Description
Technical Manual (TM 9-1220-204-15) for M16 Plotting Board July 1962
Technical Manual TM 9-1220-204-15 for M16 Plotting Board – July 1962
This listing is for U.S. Army Technical Manual TM 9-1220-204-15, dated July 1962, covering the M16 Plotting Board.
The manual provides operator, organizational, field, and depot maintenance guidance for the M16, a portable analog fire-control instrument used in mortar fire direction.
Historical Significance
Published during the Cold War, this manual documents the M16 Plotting Board before electronic ballistic computers became common in field use. Fire-direction personnel used the board with maps, firing tables, and observer information to turn target locations and corrections into usable mortar firing data.
The M16 was used in fire-direction work for the 81 mm M29 mortar and the 4.2-inch M30 mortar. Its manual plotting method helped determine range, azimuth, and deflection for indirect fire.
The M16, M29, and M30 Connection
The M16 Plotting Board gave mortar fire-direction personnel a compact surface for plotting the locations of the mortar, target, reference points, and observer corrections. Its graduated base, rotating azimuth disk, and range arm or range-scale arm allowed plotted information to be read as range and angular firing data.
With the M29 81 mm mortar and M30 4.2-inch mortar, the board supported manual preparation and adjustment of indirect-fire data. It could be arranged as an observed, modified-observed, or surveyed firing chart to match the information available to the fire direction center.
What This Manual Covers
The -15 maintenance designation gives this publication a broad scope covering operation and care of the M16 Plotting Board through organizational, field, and depot maintenance. It addresses the instrument as a complete plotting system and the components used to establish direction, distance, and plotted corrections.
- Description and identification of the M16 Plotting Board
- Operator setup, use, care, and maintenance
- Organizational maintenance responsibilities
- Field and depot maintenance guidance
- M16 base, azimuth disk, and range components
- Manual plotting support for mortar fire-direction work
Key Features
- Official publication number: TM 9-1220-204-15
- Publication date: July 1962
- Primary subject: M16 Plotting Board
- Maintenance scope: operator, organizational, field, and depot levels
- Associated mortar systems include the 81 mm M29 and 4.2-inch M30
- Supports manual determination of range, azimuth, and deflection for indirect fire
Why This Manual Matters
This manual explains the equipment that supported mortar fire direction before digital fire-control systems. It provides useful period context for how crews maintained the M16 and how the board fit into the process of converting target information into firing data.
It is especially relevant to collections built around the M16 Plotting Board, M29 81mm mortar, M30 4.2-inch mortar, Cold War infantry weapons, or the history of manual fire direction.
About This Manual
This listing is for Technical Manual TM 9-1220-204-15, dated July 1962, for the M16 Plotting Board.
No plotting board, range arm, range-scale arm, carrying case, firing tables, maps, mortar equipment, or other manuals are included unless specifically stated elsewhere in the offer.
Ideal For
This manual is a strong fit for:
- U.S. Army technical-manual collectors
- M16 Plotting Board owners and researchers
- M29 81 mm mortar reference collections
- M30 4.2-inch mortar reference collections
- Cold War mortar and fire-direction displays
- Museums, archives, and military-history libraries
- Restoration and historical-equipment researchers
Approx length 8", Approx width 10", Approx height .2", Approx weight .5lbs.
Pictures are stock images of our inventory. Unless otherwise noted, you will not be receiving the exact item shown in the pictures. The pictures are representative of the item's general condition. The item you receive might be slightly better, or worse, condition than was shown in the pictures.
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