Original Item: Only One Available. This is a wonderful example of a Korean War era 75mm dummy round as used with the M20 Recoilless Rifle T21E12. The round consists of an INERT fuse, round and casing. This is a completely inert projectile and is in compliance with the BATF. It measures approximately 29 inches long, with a base diameter of 4 1/4", and weighs about 20 lbs.

NOT AVAILABLE FOR EXPORT

The M20 recoilless rifle is a U.S. 75 mm caliber recoilless rifle T21E12 that was used during the last months of the Second World War and extensively during the Korean War. It could be fired from an M1917A1 .30 caliber machine gun tripod, or from a vehicle mount, typically a Jeep. Its shaped charge warhead, also known as HEAT, was capable of penetrating 100 mm of armor. Although the weapon proved ineffective against the T-34 tank during the Korean War and most other tanks, it was used primarily as a close infantry support weapon to engage all types of targets including infantry and lightly armored vehicles. The M20 proved useful against pillboxes and other types of field fortifications.

This cartridge is fired from 75mm recoilless rifles and is used for blast, fragmentation, and mining effects.

The cartridge consists of a perforated metal cartridge case crimped to a hollow steel projectile. The cartridge case contains a plastic liner which is filled loosely with propellant. An igniter charge is positioned on top of the propellant. A percussion primer is fitted in the base, with an igniter tube extending through the propelling charge. The projectile is fitted with either a point detonating or mechanical time, superquick fuze in the nose, and is filled with TNT. The rotating band near the base is pre engraved to match the bore rifling of the weapon. A bourrelet at the rear of the ogive and another forward of the rotating band are provided as bearing in the rifle bore

The fuse is unable to be dated or identified properly due to a series of “X” stamps going across the nomenclature markings. We do believe it to be a time delayed fuse due to there being a “delay” switch and marking present. The round is dated 1951 and stamped INERT. The round designation is M309A1 and has much of the original green paint present. The perforated shell is stamped on the base with DUMMY RD with the date of 1952, making all items having been produced during and for the Korean War.

This is truly a wonderful example that would make for an impressive display piece!

During World War II, the U.S. military recognized that, due to advancements in armor technology by enemy forces, a powerful lightweight weapon was needed to defend infantry and light armor units. The Ordnance Department Small Arms Division commenced development of a recoilless rifle and, by 1944, models of a 75 mm recoilless rifle were being tested. Production of the M20 was underway by March 1945; only limited numbers were used by Allied troops in the European and Pacific theaters.

The M20 relied on a perforated artillery shell casing, combined with a rear vented breech using propellant gasses from the firing of a shell, to greatly reduce the recoil of the weapon. It is this use of vented propellant gasses that eliminated the need for a recoil system, thereby reducing the weight of the launcher and enhancing its use as a light infantry weapon.

Recoilless rifles, such as the M20, were used successfully in large numbers by US forces during the Korean War; and by both sides in the First Indochina War (1946–54). They were phased out after being replaced by wire guided missiles, which were introduced during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s. Until stockpiles of ammunition were exhausted in the 1990s, M20 recoilless rifles were used to start controlled avalanches by the U.S. National Forest Service and National Park Service.

The Royal Moroccan Army used M20s during the Western Sahara War against the Polisario Front. China also produced unlicensed copies, known as the Type 52 and Type 56 (an upgraded version that could fire fin-stabilized HEAT shells). These versions were widely used by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong guerrillas in the Vietnam War[6] and there are also pictures suggesting its use by guerrillas and militias in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), such as the Amal Movement militia