Description
TM 9-3062-34 Technical Manual - 57mm M18, M18A1, and T15E16 Recoilless Rifles and Subcaliber Device - August 1957
Item Overview
TM 9-3062-34 is an Army field maintenance manual for the 57mm M18, M18A1, and T15E16 recoilless rifles and their subcaliber training device. This August 1957 edition focuses on the technical support behind these portable infantry weapons. It adds a repair reference to collections of recoilless-rifle manuals and early Cold War military literature.
Identification and Features
The publication covers both the rifle family and its smaller-caliber training equipment. Its field maintenance designation identifies the manual's place in the Army's system of equipment support publications.
- Publication number: TM 9-3062-34
- Publication date: August 1957
- Issuing organization: Department of the Army
- Rifles covered: 57mm M18, M18A1, and T15E16
- Associated equipment: Subcaliber device for the 57mm recoilless rifle
- Manual type: Field maintenance
Function and Manual Contents
This manual addresses field maintenance of the rifles and their associated training device. Its scope supported personnel responsible for technical repair and returning equipment to service. For researchers, the combined coverage helps explain how the Army supported the weapon and the practice equipment used with it.
Documented End-Item Application
The covered equipment belongs to the Army's portable 57mm recoilless-rifle system. The subcaliber device functioned as an insert within the rifle, allowing crews to train with a smaller cartridge. Its inclusion links this maintenance reference to both infantry weapons and crew-training equipment.
Publication History
This 1957 edition dates from the period after the Korean War, when the Army continued supporting weapons developed during World War II. Later Army ammunition references, including TM 9-1300-204 and TM 9-1300-203, cited TM 9-3062-34 for the rifle family and its subcaliber equipment. Those references document the publication number's continued place in Army support literature.
Equipment History
The M18 grew from the T15 recoilless-rifle project at Frankford Arsenal's Pitman-Dunn Laboratory. Development took shape in 1943 under a team that included William J. Kroeger and C. Walton Musser. Testing led to a demonstration at Aberdeen Proving Ground in September 1944, followed by standardization of the M18 in June 1945. The weapon gave infantry units a light source of direct-fire support.
Subcaliber Device Background
The 57mm rifle's subcaliber device used .30-caliber ball ammunition to simulate firing the larger weapon. Army references describe a training assembly incorporating inert 57mm cartridge parts and a smaller-caliber firing unit. It reduced the cost of practice and could also serve as an unloaded drill cartridge for loading exercises. Army records described it as a device prepared by authorized units from specified components.
Weapon-System Background
The M18 was designed to give infantry troops portable cannon firepower. Its recoilless system released propellant gases through the rear of the breech to counter the forces that normally produce recoil. This allowed a lighter weapon without a heavy recoil mechanism and carriage. Shoulder firing and ground-supported use gave crews several ways to employ the system.
History of Use
Early 57mm recoilless rifles reached troops in Europe in March 1945, and the M18 family saw late-war use in both the European and Pacific theaters. The M18 served again during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Alongside that combat history, subcaliber equipment supported practice and loading drills while conserving full-size ammunition.
Ideal For
This manual supports research into period repair practices and the relationship between service weapons and training aids. It also complements museum libraries and displays explaining the technical work behind infantry fire support.
- Collectors of M18-series technical manuals
- Researchers studying subcaliber training equipment
- Military museums and ordnance archives
- Historians of World War II and Korean War infantry weapons
Approx length 6", Approx width 9", Approx height .2", Approx weight .4lbs.
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