4 is fed ammunition only from the left-hand side of the weapon. In fact, the 4x4 timber was used as a float by Kennedy and crew to keep them together during their swim ashore from the stricken hull, since they had displaced their life raft to make room for the 37mm cannon." For the TAP 120/Lvakan 4501 (120 mm autocannon), that's a watercooled barrel. This cannon was installed only days before the mission where PT-109 was lost. Bell chose to design it into his airplane because he felt it was an impressive weapon and would make his plane more desireable to the Army because it had big firepower for downing large bombers [interceptor role] and for ground attack. The 37 mm autocannon had its root in 1921, designed by famed American firearms designer John M. Browning. (The charachters on both the shell and fuse are read left to right while the shell is pointed away from you). Rate of fire The 15 rounds were in three five-round clips, an unsatisfactory arrangement according to Kelsey, and the M9 did not perform reliably in flight. M9 - International Harvester built half-track, developed to complement the M2 for Lend-Lease, but did not feature the short hull of the M2. It was this combination of factors that made it mediocre, as avoiding any one of those problems (let alone multiple ones) would have given it a good deal more overall merit. Conversely, the allies deployed such bombers by the tens of thousands against the Germans, and the response by the Germans was to fit large caliber cannons [30mm mk108] similar to the M4 to the later variants of the bF-109, and FW-190, while making four of them the exclusive weapons on the me-262. Manufacturer(s) The 15 rounds were in three five-round clips, an unsatisfactory arrangement according to Kelsey, and the M9 did not perform reliably in flight. The M4 was later replaced by the more powerful 37mm M9 autocannon. I don't feel that this discussion will go anywhere as it's gone full-circle. A safety feature incorporated in the design of the trigger mechanism prevented firing a round until the breechblock assembly was put into battery position. The first early half tracks had been pioneered by Adolphe Kégresse in 1910, when at the service of the Tsar Imperial Garage. The 37 mm cannon were mounted onto the P-39 and P-63 series of fighters, but proved unpopular with the pilots. Colt I think one can conclude that large caliber auto-cannons like the M4 were effective against large, non-maneuvering planes like bombers, but were not well suited for air to air combat involving agressively maneuvering targets such as other fighter aircraft. The disscussion of the cannons of other calibers is a bit of a tangent, but I'll comment on it: The effectiveness of those weapons is not in question, as they were very effective in the air-to-air role, but they do not offer insight or provide evidence for the effectiveness of the 37mm in Air-to-air combat. Between the world wars, the US Army sought to improve the tactical mobility of its forces. Initially, they were taken out of crashed P-39 aircraft at Henderson Field. It was used on PT boats around 1944 in the Pacific theater during World War II, replacing the Many of our customers also get into reloading to expand the use of their launcher. According to Birch Matthews book on the development of the P-39 and P-63 [Cobra! Type The cannon was disliked by pilots for its drooping trajectory. Browning and Colt refined the design and was tested as the 37 mm T9 autocannon. (Japanese developments showed the potential of the basic M1917 Browning Short Recoil mechanism to 20, 30, and 37 mm rather than stopping at .50 caliber as the US did, but the US Army apparently rejected all proposals for further scaled up implementations of that mechanism, including one proposal in their .90 cal cannon program). The breech was locked and unlocked by recoil action, which brings the operating level guide pins against cams to raise and lower the breechblock. The fact that it wasn't very practical for hitting a small maneuverable aircraft at 800yds, doesn't mean it was ineffective as an air-to-air weapon. However, smaller autocannons were very often used in dogfighting, notably by the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero which had two 20mm cannon, one per wing, and two or four MGs. Also, it did not feature the rear access doors, and is outwardly very similar to the M5, but with a different internal configuration. --Nukes4Tots (talk) 16:33, 1 June 2009 (UTC). Disregarding the off-topic discussions comparing various other aircraft or (especially the actual operational use, rather than objective technical merit), the T9/M4 cannon had the for primary limitations in performance as an aircraft weapon: it was heavy, slow firing, relatively low velocity, and had a limited ammunition capacity. These two roles are important to the discussion of the effectiveness of the M4 in air to air combat. It provided interceptors with a weapon that could shoot down any bomber with as little as one hit. Soviet pilots, though off-put by the M4's slow cyclic rate and the low magazine capacity, had appreciated its reliability. An anti-aircraft weapon, the M4 had a muzzle velocity of 2,000 feet per second and a cyclic rate of 150 rounds per minute. It tended to jam under high gee forces. The 37 mm M9 autocannon was a derivative of the M1A2 anti-aircraft gun. Front view with magazine views . In 1938, it was standardized for anti-aircraft use as the M1. 2 twin 0.50 cal Browning M2 Machine Guns: belt fed, 550 rpm, muzzle velocity of 2930 fps, max effective range 2500 yds, max range 4.2 miles, air cooled, recoil operated, gun length 61.5 inches, 24 inch barrel, gun weight 84 pounds, 710 gr. The 37 mm M9 autocannon was a derivative of the M1A2 anti-aircraft gun. Also I am not incorrect in stating the 37 would also [meaning "secondarily"] be used in the ground attack role. The M1A2 followed and the Navy and Army Air Force adopted it for shipboard use and aircraft use respectively as the M4 cannon. I obtained this info from interviewing 12 different PT boat veterans from WW2 and restoring PT658 in Portland, OR Jerry (jngilmar) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.134.139.71 (talk) 17:42, 16 November 2008 (UTC), There is a paragraph here that does not belong: "John F. Kennedy's PT-109 had a US Army M3 37mm Anti-tank Gun installed on the foredeck by removing its wheels and bolting it to a heavy timber (4 in x 4 in) which was attached to the deck. Prototype only. 37×145mmR M4 You extrapolate that since the P-39 proved ineffective against the Zero, it must be the autocannon's fault. They were integral to the strategic thinking of the time, and so the Air Corps worked under the assumption that similar weapons were being developed by other nations, and conceived the need for a new "interceptor" to climb fast and high to intercept incoming bombers. The M9A1 had a rear door. It'd be nice to put it here, but the M3 was not the same gun. The weapon, which was built by Colt, entered service in 1942. --136.1.1.104 (talk) 19:05, 5 August 2011 (UTC). there is however no evidence it was ever used as an effective tank buster. You are incorrect in stating that Wildcats could "cut Zeros out of the sky". The White Motor Company produced a prototype halftrack using their own chassis and the body of the M3 Scout Car. 37 mm Automatic Gun, M4, Bell P-39 Airacobra, at National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum). Recoil and counter-recoil were controlled hydraulically via a piston and spring combination connected to the recoil mechanism and operating in an oil-filled recuperator cylinder that is mounted to the stationary trunnion block assembly. The major function of the lock frame assembly was to force the cartridge into the chamber, actuate the breech block, fire the round by means of the hammer striking the firing pin, extract the cartridge case from the chamber, and operate the ejector. United States of America Extraction, ejection, feeding and loading were done during counter-recoil. M9A1 â Same as M9, with ring mount and three MG pintles. Unless otherwise noted, the data below is for the M4. One of the most fearsome was the "Quad-50" anti-aircraft platform which saw a battery of 4 x 0.50 (12.7mm) caliber Browning heavy machine guns mounted atop a turning pedestal. The M6 boasted an oval-shaped framework (nicknamed a "horsecollar magazine" for its shape) providing a track for the endless belt. It is worth noting that description of Russian encounters with German aircraft follow the paradigm of the use for the M4 as a weapon for use against non-maneuvering targets. It was magazine-fed and could be fired either manually or by remote control using a solenoid mounted on the rear of the weapon. Regardless of the reason, it could not be used reliably in US service without a re-cocking mechanism accessible to the pilot (as the P-38 used) or excessive amounts of grease and wax applied to the ammunition (apparently causing a snug enough fit for a reliable primer strike) as the US Navy used. 213 lb (97 kg) It had a 74-inch barrel, weighed 405 pounds (the barrel alone weighing 120 pounds), had a muzzle velocity of 3,000 feet per second, and had a rate of fire of 150 rounds per minute. M15 half-track. The P-39 was designed with the M4 for that purpose. fuel, turret, or the less-armored back area.204.80.61.110 (talk) 18:46, 27 February 2009 (UTC)Bennett Turk, No it wasn't. It is also clear that fighters and Bombers were attacked in this manner. 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